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Are Hispanic Newspapers growing? Yes! Here are 3 Examples

While most English-language newspapers are retrenching, it is striking how time and time again we get news from Hispanic targeted newspaper publishers who are expanding circulation or even launching new publications. Earlier this week we reported that Freedom is launching  "Unidos en el Sur de California"  with a 300,000 plus circulation. Here three more examples: Hoy's Los Angeles new weekly Hoy Deportes, CentroTampa and AIM Media Texas'  El Extra  in the Rio Grande Valley.

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While most English-language newspapers are retrenching, it is striking how time and time again we get news from Hispanic targeted newspaper publishers who are expanding circulation or even launching new publications. Earlier this week we reported that Freedom is launching  “Unidos en el Sur de California”  with a 300,000 plus circulation. Here three more examples: Hoy’s Los Angeles new weekly Hoy Deportes, CentroTampa and AIM Media Texas’  El Extra  in the Rio Grande Valley.

New sports weekly Hoy Deportes in Los Angeles

Hoy Los Angeles is launching a new weekly newspaper devoted to sports, called Hoy Deportes, Hoy L.A.’s owner, the Los Angeles Times Media Group, announced this week. The publication will also publish digitally with a Web site and mobile channel. The new Spanish-language sports weekly, launched on March 3  covers local, national and international sports, including scores, game reports and athlete profiles. Hoy Deportes, a free publication with a circ. of 90,000 distributed over racks,  will compete with  the Monday edition of La Opinion, a paid product which is sports heavy.  “We know that Monday is a big day for sports and that our community looks for coverage and recap of the weekend sports events-scores etc. Currently there is no print product that delivers a complete all sports package and we are looking at filling that gap.” Roaldo Moran, publisher of Hoy Los Angeles, tells Portada. At Hoy Deportes fútbol (soccer) will be receiving a lot of attention, especially before and during the 2014 World Cup scheduled for June and July. Hoy Los Angeles Editor Alejandro Maciel stated: “Latino-heritage Angelenos rank amongst the world’s most avid sports fans and, with the World Cup about to take to the pitch in Brazil, we felt the time was right to launch Hoy Deportes.”  Eduard Cauich, Editor of Hoy Deportes, wrote in an article addressed to Hoy‘s audience that “during decades there has been talk in Los Angeles about the need of a newspaper focused on sports, because the Hispanic community has shown its passion for sports by supporting teams like the Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers and Angels. ”

 

Tampa Tribune’s CENTRO Tampa   

Hispanic NewspapersCENTRO Tampa, a Hispanic weekly in Tampa Bay published by The Tampa Tribune,  expanded  its circulation to include Hispanic households in Pinellas County on Friday March 7, 2014. This is the second time CENTRO Tampa is expanding its circulation, driven by a high growth rate in the Hispanic population in Tampa Bay. In 2012 CENTRO Tampa added 10,000 copies in Pasco County and the most recent expansion to Pinellas will add 15,000 additional copies. This will bring the total circulation to more than 65,000 copies. Orlando Nieves,general manager of CENTRO Tampa, tells Portada that the added circulation will be a mix between rack and home-delivered circulation.  However, he adds that  “most will be home delivered with racks being concentrated on heavily Hispanic areas like Pinellas Park and Clearwater.” Overall, CENTRO Tampa is 85% home-delivered and 15% rack distributed. While the The Tampa Tribune is CENTRO Tampa’s sister newspaper, CENTRO Tampa is not distributed together with The Tampa Tribune: “All our distribution is concentrated in Hispanic self-identified households and delivered by dedicated carriers,” Nieves says.  The strong home-delivered component in these newspapers is often liked by retail advertisers. “We currently carry inserts for Ashley Furniture, NewsAmerica/Smart Source, Walmart, Red Plum/Valassis, Target, Best Buy, Rooms 2 Go, Bealls, Winn Dixie, HH Gregg, Lowes and Home Depot among others,” Nieves notes. CENTRO Tampa, also has a digital presence at www.centrotampa.com. Since 2005, “we have been the Spanish news site with the most traffic in Tampa Bay. ” ” The site currently is being monetized through a CPM model based on impressions, but we also provide  unique opportunities like corner peels, expanded billboards and pencil dropdowns. We also run video news content from Univision on a revenue share agreement.”  (In 2012 The Tampa Tribune and its associated print and digital products were acquired from Media General by Tampa Media Group, Inc., a new company formed by private equity house Revolution Capital Group.)

El Extra in Rio Grande Valley   

Texas FlagEl Extra a weekly Spanish-language newspaper published by AIM Media Texas has expanded its circulation by more than 75% over the last 18 months. AIM Media Texas also publishes The Brownsville Herald and El Nuevo Heraldo among other publications in the Rio Grande Valley. “Starting in late 2012 and throughout last year we’ve systematically looked at the opportunities in all of our South Texas markets relative to the positive demographic profile of our Rio Grande Valley community.  Hence, we’ve purposely invested new staff and distribution resources into both El Extra, our weekly entertainment  and lifestyle publication and El Nuevo Heraldo, our daily Spanish language news publication.” Frank Escobedo, the recently named new publisher at the Brownsville Herald, tells Portada. “Our three targeted zones for El Extra focus in Cameron and Willacy Counties on Brownsville and Harlingen and surrounding communities and in Hidalgo County on McAllen and Weslaco and surrounding communities.  We’ve increased our distribution in these Counties by over 75% and 100%, respectively, over the past 18 months in response to strong reader and advertiser demand.  We continue to evaluate opportunities to expand our footprint and the penetration and distribution within our tri-county region and beyond in order to benefit both readers and advertisers,” Escobedo adds.

Rio Grande Valley’s Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy have a combined total population exceeding 1.3 million people of which 1.1-1.2 million are Hispanics and the market continues to grow at a rapid pace.  At 90% Hispanic composition, this makes them  one of the most concentrated areas for Hispanics living in Texas and the US.  Interestingly, 10% of all Hispanics in Texas live in the Rio Grande Valley which in turn comprises only about 1% of the total land area of Texas.  We are also in a unique position with our markets being adjacent to the Mexican border. The areas’ population swells considerably every weekend as shoppers and tourists from Mexico swarm to our local malls and tourist attractions to shop and play.  This bodes well for our local economy.   We intend to continue to serve these markets and produce products that address the needs and expectations of our readers and advertisers alike.

Related Articles on Hispanic Newspapers 

Newspaper circulation increases? Yes in the Hispanic market!

Analysis: Why are Hispanic newspapers in San Diego and Orange County expanding?

Texas Market profile
Texas: Acculturated Hispanics, Mexicans or Texicans?

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