TransCity

The FIFA World Cup scored for Spanish-language media in the United States, as spending skyrocketed over 20% in the first half of 2006, according to both TNS Media Intelligence and Nielsen Monitor-Plus figures. Both companies attribute the surge to the world’s largest sports tournament.

And according to TNS, ad outlays on Spanish-language TV, magazines and newspapers jumped 20.5%, or $409 million, over the first half of last year to a total of $2.4 billion. “Spanish-language media was one of the fastest-growing media in the first half of 2006,” said Steven Fredericks, president-CEO of TNS Media Intelligence.

One of the challenges of measuring the Hispanic market is that not all media researchers’ figures agree. Nielsen, which only provided figures for TV, reported that spending on Spanish-language TV rose by 21.8 %, or $270 million, to $1.5 billion in the first half. But the increase doesn’t seem quite as extreme when compared with previous Nielsen estimates that showed spending on Spanish-language TV increased 15% in 2005 over the first half of 2004.

Mr. Fredericks of TNS said the spending on Spanish-language network and cable TV was up 23.9% in the first half of 2006, heavily driven by World Cup packages. They were sold to advertisers by Univision, which broadcast all the World Cup games in June and July as well as heavy pre-World Cup soccer coverage.

The premium that marketers put on the World Cup - and on the Hispanic market - is clear. General Motors Corp., for instance, boosted spending on Spanish-language TV 24.2% during the first half of 2006 and became the second largest advertiser in the Hispanic market (trailing only Procter & Gamble Co.). But GM cut general-market TV total ad outlays 3% for the same period, according to Nielsen figures.

Source: Willow Duttge, Advertising Age.