Hispanic Listening: PPM Isn't As Kind To Country As Diaries Were

Hispanic Radio Today 2010 is just out from Arbitron (click to download the pdf) and it offers a detailed look at the radio listening habits and consumer insight among U.S. Hispanics.

First, let me correct the record now that we have the full results.

Two weeks ago I predicted that country's share of Hispanic listening in the report was going to be down into the two's. That's only partially true, as the diary markets in the national averages rescued us more than just a little bit (click the graphics to enlarge them).

Are we a 2.3? Or a 5.3 share of their listening??

In 2011, let's resolve to understand why the PPM panel seems to under-represent country's ethnic listening, especially from the 2010 census' fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population ... or were Hispanics writing in diaries listening they didn't actually do?

Seems unlikely to me.

Is The Country Format's Share Of Hispanic Listening Shrinking?

Is country radio's share of Hispanic listening in 2010 going to be down to merely a two share? That's what I heard last week at the annual ARB Programming Fly-In.

Even with numerous media alternatives through which consumers can entertain and inform themselves, radio’s overall reach among Hispanic listeners has remained between 94% and 96% ever since Arbitron's annual "Hispanic Radio Today" studies began in Spring 2001.

2010's update is coming soon and I hear that it continues to validate that Hispanics remain the fastest growing population group, America's heaviest radio users (those figures have decreased less than 1% over the last decade).

Among Spanish-dominant Hispanics, radio’s reach in 2008, for example, was 95%, and it was more than 93% with English-dominant Hispanics.

Last year's report showed growth in country radio's share of Hispanic listening to a 2.9, but whispers coming out of ARB hint that the news is not so good (if you want to call less than a three share 'good') for country radio in this year's update.

Whether Spanish-dominant or English-dominant, radio reached at least 91% of Hispanic men in every age group, and attracted more than 91% of Hispanic women in every demographic cell 12-64. Country's reach among that group is in the very low single digits.

In addition to the first-time use of PPM data in this edition, Hispanic Radio Today 2009 highlighted language preference among Hispanic consumers. Arbitron asked Hispanic respondents about the language they prefer to use.

The options are:

•All Spanish
•Mostly Spanish
•Mostly English
•All English

Country radio's tiny share of all Hispanic listening, of course, comes primarily from those last two groups.

Their social values are conservative. They are family-oriented, religious, and most importantly growing at a time when the non-ethnic U.S. population is getting smaller and older as a percentage of the total population as the 2010 census data is showing.

We first "studied" the problem at CRS four years ago. Little has happened to take action on the findings since then.

Country must find a way to welcome more of these folks.

Watts and Wats

Thanks to my ole bud Sirius and CRB's Scott Lindy for tossing me a few softballs last week at CRS.

Good for a laugh, these videos shown during the Country Radio Seminar's New Faces Show (totally unrehearsed and VERY funny...), thanks to the hilarious Lindy (and the fact that he didn't make me look TOO dumb).

Need more info? Wiki: Wat and Watt

Are The Rednecks Ready For Shane Yellowbird and Crystal Shawanda?

I sure hope SO! (click to read "Aboriginal country acts wary of racial discrimination as they seek stardom")

If "You Can Let Go, Now, Daddy" doesn't break down prejudice and other barriers to Nashville's gated community, nothing is going to!

And, for more on Shane Yellowbird, click here.

Is It As Simple As Finding A Hispanic Female To Sing A Duet With Tim?

From the Pacific Northwest to Arkansas and Tennessee and all states in between, there's no doubt that the fastest-growing population segment is Hispanic:

Need convincing? Some reading for you:

* Houston: Shades of gray in being black.

* The other Washington: Capitalizing on Quinceaeras, Pasco's rising Hispanic tide

* Chicago: Only 13% of Hispanic population voted in '06

* Tennessee: Economic clout of Hispanics soars

* Minneapolis: Growth at the Fringe

* Arkansas: Study: State Hispanic market booms

* New Jersey: Latino buyers add vitality to market

Americans of Hispanic descent are a huge potential audience for country music -- but no one is yet certain how to tap this expanding market.

There were some other warning signs for country music: 41 percent of those polled said they believed country radio stations aren't interested in appealing to Hispanics. And most Hispanics -- 62 percent --didn't even know if there was a country music station in their area.

A big salute to Country Radio Broadcasters and Exec Dir Ed Salamon for continuing the discussion.

Turn up your computer speakers real loud and take a worthwhile hour to listen to the panel discussion. Kevin King of Cumulus/Nashville represented radio extremely well. Listen especially for his views on both the opportunities and likely problems this initiative may pose for country radio.

Notable for their absence in the audio discussion: reps from Sony-BMG and U-Music. And, I think I know why, don't you? If we were to ask today's country core if they would be open to country radio reaching out to immigrant minorities and welcoming them to their favorite station, they would not be positive on the idea. So, is it best to work around their prejudices? Or, try to change them? Can an attractive young female Hispanic star do it for us? Big thoughts and questions indeed!

If you don't currently subscribe to the CRB Exec Memo, here are the login codes: Name: crbem Password: podcast.

...But, please sign up for it now (you don't want to miss another one)!

Cinqo de Mayo

On May 5, 1862, 6000 French soldiers waged battle against 2000 Mexican fighters in two forts. Though one fort was destroyed, 2000 French perished -- and the Mexicans won the Battle of Puebla. Not exactly Mexican Independence Day, this was a significant victory -- one where heart and valor bested numbers and theoretical military superiority.

As an opportunity to celebrate one's heritage and take pride in their quest for autonomy, Cinqo de Mayo is a milestone that speaks to the heroism of a humble, but hard-working people. As a reason to be festive and come together, it merges struggle with euphoria: never a bad balance to strike.

Thanks to Holly Gleason for the history lesson.

Rosin: "Country Needs To "Court" Hispanic Listeners." Ramsey Worries We'll Go Fishing In Cold Zip Codes

Mark Ramsey, president of hear 2.0, the audio entertainment strategy company, and Mercury Radio Research makes a good point in his blog in the event you weren't AT Edison Research chief Larry Rosin's actual presentation Thursday in Nashville and all you know about it is what has been reprinted from the press release:

"Sometimes certain natural groups of listeners gravitate to what they gravitate to. And your job is to be in the right place with the right format. Not to seduce a round peg into a square hole. Remember, sometimes tailoring your round hole to a square peg means even the round pegs stop fitting. Our job as marketers and programmers isn't to sell ethnic audiences on Country radio, it's to find out what audiences want and deliver it to them, no matter what it is."

.. however, those of us who did hear Larry in person know that he would not disagree with Mark at all. In fact, his recommendations on what country radio stations could do to attract Hispanics are things we all need to do whether we want more ethnic listeners on not: engage them, invite them, make them feel welcome.

Rosin put it this way:

"Whether you want a McDonald's burger or not right now, there is no question from their marketing that McDonalds wants you to know they want you to have one right now. Do potential listeners of your station - Hispanic or not - know that about you?"

Inside Radio's Mike Kinosian Scoops Me On Country's Hispanic Challenge

When I saw that A&O's longtime friends Charlie Cook, Programming VP of Cumulus, and Edison Research's Larry Rosin were undertaking a study of Hispanics and the country format to be presented at this year's CRS in Nashville, I noted it on this blog in a line or two and mentioned that I thought country's narrative storylines would probably prove to be a strong suit, but the format would need to enlarge its perspective beyond a few hundred miles around Music City and left it at that.

I am asking myself now, "Why didn't I call Charlie? Why didn't I interview Larry?" And, the answer HAS to be: because I could not have done a better job of it - including a terrific analysis of country station share trends - than Mike just did.

Before you go to CRS in Nashville, click here and print his report out. It's simply terrific, worth thinking about in light of the CRS '07 research project to come.

..The ONLY thing I don't like about it is that I regret that I didn't do it! And, on top of that, if I had done it, it could not have been any more thorough and objective than Mike's is!

Props (!!!) to Inside Radio and Mike Kinosian.