New York – Sí TV, the English-language Latino-themed network, Thursday pitched Madison Avenue about the growing number of young Hispanics using the Web for entertainment, to make buying decisions and purchase products.
Sí TV, which targets Hispanics 18 to 34, did a presentation on “Young Latinos Online” that cited data from ComScore. Then the network talked to media buyers about its own four online “networks” : sientertainment.com; sicommunity.com; sitrends.com; and sitv.com.
At the luncheon, Jack Flanagan, an executive vice president for ComScore, said that the Hispanic population that goes online is young, less than 35 years old, and prefers English content.
In fact, ComScore found that more than half the Hispanic population online, 52%, has a preference for English-language content. Only 22% prefer Spanish, while 27% list “both” languages as their preference.
Of the 18.1 million Hispanics online, the majority are under 35, according to Flanagan.
Entertainment, conversational media [user-generated content] and social-networking sites are the most popular with Hispanics, at a greater propensity than the general market, ComScore found.
For example, 73% of online Hispanics visited conversational media/user-generated content sites compared with 67% of the general market. In specific, YouTube has greater reach among Hispanics that it does for the general market, Flanagan said.
And 71% of online Hispanics went to social-networking sites, compared with 65% of the general market, according to ComScore. MySpace.com is the No. 1 social-networking site for online Hispanics.
In addition, 41% of online Hispanics visited blogs, compared with 37% of the general market. Blogger is the No. 1 most popular site for Hispanics.
Some 78% of online Hispanics bought products or services online in the past six months, according to ComScore, and Hispanics are using the web to do research before buying consumer electronics, cell phones, digital cameras and other merchandise, Flanagan said.
During the presentation, Sí TV founder Jeff Valdez, CEO Michael Schwimmer and Lisa Black, the network’s senior vice president of digital media, also addressed the group.
Black talked about Sí TV’s Web site and the various communities and online “networks” it has created. She outlined how several advertisers, such as Verizon and Volkswagen, have worked with the site on marketing initiatives and promotions.
In March, Sí TV will partner with Voto Latino to do an online election and voting project called “Crash the Parties,” Black said.
Earlier in the day, QuePasa Corp. – a bilingual, bicultural, Latino online community -- appointed Valdez chairman of its board. In that role, Valdez will help guide the company as it continues its growth in the online Latino market. Valdez, who launched Sí TV in February 2004, also sits on the network’s board.
