Northeast Profile
While the Northeast is not as well known for its Hispanic population as the Southeast or Southwest, it has a robust Latino marketplace nonetheless. The area’s Hispanic population is distinct from its southern counterparts in that it is much more representative of Latin America and less dominated by Mexican Latinos. In New York, both Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are well-represented, and every Latin American country is represented on some level. The New England area’s print and digital media market has also seen considerable growth, particularly in Boston and Connecticut. Meanwhile, publications based in and around Washington DC and Philadelphia serve their immediate areas as well as some outlying communities with strong Hispanic populations.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts has a rapidly growing Hispanic population of approximately 500,000, with a spending power of about $4.4 Billion (El Planeta). The majority reside in the Greater Boston area – about 130,000 – and the Lawrence/Lowell area has a bit less than that, about 105,000. In fact, Hispanics comprise almost 60% of Lowell’s total population.
Launched in 2004, El Planeta (65,000, weekly, Spanish) is New England’s largest Hispanic newspaper. Based in Boston, it is distributed in Lowell, Worcester and Springfield. It also reaches Rhode Island Hispanics in Providence, Central Falls, and Pawtucket. The paper has four zoned editions covering the three aforementioned Boston markets and Rhode Island. “Really what is distinctive about the New England market is its diversity. It’s a region where the Latinos are not coming from one country. I’d say about 30% are from Puerto Rico, a little less are Dominican and then various central and South American countries represented more or less equally,” says El Planeta’s Publisher Javier Marin. He says that the diversity of the community the paper serves is reflected in the editorial: “We make a real effort to engage our readers through surveys, contests and sometimes focus groups. The end result is that the paper is a reflection of the readers’ interests, rather than a reflection of the publisher’s view of what is important.”
The paper also publishes what Marin describes as a social magazine, Entre Amigos, translated “Between Friends,” and Sus Deportes, translated “Your Sports.” In June it is launching Salud y Familia, translated “Health and Family.” Marin says that the key to the company’s expansion has been serving different target audiences, which in turn yields different advertisers.
Top 5 Categories in Mass. Hispanic Print
Category |
1. Media |
2. Financial |
3. Retail |
4. Telecomm |
5. CPGs |
Source: Portada Ad-Tracking
Connecticut:
Connecticut has long been considered a stronghold of middle and upper-middle class white people. And it is. But it also has a considerable Hispanic presence in places like Hartford, New Haven and other urban centers. As a result, various publications have sprouted up over the years to cater to these growing Hispanic communities.
Mediaspace Solutions is a newspaper representation firm that operates out of Norwalk Connecticut. It works with 317 Hispanic daily newspapers with a combined circulation of 14.2 million. “Connecticut is not a big Hispanic print market,” says Jose Rodriguez, VP of research and planning. “It’s a smaller state, split between the NY DMA and Hartford DMA. In general, however, we’ve found the papers good to work with, offering responsive readers and good rates.” Rodriguez says that he would like to see the newspapers’ websites develop more so they can serve as more viable ad-vehicles. The chart below lists the state’s Hispanic newspapers, only five of which have websites.
Newspaper |
City |
URL |
El Canillita |
Bethel |
|
Enfoque – Latin |
Stamford |
|
Identidad Latina |
West Hartford |
|
La Voz Hispana De Connecticut |
New Haven |
|
Los Andes |
New Haven |
|
Registro |
New Haven |
|
Tiempo |
Meriden |
|
Tribuna |
Danbury |
While many of Connecticut’s Hispanic newspapers cater to working class readers, Identidad Latina (50,000, biweekly, Spanish) focuses on educated, affluent Hispanic professionals.
Philadelphia:
Philadelphia’s Hispanic community is overwhelmingly Puerto Rican, numbering just under 100,000 during the last census. The next largest Hispanic group is Mexican, about 7,000 of whom were counted during the same period. The remainder of Philadelphia’s Hispanics is a mix of Dominicans, Cubans and Colombians.
Al Dia Philadelphia (50,000, weekly, Spanish,) distributes in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware. Its editorial covers both local and national news as well as news from Puerto Rico and Latin America. The paper has a rate of $80 CPM.
Recently, the paper has been making strides in developing its online presence. As Publisher Hernan Guaracao told Portada, “It’s not enough simply to take our offline content and make it available online. We’re making a real effort to utilize the digital medium in a way that maximizes its capabilities.” He points to the “Latino Power Lunch” pod-cast on Al Dia’s website, which features prominent Hispanic businessmen speaking on a wide range of topics from the current business climate to keys to success.
El Hispano (48,000, Weekly, Bilingual) is Philadelphia’s second largest Hispanic weekly and has been publishing for over thirty years. Publisher Aaron Lopez says that they try to distinguish themselves from the competition by publishing bilingually and including at least 12 pages of color per issue: “Most of the other papers are either all English, or all Spanish. We go after the 2nd and 3rd generations who read mostly in English, as well as those who prefer Spanish; and people seem to really enjoy the color section.” The paper’s biggest advertiser is Macy’s, who led national Hispanic ROP advertising in the U.S. last year, investing approximately $6.7 million. McDonald’s runs 8-page coupon booklets as inserts. Local and national advertising is split evenly, according to Lopez. El Hispano used to be associated with the Philadelphia Enquirer, which Lopez says was a valuable experience organizationally.
According to American Multicultural Media’s Michael Vinales, the reason that Philadelphia has so many Hispanic papers is because they are serving many smaller markets outside of urban Philadelphia. “While Al Dia and El Hispano enjoy the largest distribution, there is room for a lot of these other papers to exist because they serve very specific second tier Pennsylvania markets,” says Vinales. “Allentown is a good example. Though it does not have a Hispanic population that comes close to rivaling that of Philadelphia, it is sizable nonetheless. Also, if you’re a retailer, you don’t want to just go after the paper with the biggest circulation, but after the one which serves the community in the store’s vicinity.”
New Jersey:
New Jersey has a thriving Hispanic print market, second only to New York’s in the Northeast. In fact, Northern New Jersey is considered to be part of the New York DMA due to its proximity. Taking advantage of this fact, print rep firm Metrosuburbia represents Hispanic newspapers in both New York and New Jersey and offers a combined buy to advertisers seeking total market coverage. The company now represents three Spanish-language newspapers in New Jersey: Nuestra Comunidad, El Nuevo and Su Guia.
Nuestra Comunidad (90,000, weekly, Spanish) serves central New Jersey and is published by Gannet. It is home delivered to Hispanic households every Thursday and is CAC-audited. Editorial coverage includes news, politics, sports and entertainment. It has a readership of over 220,000.
El Nuevo (87,313, weekly, Spanish) is published by El Nuevo Group and is distributed in Hudson, Essex, Passaic and Union Counties. The paper is delivered by mail to Hispanic households every Thursday.
Su Guia (33,555, weekly, Spanish) is the Spanish language affiliate of the Bergen Record. It is carrier delivered to Hispanic households on Fridays.
David Seide, research and marketing manager of Metrosuburbia notes, “Adding the New Jersey publications to one’s New York buy is a great way for advertisers to achieve a regional presence in a high-value Latino market.”
Two popular papers are El Especial(65,000) and El Especialito(105,000, weekly, Spanish). El Especial has a cover price of $0.50, while El Especialito is free. El Especial publishes one edition for all of New York and New Jersey, while El Especialito has slightly different editorial and advertising for the different neighborhoods it serves.
El Especialito is distributed in Hudson, Passaic and Essex Counties in New Jersey. It also distributes in Washington Heights and Jackson Heights in the Bronx. In June, The Ibarria Group, which publishes El Especialito, launched Personalidades (25,000, biweekly, Hudson County Spanish), a new biweekly paper to complement its other two papers. The paper is distributed for free in Hudson County. The company has also expanded into Miami, Florida, in recent years.
New York:
New York is home to approximately 4.2 million Hispanics and 1.2 million Hispanic households. According a 2006 Synovate report, the median household income of NY Hispanics is about $39,000. Hispanic buying power in NY is $78.4 billion. Ethnically, New York’s Hispanics are predominantly Puerto Rican, accounting for about a third of all Hispanics in the area.
|
Circulation |
Distribution |
Frequency |
Language |
Cover Price |
Full Page Ad |
HOY |
60,000 |
Drop |
Daily |
Spanish |
Free |
NA |
El Diario/La Prensa |
57,550 |
Drop |
Daily |
Spanish |
$0.50-0.75 |
$5,325 |
Hora Hispana |
250,000 |
Delivered |
Weekly |
Spanish |
Free |
$2500-7500 |
Viva NY |
688,000 |
ROP-Daily News |
Monthly |
Bilingual |
$0.50 |
$10,000-20,000 |
NY Tempo |
680,000 |
ROP-Post |
Monthly |
Bilingual |
$0.25 |
Open Rate: $47.76 |
El Especialito |
150,000 |
Drop |
Weekly |
Spanish |
Free |
NA |
El Aguila |
30,000 |
Drop |
Bi-weekly |
Bilingual |
Free |
NA |
Impacto Latin News |
57,000 |
Drop |
Weekly |
Spanish |
$0.50 |
$3,234 |
New York has two Hispanic dailies, both owned by Impremedia: El Diario/La Prensa and Hoy, which was purchased from Tribune in February of 2007. In all, national advertisers spent almost $7.5 million on ROP advertising in NY in 2006.
El Diario/La Prensa is a Spanish-language daily with drop distribution at local newsstands and shops. Its cover price is between $0.50-$0.75, depending on whether it is the weekday or the weekend edition. It has a pass-along rate of five readers per copy, and a paid circulation of 57,550 readers.
Hoy is a Spanish Language daily with a circulation of about 60,000, single copy. It recently changed to a free publication. It is drop distributed at area newsstands and racks. It also has a weekend product called Hoy Fin de Semana, or Hoy Weekend. The paper’s features include local, national and international news, entertainment, sports and classifieds.
One growing area of New York’s Hispanic print market is in directories publishing:
In 2006, independent Spanish-language directory company Sección Amarilla announced the release of seven directories covering the New York area: Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Rockland, Westchester, New Jersey and Long Island, reaching nearly 4 million Hispanics. Sección Amarilla has over 100 years of experience in the Spanish Yellow Pages market and prints 23 million books annually, including over 179 different types of directories. It has also recently launched in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Lima, Peru and is known to Hispanics around the world.
Sección Amarilla entered the United States Market in October 2006 when Telmex, the parent company of Sección Amarilla, formed a strategic alliance with Blue Equity, LLC. Blue Equity's affiliate previously published the Enlace Spanish Yellow Pages, which had a national distribution of Spanish language directories that reached over half of the total U.S. Hispanic population with markets in 18 states. Telmex re-branded the Enlace directories with the distinguished Sección Amarilla name and expanded distribution to markets in over 20 states.
Washington DC
The District of Columbia’s Hispanic population stands at just over 8.5%. D.C.’s Latino makeup differs from much of the rest of U.S. in that it is largely Central American – particularly Salvadoran – and not Mexican, Puerto Rican or Dominican. Johnny Yataco, president of the Washington Hispanic (55,000, weekly, Spanish), says that another singular aspect of D.C.’s Latino community is that, “You have a mix of well-educated professionals working in government or for NGOs, as well as working class readers. We try to give a little bit to everyone. For the professionals, we distribute the Wall Street Journal Latin America as part of the paper. On the other hand, we also have a lot of local content, like entertainment news and sports coverage.”
Washington Hispanic distributes not only in D.C. (9,000), but also in Maryland (20,000) and Virginia (26,000). Local news is the primary focus, while international news and national news follow. The paper subscribes to Agence France-Presse and Reuters, and also uses Newscom’s a la carte news service. The local/national advertising breakdown is about 85% to 15%. “This is changing, however,” says Yataco. “More and more, we are seeing national advertisers approach us looking to place. Even though we don’t have the numbers that some other cities do, strategically, we find that advertisers are keen to reach D.C.-area Hispanics.
Washington DC’s other Hispanic paper is Tiempo Latino (60,000, weekly, Spanish). The paper has been ABC audited for 14 years. According to Ad Director Zulema Tijero, the paper’s advertising is predominantly national, making up approximately 60% of the total. Among the primary advertisers are major banks, retailers and wireless companies. Home Depot and Rite Aid are quite active in placing inserts. “In general, we’ve taken quite a hit in ROP advertising – down 40% year over year – while our inserts have increased by about 50% in the same period,” notes Tijero. She adds that the classifieds section remains very healthy, averaging 12-18 pages each week. “Still, it seems radio is taking up a large share of our national advertising, taking the State Farms, the Fords, and the Allstates away from us. Fast food restaurants have been quite active. McDonald’s is huge, and Papa John’s runs a lot of inserts. “One of the most drastic changes, says Tijero, is entertainment industry investment: “I’ve spoken with a lot of the agencies and they just aren’t placing. Over the last few years, entertainment was our strength. We haven’t seen six placements all year. My sense is that many are going online.” Tijero also cites a steep decline in the real estate category.
Northern Lights…
Given the broad swathe of land and the multitude of Hispanic ethnicities that the Northeast encompasses, there is no template for success in this growing marketplace. Rather, the needs of each individual market dictate the recipes for success. While the New York DMA, which encompasses all of Metropolitan New York and some parts of Connecticut and New Jersey, is highly developed owing to large Hispanic populations, other areas such as Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are still in their nascent stages, as demographics do not warrant area-specific publications – yet. However, as these populations grow in number, we will see Massachusetts-area pubs expand distribution until there is enough of a market for homegrown publications to launch and vie for their local market share.