Hispanic Titles Jump in Circ

“Traditional” print media may be suffering, but titles aimed at Latinos continue to grow.

By T.J. Raphael 08/08/2012 -04:45 PM

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, those of Hispanic descent will likely make up one-third of the U.S. population by the year 2050. The most recent census data shows that this demographic grew by a whopping 50 million or 43 percent in the last 10 years to make up about 17 percent of the total U.S. population. One in six Americans, says the Census Bureau, is now of Hispanic descent.

It’s not surprising, then, that Latin-themed magazines are not being as greatly impacted by the great media realignment as others, and one possible reason media companies are clamoring to reach these audiences. Take About.com, which the New York Times Company announced it would sell this week, for example. It introduced About en Español early last year, and according to the company, the U.S. Hispanic About.com user is more likely to be a younger, single female.

“This is a very exciting market for advertisers,” then-About.com CEO Cella Irvine told AD.

The majority of all Hispanic or Latin-themed titles included in the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s most recent Fas-Fax report released Tuesday show something interesting, almost unusual in this day and age: this audience segment wants to consume printed media, and does so in the form of magazines.

Total paid and verified circulation for Hearst’s Cosmopolitan en Español increased by an average 54.7 percent for the six-month period ending June 30, when compared to the same time last year, with its ratebase going to 150,000. For the same period, Poder Hispanic increased its total paid and verified circulation by 54.5 percent—bumping its total circulation to more than 400,000.

Newsweek Latin America saw a 10.8 percent increase in its total paid and verified circulation, with paid subscriptions increasing by 15.9 percent. In contrast, Newsweek saw a decline of 0.2 percent in total paid and verified circulation when comparing the same periods.

Meredith’s women’s general interest title Siempre Mujer saw a similar increase in its total paid and verified circulation, increasing by 10 percent. Soap opera title TV y Novelas Estados Unidos also saw an increase by 11.4 percent for a total of 221,827.

Women’s magazine Vanidades increased its total paid and verified circulation by 10.7 percent and People en Español increased its total paid and verified circulation by 3 percent.

While the numbers are up, there were some downsides for this market demographic—newsstand sales. Cosmopolitan en Español saw a 7.5 percent drop in single copies, Newsweek Latin America dropped by 16.2 percent in single copies, Poder Hispanic by 27.4 percent and Siempre Mujer by 17.8 percent.

Vanidades lost 1.8 percent at retail, while newsstand sales for People en Español decreased by 19.7 percent. The Economist Latin America Edition saw across the board decreases, dropping its total paid and verified circulation by 15.4 percent and single copies falling by 12.4 percent.

TV y Novelas Estados Unidos was one of the only titles to see an increase at retail, rising by 1.4 percent.

When looking at the big picture, however, one needs to consider why newsstand sales are down but total circ is up for this category. I speculate that availability in stores could be one reason, coupled with the fact that Borders closed. Yet, it is possible more people would rather be subscirbers than purchase single issues.

Generating more customers. For the consumer magazine industry, that might be the best piece of good news to come out of these ABC figures.

*Editorial research assistance provided Caysey Welton.