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Among networks, Spanish-language Univision is now a top contender

Univision has surpassed the networks in young adult viewership, according to recent Nielsen ratings. This prominence of Spanish-language media has some concerned about the cultural isolation of Hispanic immigrants.

from the September 17, 2007 edition

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But those getting their news from Spanish-language media aren't necessarily linguistically isolated. Pew found that nearly half of the adult Hispanic population turns to both English and Spanish media.

These bilinguals "are getting a broader view," says Ms. Villafañe, who points out that many people turn to stations like Univision to get more international news.

Univision's strong ratings, particularly among young adults, are partly demographic destiny. There are now 42 million Latinos in America, and their median age is 27, compared with 36 in the general population.

The media habits of Hispanics also bolster Univision. Television remains a family-viewing activity, helping the network capture younger viewers who are watching news and telenovelas with parents, says Albarran.

At the same time, the major networks are losing their audiences to cable and the Internet, but the Spanish-speaking community remains behind that technological curve. "They are still more loyal to broadcast television," Villafañe says.

That loyalty put Univision on top for the week of Aug. 27 through Sept. 3 among 18- to 34-year-olds, edging out the nearest competitor FOX.

Some skeptics say Nielsen fails to factor in whether a person is US-born or not. Nielsen does not ask the question to avoid scaring immigrants from taking part. Instead, the company asks what languages a person speaks.

"What shows people watch has nothing to do with language, it has to do with nativity," argues Robert Rose, a TV producer who founded the group Help! Change TV to push Nielsen to change its sample. He says self-reported language abilities are not hard data, and he suspects Nielsen is undersampling US-born Latinos.

Nielsen responded that its own research indicates that language is in fact a better predictor of TV habits.

Mr. Rose and others say second- and third-generation Latinos – many of whom watch both English and Spanish programs – remain underserved.

"Because [producers] assume the real Latinos just watch Spanish-language TV, when they do put a Latino in their shows it's usually a stereotypical representation," says Rose. That leaves younger US-born Latinos stuck: "Their parents' TV is corny, but on English-language shows they are just the drug dealer or the maid."

 

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