Latinos Consume More News in English

July 23, 2013— -- A growing number of Latinos in the U.S. are getting their news content in English, according to a study released today. In 2012, a record 32 percent of Latino adults said they’re getting their news exclusively in English from television, print, radio and internet outlets. The Pew Research Center study of how Latinos consume news content also found that 82% of Latino adults said they get at least some of their news in English.

The numbers illustrate the massive media consuming power Latinos have in this country. While most Latinos are accessing news content in English, broadcast Spanish language is also seeing record breaking viewership.

The study also underscores the different media diets between those Latinos born in the U.S. and those who are immigrants. Annually about 800,000 young U.S.-born Latinos enter adulthood and they’re much more English-proficient than are immigrants.

About 6-in-10 (59 percent) of native-born Latinos say they consume news media only in English, 39 percent say they consume news media in English and Spanish, and just 2 percent say they consume news media only in Spanish, the study found through a nationally representative bilingual telephone survey of 1,765 Latino adults.

Only 11 percent of Latinos born outside the U.S. say they consume news media only in English, 59 percent say they do so in both languages, and 31 percent say they get their news in Spanish only.

Spanish Language TV Breaking Records Too

The vast majority of immigrant Latinos get their news media only in Spanish, with the majority accessing content through television. According to the report, 86% of all Latino adults say that on a typical weekday they get their news from television.

The Pew report comes one day after the Univision (our Spanish-language parent network) announced that it is on pace to finish the July 2013 sweep as the No. 1 network, broadcast or cable, in primetime among both adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34, beating out NBC, FOX, CBS and ABC for the first time.

Univision got a boost from its youth awards show “Premios Juventud” on Thursday, July 18, reaching nearly 10 million viewers who tuned in to all or part of the youth awards show. The long time running variety show “Sabado Gigante” also received high ratings during July.

The Spanish-language network’s national and local news programming is also among the most watched programming on television, regardless of language. Univision’s local 6pm news was the most watched among adults 18-49 in Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas San Francisco, Phoenix, and Sacramento.

KMEX Univision 34 in Los Angeles and WXTV Univision 41 in New York are set to finish the sweep as the #1 and #2 most watched late local newscast in the country, respectively, regardless of language, among Adults 18-49.

Not a Surprise to Industry Insiders

The Pew findings may not come as a surprise to the media companies that produce news content. Delivering news to Latinos is a thriving market, in any language.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, a record 35 million Hispanics ages 5 and older speak Spanish at home, up from 25 million in 2000 and 10 million in 1980. At the same time, a record 31 million Hispanics ages 5 and older are proficient in English, up from 19 million in 2000 and 8 million in 1980.