Radio Disney Splinters, Offers Marketers Latino Targeting Opportunities

Radio Disney has announced the syndication of new Latino family programing in Denver, El Paso, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and West Palm Beach. This comes on the heels of Clear Channel's report of significant gains in quarter hour share for Hispanic radio properties. According to MediaBuyerPlanner, "advertisers in 2004 spent $473.2 million for local radio ads and $191.2 million for national ads targeting the Hispanic audience, up 6 percent from a year ago." And for good reason. The Latino community makes up nearly a quarter of the US population, representing $700 billion in purchasing power and project to grow to $1 trillion by 2010.

To date, Radio Disney's move is limited to the airwaves. Given the family-centric consumer behavior reflected by Latino communities, Radio Disney has an opportunity to carry these gains into the online space. The online version of Viva Radio Disney only offers a market locator for finding local radio stations. Pew's Internet & American Life Project suggests other opportunities:

"Hispanics users are active and enthusiastic users of the Internet on a daily basis. While they value email like almost all other Internet users, Hispanics in particular look to the Internet as a valuable source of information and news. At the same time, Hispanics users particularly enjoy the entertainment aspects of the Internet, like online music and online games."

If Radio Disney doesn't step up to leverage its air wave assets and brand affinity to develop family-oriented online experiences for Latino communities, another brand will quickly fill the void.

Tags: marketing radio advertising