• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 14, 2005

Recently reported by B&C MultiChannel News, Texas has joined three other states as a majority-minority state, according to population estimates released Aug. 11 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The trend is driven by a surge in the number of Hispanics moving to the state.

According to the population estimates based on the 2000 Census, Texas's minority population, as of July 1, was estimated at 11.3 million or 50.2% of the state's total population of 22.5 million. 7,781,211 of them are Hispanics.

Five other states - Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona - aren't far behind, with about 40% minorities. Blacks and Hispanics are the largest minority groups in those states.

Though some areas may never see this shift, the country as a whole is expected to continue the trend first noticed more than a decade ago. The Census Bureau projected last year that whites and minority groups overall would be roughly equal in size by 2050.

And, in additional research by International Communication Research, reported by B&C/MCN, Hispanics continue to tune into telenovelas, the bread and butter of Spanish-language TV, in strong numbers. 44% of all the Hispanics polled said they have watched a telenovela in the last week, despite the fact that only 4% found them interesting/exciting, and just 1% said they considered them good or to have a good storyline.

Key findings include:

• 38% tune in for the entertainment factor, particularly citing "surprising plot developments" (24%) as a reason to watch them
• 12% cited their native language as the reason they watched, and very few Hispanics tuned in for "romance" (2%)
• Although 53% of the figures are driven by women, 35% of Hispanic men are also watching
• Significantly 51% of foreign-born Hispanics reported tuning in during the week prior to this survey  vs. 33% born in the U.S.
• Three percent watched so they could learn or practice Spanish
• Ten percent of Hispanic viewers tuned in to see the actors and actresses in the telenovelas. This reason was given by considerably more Puerto Rican born Hispanics (19%) than those from either Mexico (4%) or Cuba (11%)
• 19% of more highly educated Hispanics are watching telenovelas compared to 7% with a high school education or less