Hispanic magazines posted an average 24 percent increase
in advertising revenue in 2003, far outpacing ad growth
in general market publications, according to Fort Lauderdale’s
Media Economics Group.
"The attention to the Hispanic market is paying off
with increased dollars going into the market," said
Carlos Pelay, president of Media Economics, which monitors
58 Spanish-language publications in its Hispanic Magazine
Monitor service.
Preliminary 2003 estimates show that the 58 magazines
netted 11,230 ad pages, up by 6.5 percent from 2002. Ad
revenue totaled about $145.9 million, up by 23.7 percent.
Top destinations for ad dollars were People en espaqol,
Latina and Selecciones.
According
to the Publishers Information Bureau, the advertisingdollars
spent in general market publications rose 8.6 percent through
November 2003 over the same period of 2002, while the number
of ad pages was down 0.5 percent.
Automotive ads drove the increase in Spanish-language
ads, Pelay said. General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler
and Toyota all significantly upped their budgets, with
GM laying out $4.4 million more -- a boost of 166 percent
-- on Hispanic magazine ads than in 2002.
Pelay
noted that the universe of Spanish-language publications
is expanding, with American Media Inc.`s launch last year
of Shape en espaqol and soon to come Men’s Fitness
en espaqol.
"Other general market titles are also considering
launching Spanish-language versions or versions in English
for the Hispanic market," he said.
Hispanic
Magazines’ Advertising Revenue Tops that of General
Market Publications, Miami Herald