Yumpin Yiminee

[SouthernJet]

Rapid Growth For Spanish-Speaking Television News

Univision At 6 p.m. More Popular in NYC Than CBS, NBC & ABC

TEANECK, N.J. (AP) ― On an evening its rivals were preoccupied with Christie Brinkley's divorce and the capture of a Brooklyn murder suspect, New York's WXTV led its local news with a story about graffiti saying "Get out of the USA" painted near a Peruvian restaurant on Long Island.

The Spanish-speaking Univision affiliate figured it was a more meaningful story for its audience, and those kind of choices are paying off.

Within the past few months, WXTV's 6 p.m. newscast has eclipsed its English-speaking competitors on ABC, CBS and NBC stations in popularity among viewers younger than 49. Sister station KMEX in Los Angeles had more viewers in June for its newscast than any of its English competitors, regardless of age, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Spanish-speaking news outlets all across the country have grown to become major players in their markets and all trends indicate that growth is only going to continue.

"It talks about how the United States is changing," said Ray Rodriguez, president and chief operating officer of Univision Communications Inc., the stations' parent company. "It's a bigger story than just television."

[DMaynard]

That is really great. All of the immigrants to this country from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, etc. who learned the English language were quite foolish. The Spanish speaking immigrants (legal and otherwise), have stood their ground and demanded that Spanish become a co-language of this country. The extent of their laziness is to be admired.