FCC Announces New Study Examining Hispanic Television Viewing

The Federal Communications Commission will conduct a study of the relationships among Hispanic television station ownership, Hispanic-oriented programming, and Hispanic television viewing. According to 2012 Census data, 17 percent of the total US population – or 53 million people – are of Hispanic origin, representing the largest ethnic/racial minority in the country. The study will be the FCC’s first systematic examination of the Hispanic television market and will be one of the first that will incorporate comprehensive data from the FCC’s recently improved 323 ownership form.

To examine characteristics of television viewing by this important and growing population segment, and to ensure it has better data to inform its policies, the Commission will study, among other things:

• The impact of Hispanic-owned television stations on Hispanic-oriented programming and Hispanic viewership in selected local television markets;
• The extent of Hispanic-oriented programming on US broadcast television; and
• The role of digital multicasting in increasing the amount of Hispanic-oriented programming.