Arbitron Releases New Hispanic Radio Study

About 95% of Hispanic consumers tune to the radio in an average week, underscoring a strong relationship with an important and growing listener segment. Radio listenership among Hispanic consumers is bigger than other ethnic groups measured by Arbitron. Radio remains a reliable entertainment and information source for Hispanic listeners, regardless of their language preference, country of origin, age, gender, income, or listening location.

Radio’s reach among 25-54 Hispanic listeners is even better, reaching nearly 97% of women 35-44 weekly. In an era where all consumers are presented with many media choices, time spent listening to radio among Hispanic persons is holding steady (and in some cases, increasing) in key demographics.

This year’s Hispanic Radio Today has detailed analyses for the 12 most popular formats according to Average Quarter-Hour share, plus abbreviated analysis for five additional Spanish-language formats that achieve an AQH share of up to 2.0. For the first time, the study also shows the AQH proportion of language preference (English-dominant vs. Spanish-dominant) for each format.

Some highlights of the formats in this year’s study (listed in order of Average Quarter-Hour audience share and appearance in the study):

• Mexican Regional remains far and away the most popular choice of Hispanic listeners by nearly twice the share of the second-largest format. The format draws young listeners (mostly men) of Mexican descent and is a popular out-of-home listening choice.
• Spanish Contemporary + Spanish Hot Adult Contemporary is another strong out-of-home performer and is slightly more popular among women than men. A growing number of listeners to these formats comes from higher income households.
• Pop Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR), the No. 3 format among all audiences based on AQH, is similarly ranked among Hispanic listeners. Just like with the general market, Pop CHR is popular among Hispanic women, especially those who primarily speak English.
• Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) remains the most ethnically-diverse format among all listeners and remains very popular among young Hispanic listeners. Listeners to this format are among the most tech-savvy in this study.
• Adult Contemporary + Soft Adult Contemporary’s share of audience tapered slightly this year, matching the format’s trend in the general market. It remains a strong midday performer and its listeners are well educated and live in high income households.
• Spanish Adult Hits, which tends to be most popular in Western markets, has nearly half of its audience between 35–54 years old.
• Country + New Country, America’s No. 1 format, continues to be a popular choice among English-dominant Hispanic listeners, especially women.
• Classic Hits remains most popular with men, particularly Spanish-dominant Hispanic men.
• News/Talk/Information + Talk/Personality feature the highest proportion of English-dominant Hispanic listeners. These listeners are also the best educated and live in the highest-income households of all formats in the study.
• Spanish Tropical, a popular choice of Hispanic listeners of Caribbean descent, saw a significant rebound in this year’s study.

Arbitron subsriber's can get the detailed report here.