• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, April 11, 2007

LatinAmerica Broadcasting Inc., a Spanish-language TV broadcaster based in Houston, is expanding its affiliate network. A new agreement with Equity Media Holdings lets it penetrate 22 new markets. The company has grown quickly since its founding in May 2006, with affiliates in key Hispanic markets, such as Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Austin and San Antonio. Overall, it reaches 17.4% of the U.S. Latino population between the ages of 18 and 49.

Equity Media Holdings' affiliate stations give LAB access to new audiences in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Seattle, Portland, and parts of California and Florida. CEO and President Rocky Springstead said the deal will assist "us with the growth of our network as we extend our brand across the country."

The company has set a goal of achieving 70% Nielsen DMA coverage within the next two years. By the beginning of 2008, it hopes to have at least 40% coverage.

To date, LatinAmerica has gained cable carriage in three of its markets--San Antonio and Austin on Grande Communications and in Phoenix on Qwest Communications--and plans to be on cable in all five of the original markets by summer 2007.

Spanish-language broadcasters are riding a lucrative wave as immigration and high birth rates change the demographic map of the United States. According to a recent report produced by the Magazine Publishers of America, from 2000 to 2006, the purchasing power of Hispanics/Latinos climbed more than 63% to $798 billion.

The report also cited a prediction from the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth that "by 2011, it will top $1.2 trillion." Per the same MPA report, although median household income remains lower than the national average, parts of the population are moving into the middle class at a rapid pace.

In the top 85 metropolitan areas, 14.3% of Hispanics ages 18-34 had household incomes of $50,000 or more in 2001, comparing favorably with 13.6% of the overall population of those areas.