USHCC: Campaigns Not Showing Spanish-Language Media Enough Love

Chamber releases Kantar study showing ad spend did not square with power and volume of Hispanic electorate

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/16/2012 10:22:28 AM

Total political ad spending on Spanish-language media accounted for only 6.2% of the total political ad spend pie in 10 key states, or $47.2 million out of a total of $763 million, although Hispanic voters made up over 10% of the electorate.

That was among the findings of a study of political ad spending in those states by Kantar Media for a report, Speak Our Language, issued by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) on Friday.

The chamber was not happy with the disparity, pointing that that came "despite the pivotal role Hispanic voters played in the 2012 election."

The study looked at political spending from Jan. 1 through Nov. 6, 2012, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Texas and Virginia. It did not break out the spending by category -- TV, radio, online, print, etc.

The winner and still-President Barack Obama and his supporters did spend more than there opponent on Spanish-language media, $12.5 million or over 20% more than the $10.3 million Mitt Romney and his supporters invested in the space. The overwhelming majority of that spending came in five markets -- Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando and Tampa -- with Miami alone getting over $8 million of that spending.

The president also got more bang for his buck, getting 15,355 ads almost twice those of Romney at 8,697.

Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of the USHCC, said in announcing the study that there is no right level of spending on Spanish-language, media, but suggested this was the wrong one. "From the beginning it was clear Hispanic voters would play a pivotal role this election. Indeed, Time Magazine ran its first ever Spanish-language cover to emphasize how important the Hispanic voter would be," he said, "yet neither party seems to have fully gotten the message. Investment in Spanish-language advertising is a mere fraction of what it should be."