Collection Spotlight: Getting in Touch with Hispanic Radio
by Michael Pasqualoni, Librarian for the Newhouse School of Public Communications
Learning first-hand how and from where media practitioners draw information offers librarians valuable feedback within our academic efforts at Syracuse University, allowing us to keep pace with changing industries and communities. At the most recent American Library Association Annual Conference in San Diego, as part of my chairing a communications studies committee within the Association of College & Research Libraries, I arranged a tour with the director of sales at Univision in June 2024 at Qué Buena 106.5 and Amor 102.9, Spanish language radio stations with headquarters at One America Plaza. Librarians from Queens (NY), Springfield (MA), Syracuse (NY) and San Jose (CA) participated.
During the tour, research staff at Univision showered us with data about Hispanic media audiences. I was impressed by the data shared, which included sources that are available at Syracuse University Libraries’ through our licensed database collections. Data revealed the powerful voice represented by Hispanic audiences. Following are key insights with sources:
- By 2030, projections indicate 21% of the U.S. population will be Hispanic.
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Public Law Redistricting Data File (P.L. 94-171) Summary File] - The top 20 U.S. media markets are increasingly Hispanic, and examples shared by Televisa Univision include Miami – 53%; Los Angeles – 46%; Phoenix – 28%; New York – 25%; Chicago – 23%, as well as markets like Fresno, Bakersfield and San Antonio – all well above 50%.
[Source: U.S. Census 2010/2020 *DMA defined by county according to Nielsen DMA County breakdowns]. *DMA’s with split counties (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Sacramento and Bakersfield) are adjusted based on Claritas population distribution for Hispanic and Non-Hispanic for each county that is split between two DMA’s] - 25% of the Gen Z population [ages 13-24] and 22% of the Millennial population [ages 25-44] are Hispanic.
[Source: US Census Bureau, “Projected Population by Demographic Characteristics (Single Year of Age) and Nativity”, Model 2017, Revision 2019.] - Radio reaches more Hispanics every month than any other media platform.
[Source: Nielsen NPOWER, Nielsen RADAR, Nielsen Total Media Fusion - Q1 2023] - Social media is the main source of information for all adult Gen Zs.
[Source: Insider Intelligence | e Marketer, “ Gen Z Technology and Media Preferences.” December 2023] - 69% of Hispanic parents shopped at online retailers for their back-to-school shopping and 61% did so on a mobile device.
[Source: Mintel. Back-to-School Shopping: K-12 - US – 2024. Base: Internet Users Age 18+ with children living in the household who participated in back-to-school shopping for 2023-2024 for K-12.] - Hispanics are 109% more likely than non-Hispanics to start or buy a new business in the next year AND 85% more likely than non-Hispanics to graduate from college/school within the next year.
[Source: 2024 Winter MRI-Simmons USA, U.S. A18+. Very likely to statements above]
When reviewing data presentations shared by media industry practitioners, it’s important to pay attention to footnotes revealing the data sources. Typically source information will be accessible through an academic library. However, sometimes industry source information may be proprietary and, therefore, is not licensed to institutions or research libraries. Categories of less obtainable data can include things like Neilsen ratings, wherein absent special partnerships, aggregators of detailed ratings/viewership/listenership data cannot share that content with organizations who are not a direct client. Some library research guides, like this guide for film and television maintained at UCLA, highlight common access roadblocks that are only available for specific industries and not regularly licensed to academic libraries (for example SNL Kagan or IMDB Pro).
Those obstacles to accessing source data means that sometimes academic researchers must rely on media use and trends data shared in secondary trade publications, like those in several industry and market research databases. To probe secondary mentions of media audiences and accompanying data, Syracuse University users can explore licensed access to the publications like Adweek and Advertising Age {see the “Data Center” available within Advertising Age}. Richard K. Miller & Associates [RKMA] generate annual reports, in the form of large PDFs. See their report series entitled Entertainment & Leisure Market Research and Sports Marketing. For a variety of data tables compiled, sometimes there are demographic breakouts of data specific to Hispanic consumers (alongside other racial and ethnic categories).
Syracuse University has numerous data tools for the media industry. For example, as part of the Qué Buena 106.5 and Amor 102.9 tour, the following sources were referenced:
- Insider Intelligence eMarketer: Enter a search query for terms like “Hispanic” or a combination of the terms “Hispanic” and “Media,” or search “Radio,” or a search query for any consumer-oriented product or service. In eMarketer you can filter results by categories connected to ethnicity and race.
- Mintel Reports: Drill down into various reports or insights-related analysis and industry news, with a focus on Hispanics and media, or Hispanics and a wide variety of consumer services or products. In addition to entering a search query for the term “Hispanic,” you can also select from the pull-down menu labeled “Demographics,” then choose the “Multicultural” checkbox.
- MRI Simmons: A consumer survey data platform, but with a slightly steeper learning curve. There are many brand and product categories that can be cross tabulated against adult survey respondents who indicate they are of Spanish or Hispanic origin. A feature in MRI Simmons called “Brand Catalyst” allows rapid generation of data visualizations showing media viewing or listening preferences and additional product category preferences for survey respondents who indicate they are of Spanish, Hispanic or Latino origin or descent. User guides and video tutorials are embedded on the SU Libraries MRI Simmons guide. When using the resource, click on the question mark icon near the upper right corner to access help and tutorials.
- Census Data: In addition to the SU Libraries guide for U.S. Census data, various third-party databases support access to retrieving current and historical United States Census data, as well as creation of maps. Databases to consider include Social Explorer, ProQuest Statistical Insight, Sage Data, SimplyAnalytics or PolicyMap.
- When looking at research tied in with any ethnic or racial demographic group, you can also explore the numeric data within the database Statista. Statista is also one of several SU Libraries licensed databases incorporating an artificial intelligence function. Using the feature Statista Research AI, you can ask a natural language phrased question or request, such as: show me some trends regarding Hispanics and their radio listening habits. This will generate a short essay revealing key data about the topic, including transparency pertaining to identification of the underlying sources the platform has used to generate the narrative it composes.
For those studying or researching media at Syracuse University, you may also look within databases from Communication Source (Ebsco), Taylor & Francis Online Journals or Scopus, or doctoral dissertations within ProQuest Dissertations, or data sets in resources like A to Z list of databases containing numeric data. Of course, you can also reach out to a subject specialist librarian for assistance.
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