Networks Struggle to Appeal to Hispanics

The ratings numbers for popular television shows like “Modern Family,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Glee,” and “NCIS” encapsulate the problem facing English-language television executives and advertisers: they desperately want to appeal to the more than 50 million Latinos in the United States (about three-quarters speak Spanish), especially those who are young, bilingual and bicultural, but those viewers seem to want very little to do with American English-language television.

They do, however, continue to watch Spanish-language networks in huge numbers. In May, on the final night of the most recent season of “Modern Family,” far more Hispanic viewers were watching the top Spanish language show that week, the telenovela “La Que No Podía Amar,” on Univision, which attracted 5.2 million viewers. At this spring’s upfronts, the meetings hosted by network executives to sell advertising airtime, there were nine presentations to advertisers by broadcast and cable channels including ESPN and Discovery aimed at creating content for Hispanic viewers. In 2011, there were only five such presentations.