Over the past decade or so, Hispanic women have moved away from English broadcast TV, cutting their consumption almost by half, per data from a Nielsen report [download page] on the Latina population. Their English broadcast TV minutes have declined by 39 minutes to an average of about 44 minutes, but their time spent watching Spanish-language broadcast TV has increased by a little more than 15 minutes to an average of 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Consumption of Spanish-language broadcast TV continues to outpace any other TV category among adult Hispanic women. It remains slightly ahead of English cable viewing, which has itself increased by almost a quarter-hour, to about 1-and-a-half hours. Spanish-language broadcast TV shows continue to be among the most engaging broadcast TV programs (of any language), according to weekly Rentrak data tracked by MarketingCharts.
Meanwhile, adult Latinas are watching more Spanish-language cable, although it still remains a fraction of their TV viewing, at roughly 15 minutes. Overall, Latinas’ TV viewing time has increased by slightly more than 15 minutes between 2003 and 2013, to roughly 5 hours, as gains across Spanish-language TV and English cable have more than offset the decline in English broadcast TV minutes. (The 2013 data includes DVR playback, while the 2003 data is based on live viewing only.)
Separately, the Nielsen study indicates that Hispanic women’s brand recall is twice as high in Spanish as English TV. The researchers attribute the increased brand recall not necessarily to language, but to the heightened relevance of the content and advertising found on Spanish-language TV. Indeed, a study released last year by Yahoo! Insights found that ethnicity plays a significant role in how Hispanics perceive marketing directed at them, as well as how they decide on purchases.
Advertising dollars are flowing into Spanish-language TV, according to Kantar Media data, with this segment the fastest-growing of all TV segments in 2012 and the first quarter of this year.
