By Hina Nawaz
The increasing Hispanic population has had a noticeable impact on the universe estimates from Nielsen Holdings NV's Nielsen Media Research. In April, universe estimates highlighted the expanding influence of the Hispanic consumer on sports networks.
The Hispanic and Latino population in the U.S. is currently estimated to be around 16% and grew by about 43% from 2000 to 2010. Further, as per the Nielsen report "State of the Hispanic Consumer: The Hispanic Market Imperative" for the second quarter, the Hispanic population is expected to expand by 167% from 2010 to 2050. The total population, meanwhile, is expected grow by 42% over the same time frame. Such estimates have made the Hispanic market very attractive for cable companies, and it is reflected in the April figures.
Sports content remains a staple for any good channel bouquet offered by cable operators, and, thanks in part to the increasing Hispanic population in the U.S., soccer has seen an unprecedented boost in consumer interest in North America. The Nielsen report estimates that the Argentina and Mexico match during World Cup 2010 reached 7.9 million Hispanics aged 18 to 49, whereas the 2012 Super Bowl reached 7.3 million of the same group.
A difference of around 600,000 viewers in favor of soccer indicates the sport's strength in drawing Hispanic audiences. And thanks to this support by an ever-growing segment, FOX Soccer experienced a 5.9% increase in universe estimates from April 2011 to April 2012.
The increase in the Hispanic population has also led to some soaring figures for bilingual or Spanish-language networks. In the last year, GolTV has been added to the lineups of both AT&T Inc.'s U-verse and Cox Communications Inc.. The network has increased its universe by 9.7% from April 2011 to April 2012. Several other cable operators, such as Comcast Corp., have already expressed interest in expanding their coverage of Hispanic markets.
Even some of the longer running Hispanic sports networks are expanding at a high rate of growth. News Corp.-owned FOX Deportes has a very respectable compound annual growth rate of 7.6% from April 2006 to April 2012 with 6.1 million households at the end of this period. The year-over-year figures displayed a strong jump by approximately 400,000 from April 2011 to April 2012, around 100,000 more than GolTV, providing a strong growth percentage for this time frame at 6.6%.
Even predominantly English-language channels such as ESPN are expanding their Spanish-language footprint. At the 2012 ESPN upfront in May, the network announced its initiative to launch ESPN Deportes+ por ESPN3 later this year. The offering would be a digital vertical available on ESPN3, the company's live multiscreen sports network, and would become an extension of ESPN Deportes television.
In addition, ESPN said it intended to air around 80 World Cup qualifying matches and international friendlies on ESPN Deportes. And while universe estimates at ESPN dropped by 1.0% from April 2011 to April 2012, ESPN Deportes experienced a slightly smaller decrease at 0.9%.
The changing demographics of the viewing population, including a mushrooming Hispanic segment, are affecting the way cable companies do business with bilingual networks. Hispanics generated $1 trillion in buying power for 2010 and are expected to increase by 50% to nearly $1.5 trillion by 2015. The combination of an expanding demographic with an increasing economical impact lays the road for Spanish-language networks to escalate visibility, and the success of Spanish-language sports networks is an indication of exactly how influential the demographic has become.
No comments:
Post a Comment