The 2020 election: How will Hispanics vote, and what is at stake for Hispanic radio? That was the theme of a lively conversation that kicked off the first of five Hispanic Radio Conference LIVE! sessions on Thursday.
In fact, the chat was so powerful that it continued into a “It’s a Wrap!” post-event Zoom room.
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Where does radio fit in the media landscape of COVID-19 impacted 2020?
As Chambers Lopez Strategies CEO Lorena Chambers sees it, there has not been much in the way of negative impact. “We are in full force,” she says, noting that not everything her shop is producing is in Spanish. “It is bilingual, and radio is key” in terms of a mix of properties available to Hispanics, she says.
She added that Radio really needs to show its value, and work harder in cultivating election dollars. That because clients are expressly asking about the digital portion of a media mix.
With respect to regional opportunities for Hispanic outreach via political ads on radio, Iowa was singled out as a strong locale.
And, with respect to media as a whole, radio has been the strongest for Chambers Lopez Strategies. “We have spent a lot of money on radio this year,” she notes.
How can these budgets grow? “Lobby upper management because we need the research on political for Hispanic voters,” Chambers says. “That will help get larger budgets.”
Another key: Being available at all times. “We all want the political dollars so we have to work the political hours,” she pleads. Got a request at 5pm on a Friday? Turn around those media plans that night for the next morning so Chambers can take them to her team and then go into production, so the ads can go out on Monday.
In short, her shop simply will not work with anyone who takes off at 5pm on a Friday before Labor Day, for example.
Another panelist, Tomás Regalado, Senior Advisor to the EVP/COO of Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), had much to share. He believes some 32 million potential listeners and viewers may not yet be registered. Thus, getting them registered is key, and there’s a gap.
Regalado noted that SBS’s COVID-19 “comeback is greater than the setback,” even as the company experienced a blistering Q2 at the hands of the coronavirus. He pointed to the launch of two Mega TV stations during the pandemic — one is in West Palm Beach, and the other is in Orlando. The latter is a key market with shared synergies with Mega TV’s Puerto Rico operation.
With Gen Media Partners SVP of Political/Issue Advocacy & Strategic Alliances Roger Rafson as moderator, Regalado said SBS devised a plan by ZIP code based on PPM and Scarborough data for getting more local candidate dollars. “For the local races that was perfect, since there are commissioners that only represent a certain area,” Regalado notes.
RBR+TVBR asked the panel if Hispanic media may be behind the curve compared to where it originally thought it would be, with respect to total political ad dollars in 2020? Regalado doesn’t think so, and says that 2021 and 2022 will also be political years in which SBS will benefit.
Also in the panel: BIA Advisory Services SVP/Chief Economist Dr. Mark Fratrik, Ph.D. and PQ Media EVP/Research Leo Kivijarv, Ph.D.
Kivijarv in the “It’s A Wrap!” Zoom session noted that early voting due to the pandemic has led to earlier-than-ever political ad buys. And, he says North Carolina is a record breaker with respect to ad dollars. “We’re seeing a lot of money coming in and October is big.”
And, with the independent undecided voter key to the presidential election, the latter half of the month could be a big winner for Hispanic media.
