Hispanic Media Are Different, Menendez Tells Senators

Hispanic media are so big they constitute a separate market, and the FCC should consider them as such as it implements new media ownership rules.
So said House member Rep. Robert Menendez in special testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee during a hearing on radio ownership.
Despite appeals from the Hispanic community, he said, the commission appears to be headed “towards an erroneous finding that Spanish-language media does not comprise a separate market.”
To drive home his point, he began speaking Spanish during his testimony.
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the Hispanic population in this country grew from 35.3 million people in 2000 to an estimated 38.8 million in July of 2002. Menendez said about 25% of that audience has little to no ability to speak English and relies solely on Spanish-language sources for their news.
The country has about 145 Spanish TV stations and 630 Spanish radio stations. He opposes the proposed merger between radio group Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. and Spanish-language TV company Univision, saying the group would dominate such media in certain markets. The Department of Justice has approved the merger and the FCC is reviewing the deal.