- Author: Nielsen.com
This growth trend is also evident when examining Black and Hispanic audiences—the weekly reach of radio among Blacks and Hispanics has been growing steadily over the past five years. Since 2011, the weekly national Black radio audience has grown 5% (from 29.8 million to 31.3 million) while the Hispanic audience has grown 11% (from 36.5 million to 40.4 million). Combined, these groups account for almost a third (29.3%) of the national audience, representing 71.7 million audio consumers.
And because radio reaches more than 90% of both of these audiences, the footprint of where that listening is highest mirrors the larger population trends taking place in the U.S. today. When looking at the markets and states with the highest penetration of listening to urban or Spanish language formats—the formats most popular with Black and Hispanic listeners, respectively—geography and market size play a large role in scoring which parts of the map index above or below the national average for audience share to those formats.
The states with the highest share of Black consumers listening to urban radio formats are centered in the East, specifically the mid-Atlantic and the South. There are only two states west of the Mississippi (Arkansas and Louisiana) that index above the national average.
Conversely, the Hispanic map looks a bit different, where western states and states with large urban areas (New York and Chicago) lead the way for listening to Spanish language radio.
The power of radio is evident not just as a whole, but also within the diverse communities of listeners stretching from coast to coast. In this quarter's report, we focus on the record 71.7 million blacks and Hispanics who combine to account for almost a third (29.3%) of the national average quarter hour (AQH) audience.
These black and Hispanic consumers spend more time with radio each week than any other group, and possess enormous buying power for advertisers looking to reach a qualified audience when they are away from home and in the marketplace ready to purchase.
Music is a key component of Hispanic life and Hispanics are among the most enthusiastic consumers of music across a variety of genres regardless of acculturation level. Having roots in Mexico and various countries across Central America, South America and the Caribbean, Hispanics are diverse, speak multiple languages, and straddle multiple cultures. There is no single narrative that applies to those who identify themselves as Hispanic. Some are recent immigrants who speak only Spanish, some are descendants of families who immigrated generations ago and speak only English, and some speak Spanish and English with equal ease.
One thing that binds Hispanics together is a passion for music.
A Love For Music
The average Hispanic spends $135 per year on music, considerably more than the average consumer, who spends $105 per year. Much of this difference is explained by Hispanics' love of live music and a cultural tradition that values communal celebration.
Source: Published originally on Nielsen.com as Mapping Radio's Reach with Black and Hispanic Consumers, August 4, 2015.
- Author: Myriam Grajales-Hall
This new edition of the annual report reviews 16 formats, including 10 Spanish-language choices and six English-language formats.
Radio's reach among both English-dominant and Spanish-dominant listeners sits between 95 percent and 96 percent -- a slight uptick from HISPANIC RADIO TODAY 2010. Radio reached Hispanic men and women equally strong, with the medium attracting 97 percent of Hispanic men 35-54 and of women 35-44. Radio continues to be a 'weekend warrior' with Hispanic men and women, attracting an average 85 percent of men 25-54 and 84 percent of women 25-54 -- higher than any weekday time period. Hispanic radio consumption continued to be fueled by out-of-home listening, displaying the medium's power of portability.
Source: Arbitron, Hispanic Radio Today 2011 Released By Arbitron, November 14, 2011.
- Author: Myriam Grajales-Hall
This new edition of the annual report reviews 16 formats, including 10 Spanish-language choices and six English-language formats.
According to the report, “Radio's reach among both English-dominant and Spanish-dominant listeners sits between 95 percent and 96 percent -- a slight uptick from HISPANIC RADIO TODAY 2010.”
Arbitron reports that radio reached Hispanic men and women equally strong, attracting 97 percent of Hispanic men 35-54 and of women 35-44. Radio continues to be a 'weekend warrior' with Hispanic men and women, attracting an average 85 percent of men 25-54 and 84 percent of women 25-54 -- higher than any weekday time period. Hispanic radio consumption continued to be fueled by out-of-home listening, displaying the medium's power of portability.
Source: Arbitron, Hispanic Radio Today 2011 Released By Arbitron, November 14, 2011.
- Posted By: Myriam Grajales-Hall
- Written by: Gosia Wozniacka, Associated Press
The public affairs show is produced daily by Radio Bilingue, the nation’s only public, non-commercial Spanish-language radio network. With seven FM stations in California and more than 100 affiliates nationwide airing its programs, the Fresno-based network reaches an estimated 500,000 Latino listeners per week.
Controlled by Latinos and run by a Harvard-educated former farmworker, the network fills a crucial gap in public broadcasting, which attracts overwhelmingly white, middle- or upper-class, English speaking audiences. The industry has been struggling to capture Latino listeners.
Radio Bilingue focuses on immigrant and first generation Latinos who are predominantly low-income, young and under-educated. It offers a platform to the working poor, the undocumented, Indians from Mexico and farmworkers.
The network is now expanding and building five stations along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Experts say Radio Bilingue’s efforts to foster civic engagement are key as the number of Latinos in the U.S. keeps growing and the nation moves toward a presidential election.
Hugo Morales, a former farmworker who graduated from Harvard Law School, founded Radio Bilingue more than 30 years ago because he felt poor Latino farmworkers had no voice.
A Mixtec Indian born in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, Morales arrived in California when he was 9 years old, joining his farmworker father on a prune farm near Santa Rosa. He worked in the orchards, studied and helped his brother run a local Spanish-language radio show.
After graduating from law school, Morales lectured for La Raza Studies at California State University in Fresno and founded the radio station. The all-volunteer station eventually went professional and grew into a network with nationally distributed programming. Morales won a MacArthur “genius” grant and the Edward R. Murrow Award, public radio’s highest honor, for his work.
The Latino population nearly quadrupled in size since Radio Bilingue began broadcasting, to more than 50 million or 16 percent of the nation last year. But Latino participation in public media remains minimal. So the network’s mission changed to fill that gap: it would serveLatinos in general, not just farmworkers.
It has had difficulty securing stations in urban areas, especially Los Angeles, because new frequencies are not available in major markets and purchasing a station is expensive.
In addition to the public affairs show, Radio Bilingue produces a national news service, a talk show in Mixteco that simultaneously airs on stations in Oaxaca, a call-in youth show about sexuality and original reporting on topics from the arts to the environment. It airs programs from radio partners in Mexico.
The network, which also has Internet broadcasts, refuses to air narcocorridos, the popular drug ballads, and doesn’t accept money from alcohol companies. It produces educational messages and guides listeners to resources. Music — from Cuban jazz to mariachi to rock en espanol — is used to attract different audience subsets. In addition to professional producers, 90 volunteers host programs and help at the stations.
Source: SFGate, Public radio in Spanish gives US Latinos a voice, by Gosia Wozniacka, Associated Press, January 1, 2012.Associated Press January 1, 2012 07:06 AM Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
- Posted By: Myriam Grajales-Hall
- Written by: Felipe Korzenny
In Spring 2011 a Multicultural Marketing study at Florida State University asked consumers of different cultural backgrounds to tell us “In an average week about how many hours do you spend listening to Internet radio like Pandora or Last.fm in English” and also “in another language.”
We found that those consumers who are online are listening to Internet radio to a surprising extent. In English, African Americans and Hispanics who prefer to communicate in English are the most avid listeners. But when it comes to listening in another language the picture is interesting if not surprising.
Those who are more likely to use a language besides English seem to have some attachment to Internet radio in their native language. Hispanics who prefer Spanish are particularly keener on listening to Internet radio in Spanish. And remember, that besides Pandora, Last.fm, and others, there are radio outlets like Batanga.com that specialize in Spanish language and Latin music.
It is interesting to notice that there is a noticeable predilection for Internet radio among emerging minorities.
Online Latinos who prefer Spanish spend almost six hours per week listening to Internet radio, compared with about four hours for Hispanics who prefer English and African Americans. Asians spend about two and a half hours, and non-Hispanic Whites spend the least amount of time in this endeavor.
Internet radio as an emerging medium and a promising advertising vehicle, is being favored by Hispanics and emerging minorities to a larger extent than by the shrinking non-Hispanic White population.
Source: Marketing Trends in a New Multicultural Society, “The Multicultural Opportunity of Internet Radio” blog by Felipe Korzenny, Wednesday, August 31, 2011.