No Minor Market
Fast-Growing Hispanic Audience Offers Opportunities, Challenges
By Tim Kridel -- Multichannel News, 8/26/2007 6:00:00 PM MT
If you live in the United States and you're under 18, there's a one-in-five chance that you're Hispanic, according to the Census Bureau. And those chances are only likely to increase, as Hispanics accounted for about half of U.S. population growth since 2000. None of which is lost on programmers targeting younger viewers.
“If you look at the demographics of homes with children ages 2-5, 30% classify themselves as Hispanic,” said Sandy Wax, president of PBS Kids Sprout, whose video-on-demand lineup includes 10-15 hours of Spanish-language programming.
To serve that market, many networks are launching or expanding Spanish-language programming. One example is Handy Manny on Disney Channel's “Playhouse Disney” block.
“It attracted a significant amount of preschool Hispanic viewers,” said Scott Garner, Disney Channel senior vice president of programming. “We also aired the Cheetah Girls movie completely in Spanish. That's being driven totally by the fact that the makeup of the U.S. population has shifted. This fall, we're going to release Wizards of Waverly Place, which features a Latino cast.”
The growing number of Hispanic kids also makes the demographic attractive to advertisers and marketers, another reason this market segment is a priority for some networks.
“I am sure that networks are targeting this audience because in a couple of years they will become an important viewer who will undoubtedly have an impact on the purchasing dynamics of the household,” said Maria Urquiaga, general project director of Mexicanal.
A CROWDED FIELD
Some multichannel providers are eager for more Hispanic kids programming — to the point that it creates a rare opportunity for new entrants in an already crowded market. One example is Verizon Communications, whose FiOS TV service has four kids channels — Sopresa, Toon Disney, La Familia Cosmovision and Discovery Kids — in its Spanish tier.
Tricia Lynch, director of FiOS programming, told Multichannel News in January: “I'm glad that we ha ve the four that we do, but I'd like to see more. We'd definitely look at anyone who has new Spanish-language kids programming.”
But simply translating shows into Spanish doesn't guarantee success. That's because although first-generation immigrant parents often prefer Spanish-language programming, their kids often are equally fluent in both languages.
For the youngest demos, the choice often is made by an adult rather than the child.
“It's something that young children and their older siblings or caregivers can watch together,” said Rick Rodriguez, president and general manager of Qubo, which targets kids 4-8. “Maybe the child isn't necessarily going to choose the Spanish version, but the caregiver might be more comfortable with [it] and watch with their child.”
The target audience's age is a major factor in determining their interest in English-language programming, with bilingual fluency kicking in around elementary school or later.
“First-generation children's first language is Spanish,” Urquiaga said. “They learn it from the time they are born to the time they go to school. Unless they have peers who already speak English in the household — which is not very common — children will go for at least three years of their lives without speaking a word of English.”
But once they start going to school, English becomes a bigger part of their lives, and a bigger influence on their viewing habits.
“These kids will go to school, learn English and then come home and speak Spanish,” Urquiaga said. “They are completely bilingual most of the time. They will enjoy watching programs in both languages.”
Nickelodeon has a similar view.
“They seamlessly move from one to the other,” said Dan Martinsen, executive vice president of corporate communications. “Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go are the No. 1 shows 2-5 with all households and Latino households.”
Some kids, tweens and teens may seek out English-language programming because that's what their non-immigrant friends watch or because they see it as an easy way to improve their language skills.
“No matter how long they've been here, Hispanic families are concerned about keeping their cultural identity,” Rodriguez said. “So watching children's programming together is one way to ensure that their child is exposed to a more sophisticated level of language than what they might hear in the household or with their friends.”
Personal and cultural variables make the Hispanic kids market a complex one for programmers, with no one-size-fits-all answers.
“It's a big mistake to think of the Hispanic audience as uniform,” said Sprout's Wax. “There are definite differences in terms of country of origin and level of culturation.”
One advantage kids' programmers have over networks targeting adults is that certain themes — such as respect, sharing and friendship — are attractive to parents of any background. So by focusing on those messages, which have been staples of kids programming for decades, there's a good chance that their programs will attract a share of the Hispanic market.
“Family is a value that cuts across every culture,” said Scholastic Media vice president of television development and programming Jef Kaminsky.
Another obvious option is to add Hispanic characters, not simply as a blatant play for that audience, but rather as an acknowledgement that many viewers have friends of different ethnicities.
“Rather than focus on one group, we look to our diversity program to make sure that our programming is reflective of our audience,” said Stuart Snyder, the new executive vice president and chief operating officer of Turner Broadcasting's Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media Group.
THE WORLD WIDE WEB
Some kids' networks are using their Web sites to target Hispanics and other demographics. One example is Disney, whose Web site offers shows in French, German, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.
“It's no secret that a lot of people who emigrated to this country use television to build up their English skills and to help acculturate into American culture,” Garner said. “Maybe what they're watching on the linear feed, they want to see more of on-line, and perhaps in the language that they first learned.”
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