Hispanic Mags Growth Slow, Despite Cultural Boom

“In 1995, People stumbled onto the U.S. Hispanic market when it put Tejano music star Selena on a split-run cover after her untimely death; the issue flew off West Coast and Texas newsstands. A lightbulb went off above the collective head of Time Inc. and the Spanish-language People en Español came to be a year later. Around the same time, Latina, which is largely in English, launched, and all hailed the emerging Hispanic publishing category–a surefire growth market, with U.S. census data behind it, to boot.

Fast forward 11 years; the Hispanic cultural footprint is much deeper. Latina, in its February 2007 issue, included a Latino TV guide, a lineup of Hispanic stars that you can watch on mainstream shows. Thursday looks particularly strong, with Ugly Betty in a prime slot on ABC, followed by Grey’s Anatomy featuring Sara Ramirez. “Five years ago we could not have put that together,” said Latina editor in chief Betty Cortina. “Today we can. Five years ago there were no Eva Longorias, no Shakiras.””

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