Newspaper & Mailroom

Spanish-language Newspapers Defy Industry Slump

Thursday 27. March 2008 - Special report cites circulation and advertising growth

According to a special report released this week by Hispanic Market Weekly, the leading authority on U.S. Hispanic marketing and media, Spanish-language titles in large Latino centers across the nation continue to see revenue gains and circulation jumps, bucking downward trends seen across the newspaper industry.

“From emerging markets such as Orlando to long-established print markets including Los Angeles, the future looks bright for the Spanish-language newspaper,” reads Against the Wind: A Special Report on the Hispanic Newspaper Industry.

“Even where Spanish-language titles have not fared well as dailies, long-term growth with weekly distribution has kept management and ownership more than satisfied with weeklies showing a 26.4 percent jump in ad revenue between 2005 and 2007,” said Hispanic Market Weekly’s Associate Editor Adam Jacobson, who authored the report.

Among the anecdotal reasons offered: Hispanic’s long-standing use of print, the growing popularity of weeklies, and the use of community-oriented content largely absent in mainstream media and Spanish-language television.

According to the report, at the end of 2007, there were 33 daily newspapers and 417 weekly newspapers targeting Spanish-language readers in the U.S.