Minneapolis and Latinos

I'm in Minneapolis today as the Republicans get ready to convene in nearby St. Paul. To be sure, Latinos do not have the presence in Minnesota as we do in NY, TX, CA, or FL. But Latinos do have a presence here as do other immigrant groups. The mid-west is probably the last place in the country that will develop a Latino presence, but it is happening. I hope the Republicans notice.

WashingtonPost: Denver's Latinos way hold key to Obama White House

"In this city, the chances of electing the first black president heavily falls on the shoulders of Latinos, the country's fastest-growing electorate. And they know it, too."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082703860.html?hpid=artslot

eMarketer asks why just spend on TV to target Latinos?

"In general, Hispanics are heavy users of all digital media, embracing innovations more rapidly than non-Hispanic whites.

Yet Hispanic-targeted ad dollars remain locked in TV budgets. Why? "

http://www.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?code=emarketer_2000520

MercuryNews: Nation looks to California for best practices with Latino students

" Latinos make up nearly half of California's K-12 public school students, and their numbers are surging across the country, underscoring a growing challenge for educators who are looking to the Golden State for ways to adapt to the changing face of America's classrooms."

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10309934?source=most_emailed

Pew Study On Hispanic Education
http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/92.pdf

McClatchy: Florida Latino vote not just for Cubans anymore

"Carlos Pereira grinned widely as he stood in the outgoing tide of newly sworn-in citizens leaving a Miami naturalization ceremony. So far, he had registered 328 people, mostly from Latin American countries. Only 62 of them were from Cuba."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/254/story/50606.html

Multichannel News: Startups target young Latinos in ways snubbed by Univision and Telemundo

"“Most Hispanics, especially tweens and teens, are bilingual, but the way they consume media is content-driven,” said María Badillo, senior vice president of programming for Sorpresa, which on Aug. 25 is premiering Karkú, a live-action TV series targeting Hispanic tweens and teens formatted as a telenovela. The Spanish-language series will air Monday through Thursday at 9 p.m. ET."

http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=495528

LA Biz Observed: Univision's debt!

"Last year's $13.7 billion acquisition of L.A.-based Univision has left the new owners, a group of big league private equity fellas that includes L.A. billionaire Haim Saban, with nearly $10 billion in outstanding debt. Second-quarter financials for the Spanish-language media giant were pretty weak – revenue was down 4.3 percent and operating income before depreciation and amortization was down 10.9 percent."

http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2008/08/debt_woes_at_univisi.php

NYT: Moody's cuts Univision's rating to B2.

"Moody’s recently downgraded the firm’s probability-of-default rating to B2 from B1, saying the company won’t be able to de-leverage as soon as Moody’s previously thought. And Univision is having a hard time selling assets for top dollar, as the credit crunch has made it hard to get a loan."

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/at-univision-high-leverage-creates-drama/

Toast Masters' Speech: About Me

The title of my speech is quote "A heck of a guy, even if I say so myself." end quote.

It's bit tongue in check, but When I was growing up in Houston, my mom would often compliment the work she had done around the house with the admonition quote "even if I say so myself." end quote

Well, I'm here to talk about myself.

AARP
I'm new to AARP; I've been here only four months. I'm in a new role as web analyst for the online strategy and operations group. Web analystics is a new field that's part technology and part marketing, in fact a true bridge between the two.

DOS CAPITALS
I've lived in central Texas - Austin and San Antonio - and DC since 1982, bouncing between Austin and DC at least three times.
Austin's the capital of Texas and DC's the capital of the USA. I could call my life "Dos capitals." But I've never been in politics, nor do I care to.

AUSTIN
Houston's my hometown, but Austin's my spiritual home. It's hip, techno savvy and quirky with a great music scene and very Texas.

FAMILY
My family's been in Texas for generations. There's a Xicano saying, we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us. My paternal great grandparents are from a town outside Corpus Christi. My mom was born in Texas, but her family's from Mexico, though they often lived in the United States. My maternal grandparents worked in Wisconsin picking sugar beets. And my maternal great grandparents worked here at a time when becoming a US citizen only requiring showing up at the border.

UT AUSTIN
I twice graduated from University of Texas at Austin, once with a journalism degree and once with an MBA.

REPORTER
I was a reporter for years, working here in DC, Austin and San Antonio and even interned at the Wall Street JOurnal, where I got 2 front page stories.

ONLINE MEDIA
I gave up writing to take on the Internet challenge facing news organizations, spending the last 15 years in some form of electronic news. So I call myself a "recovering Journalist."

AOL
I ran an early AOL forum for US Hispanics for almost four years, pretty much by myself. AOL twice recognized the site as an AOL "Members' Choice" area. I met Steve Case, Ted Leonis, those guys.

WORK HISTORY
After AOL, I tried to do a startup focused on US Latinos, then landed at Gannett and USA TODAY. Most recently, I worked at National Public Radio down the road.

OUTSIDE WORK
Outside of work, I'm a dedicated bicycle commuter, riding 17 miles to AARP most every morning. I also enjoy surfing, but I'm not that great at it. I recently learned to scuba dive and belong to a club. My wife and I are separated, but we do have a son Max, whose only 10 months old

HECK OF A GUY
Even so, I'd like to say I'm a heck of a guy, even if I say so myself.

WirelessWeeK: Univision picks HIpCricket as vendor for mobile marketing ventures

"HipCricket has carved out a niche for itself in working with broadcasters and media companies. It also has a lot of experience reaching the Hispanic market, which includes some of the most active users of mobile technology and text messaging."

http://www.wirelessweek.com/article.aspx?id=162234

S.F. Chronicle: TV change to hit poor non-English speaking

The last holdouts are more likely to be low-income, non-English speaking, minority or disabled viewers, said Todd Sedmak, a spokesman for the coupon program.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/16/BUDV12BTMI.DTL

Winners of the 2008 ALMA Awards - Ugly Betty's America Ferrera

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5igUYPONCs1nvZ0OvkLjBIRfSFK5wD92KF8E00

Chicago Tribune: Latinos & Elderly populations to grow

L.A. Daily News: Latinos rely on TV, Radio for health information, including dubious ads

" Of most concern to some doctors are Spanish-language television and radio ads promising miracle cures for everything from weight loss to male impotency and cancer.

The fact that so many Latinos rely on broadcast media for health news is both good and bad, said Dr. Glenn Lopez, an assistant professor in UCLA's Department of Family Medicine.

"I believe there is less control in truth in advertising in the Spanish media than the English media, because I've seen these outrageous claims being made about vitamins and other products," said Lopez, who studies community health issues in Sun Valley. "

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_10183180

Excelsior, Mexico DF: A public relations plug for Starmedia.

"Cuando en 1996, Fernando Espuelas presentó StarMedia nadie imaginó su impacto. "

http://www.exonline.com.mx/diario/noticia/dinero/hacker/%C2%A1starmedia_vive!/306572

Overnights: Fox trumps Univision

Forgot to post this last week:

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/08/07/nielsen-ratings-wednesday-aug-6-fox-dances-to-the-top/4615

L.A. Times: Univision posted another loss

Univision Communications Inc., the Spanish-language broadcaster taken private last year, posted a wider second-quarter loss Friday, weighed down by an advertising slump.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-earns9-2008aug09,0,6106202.story

Reuters: Televisa shares up

"Shares of Mexican broadcaster Televisa, the biggest producer of Spanish language TV content, rose 2.8 percent on Tuesday after Merrill Lynch raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral.""

http://in.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idINN0531128320080805

SaltLakeTribune: Latinos pop surging in Utah

" Latinos have led Utah's robust population growth since 2000, surging faster than other residents in 28 of 29 counties, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates."
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_10120206
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2008/0807/20080807_122847_Census%20Latino%20population.PDF

USATODAY: Latinos and other minorities changing makeup of USA

""It's this intersection of continuing immigration, a spreading out of that immigrant population into new areas and the relatively young age structure of the Hispanic population, and to some degree the Asian population" that is contributing to these ethnic shifts, says Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-08-07-census_N.htm?csp=DailyBriefing

USATODAY: Private Equity markets turn eye to US Latinos

"Palladium and a growing number of private-equity firms invest in what bankers call the "U.S. emerging domestic market," or ethnic and urban businesses. More than 55 such firms manage $10 billion in capital, according to the National Association of Investment Companies."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/2008-08-05-palladium-hispanic-investment_N.htm

WSJ: Learning about the history of the Cuban mob provides insights into history of the Hispanic marketing

"To those who cared to look below the surface, it was apparent that Cuba's startling economic windfall was not being used to meet the needs of the people but rather to pad the private bank accounts and pocketbooks of a powerful group of corrupt politicians and American "investors." This economic high command would come to be known as the Havana Mob."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121691915607981583.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

HollywoodReporter: Univision's NYC affiliate rules the airways.

"Univision's local New York affiliate has taken the market's July sweep in all three key demo news races for the first time in history."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ieb1f595b5fc21e0a0710bb0e4c82bc5a

AP: George Lopez stumping for Latinos for Obama

"George Lopez is joining the effort to get out the Latino vote."

http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=8780252&nav=menu612_2_7

Variety: Televisa not just telenovelas any more

"Moving away from the telenovelas that are its tortillas and salsa, Mexican conglom Televisa is taking a cue from the U.S. with its upcoming dramatic series "Terminales.""

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117989923.html?categoryId=2523&cs=1