La Voz de Houston (weekly, circ. 100,000, Spanish) is set to relaunch August 3rd. According to Aurora Losada, editor of Spanish publications at the Houston Chronicle (daily circ. 554,783, Sundays 737,580), besides keeping the broadsheet format, the paper's design and editorial will be different in almost every way. “We'll have a new logo, header, much more color, more art, new fonts, as well as new editorial.” The weekly which comes out every Wednesday has added a number of new sections as well as expanded existing categories. “We've added sections on technology, health and family, women, expanded our sports page, and added new columns.” Losada said that this will be the first major redesign and relaunch in the paper's 26 year history. “We want to attract younger readers and really reflect the increasingly diverse Hispanic population in Houston,” explained Losada who said that although Houston's Hispanic population is still largely Mexican there are more and more immigrants from Colombia, Cuba and other Central and South American countries. Losada said a prototype of the revamped La Voz has gotten positive feedback from advertisers, but it's too early to tell how much new advertising the relaunch will generate. “We're going to have sections that we haven't had before so obviously there is space for new ad categories.” Losada added that classified advertising has increased dramatically since they announced the relaunch. Circulation and distribution will remain the same for now (60,000 inside the Houston Chronicle and 40,000 on racks), but according to Losada they will be watching closely and making adjustments as they move forward.
La Voz was acquired by The Houston Chronicle (Hearst Corp.) in December 2004.
Carrie Barnes