Have data on these topics?
If you are aware of current directories or other sources of audience or economic data for news outlets oriented toward Asian American, Black American or Hispanic American audiences, please let us know at info@pewresearch.org.
News media made by and for the two largest racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States – Black Americans and Hispanic Americans – have been a consistent part of the American news landscape. Largely, newspapers and television aimed at both of these groups have recently had audience declines. Explore the trends in Hispanic- and Black-oriented news outlets below.
Pew Research Center is not aware of any current directory with publicly available representative data for news media companies oriented toward Asian American audiences and is therefore unable to produce audience or economic analyses for Asian American-oriented news outlets at this time.
Audience
The two largest Spanish-language television networks in the United States, Univision and Telemundo, are key providers of news for Spanish speakers. Both networks had declines in viewership.
Univision’s average audience – measured as the average number of TVs tuned to a program throughout a period of time – declined in 2022 for all three national time slots studied. This was an 11% decline for the evening news time slot, from an average audience of about 804,000 to roughly 714,000; a 16% decline in late night news; and a 7% decline for the morning news time slot.
Telemundo’s audience also dropped in 2022 – by 9% in the evening news time slot, from 479,000 to 435,000; and by 16% in the late night news time slot. These declines continued a pattern that started for many time slots in 2021.
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Audience for Univision network
Average number of TVs tuning to network news programming during each time slot for Univision
| Time slot | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning news | 609,400 | 505,644 | 449,620 | 520,370 | 583,382 | 495,571 | 462,368 |
| Evening news | 1,205,741 | 1,138,172 | 997,117 | 1,007,752 | 1,104,233 | 803,577 | 714,309 |
| Late night news | 597,456 | 555,746 | 476,437 | 506,859 | 669,031 | 517,493 | 435,156 |
Source: Comscore TV Essentials®, 2016-2022, U.S.
Note: Numbers represent Univision for the full year and include live viewership only. “Average audience” is the average number of TVs tuned to an entity throughout the selected time frame. It is calculated by dividing the total hours viewed by the length of the time frame (in hours). “National news” is defined as any telecast that has been flagged by Comscore (either by notification from clients, or from standard processes) as being a news-based program airing at approximately the same time across a majority of markets. The morning news time slot includes any news programming that aired from 6 a.m. – 9 a.m. for national programs and for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 5 a.m.- 8 a.m. for stations in other time zones; the evening news time slot is defined as early fringe by Comscore and includes any news programming that aired from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. for national programs and for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 3 p.m.- 6 p.m. for stations in other time zones; the late night news time slot is defined as late fringe by Comscore and includes any news programming that aired from 11 p.m. – 2 a.m. for national programs and for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 10 p.m.- 1 a.m. for stations in other time zones.
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Average number of TVs tuning to network news programming during each time slot for Telemundo
| Time slot | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evening news | 698,064 | 656,599 | 703,056 | 787,552 | 712,827 | 478,887 | 435,241 |
| Late night news | 394,857 | 374,175 | 387,078 | 402,705 | 462,264 | 368,692 | 310,272 |
Source: Comscore TV Essentials®, 2016-2022, U.S.
Note: Numbers represent Telemundo for the full year and include live viewership only. “Average audience” is the average number of TVs tuned to an entity throughout the selected time frame. It is calculated by dividing the total hours viewed by the length of the time frame (in hours). “National news” is defined as any telecast that has been flagged by Comscore (either by notification from clients, or from standard processes) as being a news-based program airing at approximately the same time across a majority of markets. The evening news time slot is defined as early fringe by Comscore and includes any news programming that aired from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. for national programs and for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 3 p.m.- 6 p.m. for stations in other time zones; the late night news time slot is defined as late fringe by Comscore and includes any news programming that aired from 11 p.m. – 2 a.m. for national programs and for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 10 p.m.- 1 a.m. for stations in other time zones.
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Both Univision and Telemundo have local affiliate stations that carry their own original news programming. In 2022, average viewership for Univision affiliates increased for morning news but decreased in the two later time slots. Univision affiliates’ morning news showed an increase of 17%, while evening news viewership for Univision affiliates declined by 7% and late night news viewership declined by 8%.
Average viewership for Telemundo affiliates during these time slots all increased or stayed roughly the same, with morning news increasing by 28%, late night news viewership increasing by 5%, and evening news audiences remaining about steady.
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Average number of TVs tuning to news programming during each time slot for Univision affiliates
| Time slot | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning news | 60,102 | 75,358 | 85,064 | 80,763 | 94,702 |
| Evening news | 777,711 | 789,526 | 857,365 | 649,281 | 606,601 |
| Late night news | 646,745 | 652,601 | 744,890 | 592,221 | 543,960 |
Source: Comscore StationView Essentials®, 2018-2022, U.S.
Note: Numbers represent Univision affiliates for the full year and include live viewership only. “Average audience” is the average number of TVs tuned to an entity throughout the selected time frame. It is calculated by dividing the total hours viewed by the length of the time frame (in hours). “Local news” is defined as any telecast that has been flagged by Comscore (either by notification from clients, or from standard processes) as being a news-based program airing on a local broadcast affiliate of Univision. The morning news time slot includes newscasts that air from 6 to 9 a.m. for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 5 a.m.- 8 a.m. for stations in other time zones; the evening news time slot is defined as early fringe by Comscore and includes newscasts that air from 4 to 7 p.m. for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 3 p.m.- 6 p.m. for stations in other time zones.; the late night news time slot is defined as late fringe by Comscore and includes newscasts that air from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 10 p.m.- 1 a.m. for stations in other time zones.
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Average number of TVs tuning to news programming during each time slot for Telemundo affiliates
| Time slot | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning news | 75,268 | 74,062 | 106,197 | 70,554 | 90,411 |
| Evening news | 446,140 | 515,324 | 564,725 | 496,813 | 506,349 |
| Late night news | 480,561 | 491,322 | 457,388 | 448,943 | 470,957 |
Source: Comscore StationView Essentials®, 2018-2022, U.S.
Note: Numbers represent Telemundo affiliates for the full year and include live viewership only. “Average audience” is the average number of TVs tuned to an entity throughout the selected time frame. It is calculated by dividing the total hours viewed by the length of the time frame (in hours). “Local news” is defined as any telecast that has been flagged by Comscore (either by notification from clients, or from standard processes) as being a news-based program airing on a local broadcast affiliate of Telemundo. The morning news time slot includes newscasts that air from 6 to 9 a.m. for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 5 a.m.- 8 a.m. for stations in other time zones; the evening news time slot is defined as early fringe by Comscore and includes newscasts that air from 4 to 7 p.m. for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 3 p.m.- 6 p.m. for stations in other time zones.; the late night news time slot is defined as late fringe by Comscore and includes newscasts that air from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. for stations in Eastern/Pacific time zones, or 10 p.m.- 1 a.m. for stations in other time zones.
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Circulation for Hispanic newspapers
Since 2015, to get a summary measure of circulation at weekly and semiweekly Hispanic newspapers, the Center has used an average of the top 20 of these newspapers that report current and historical data to the Alliance for Audited Media – the Center’s main source for newspaper circulation data.
Beginning in 2021, there were no longer 20 Hispanic newspapers that reported their circulation to our data sources. This may be due to a combination of factors – including, in some cases, larger English-language newspapers no longer breaking out their affiliated Spanish-language publications in their circulation reports (for example, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s circulation reports no longer break out the affiliated publication La Estrella). Other newspapers still appear to publish, but their circulation is no longer reported or available in the Alliance for Audited Media’s database.
In 2021, there were only 18 weekly or semiweekly Hispanic newspapers with circulation data available to Pew Research Center. That figure dropped to 11 in 2022. For those papers available, average per-paper circulation declined, though that may be an artifact of a few larger newspapers dropping out of the data. Average circulation for the Hispanic weeklies with data available dropped over the past three years, from roughly 109,000 in 2020 to about 92,000 in 2021, to about 83,000 for the 11 papers that reported circulation in 2022.
For the only daily Hispanic newspaper for which there is 2022 data – El Nuevo Herald in Miami – circulation also declined.
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Average circulation per paper for the 20 Hispanic weekly/semiweekly newspapers with the top circulation in 2020
| Year | Average circulation |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 118,972 |
| 2016 | 120,185 |
| 2017 | 118,688 |
| 2018 | 119,520 |
| 2019 | 118,039 |
| 2020 | 109,088 |
| 2021 | 91,860 |
| 2022 | 82,800 |
Source: Alliance for Audited Media.
Note: Through 2020, all data was updated every year to reflect the top 20 Hispanic weekly/semiweekly newspapers by the most recent year’s circulation. In 2021 and 2022, fewer than 20 Hispanic weekly/semiweekly newspapers had available circulation data in Alliance for Audited Media; in 2021, 18 of the available newspapers were included in the average, and in 2022, 11 newspapers were included. Data reflects the most recent audit statement if one is available for that year; if not, the most recent publisher’s statement was used if it exists.
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Average Monday through Friday circulation
| Year | El Nuevo Heraldo (Brownsville, Texas) | El Nuevo Herald (Miami) | La Opinión (Los Angeles) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 3,368 | 50,859 | 64,260 |
| 2015 | 4,351 | 44,944 | 49,953 |
| 2016 | 3,839 | 40,134 | 37,998 |
| 2017 | 3,156 | 32,902 | 25,269 |
| 2018 | 3,929 | 19,807 | |
| 2019 | 3,144 | 19,229 | |
| 2020 | 1,576 | 17,661 | |
| 2021 | 2,010 | 13,580 | |
| 2022 | 9,781 |
Source: Alliance for Audited Media.
Note: Numbers represent audited average circulation if an audited statement is available for that year; if not, the most comparable publisher’s statement was used if it exists. If no data is available, that year is left blank. The circulation presented here for La Opinión does not include average circulation for La Opinión Contigo, which is a free weekly insert. Sunday circulation is used for El Nuevo Heraldo in Brownsville, Texas.
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Circulation for Black-oriented newspapers
Black-oriented newspapers are a long-standing minority news sector in the U.S. The Center for Community Media at the CUNY School of Journalism’s Mapping Black Media Project lists 200 newspapers as being owned by or oriented toward Black Americans. But few of those newspapers, or of those listed as members of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (the Black Press trade association), have regularly audited circulation figures. This makes it difficult to acquire audience figures for the sector as a whole.
Fourteen Black-oriented newspapers have recently reported circulation data. Among the eight papers with data for both 2022 and 2021, two had increases in circulation, and none saw their circulation drop by more than 10%. However, there are a number of newspapers whose circulation is no longer available, including the Baltimore and Washington Afro-American, founded in 1892, the Michigan Chronicle, founded in 1936, and the Dallas Weekly, founded in 1954. This decline in reported weekly and semiweekly newspaper circulation reflects the problems with data collection we’ve seen among Hispanic newspapers in the U.S.
The Mapping Black Media Project lists 48 radio stations and station networks from 23 different states that are owned by or oriented toward Black Americans. It also lists three television stations: KSQA in Kansas, WHPR in Michigan and WHUT in Washington, D.C. Pew Research Center does not have access to enough adequate financial data for these radio and television stations at this time to serve as a quality representation of the state of Black-oriented stations in the U.S.
In the absence of abundant audience or financial data, survey data can shine some light on how Black Americans engage with the news. Black Americans are more likely than others to prefer to get their news on television, and are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group to follow local news very closely.
Average circulation
| Year | Philadelphia Tribune | New York Amsterdam News | St. Louis American | The Houston Defender | Richmond Free Press | The Atlanta Voice | Oakland Post | Richmond Post | African American News | Bay State Banner | LA Wave Newspapers | Insight News | Harlem Community Newspapers (Harlem/Brooklyn/Bronx/Queens) | Our Time Press |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 13,175 | |||||||||||||
| 2007 | 13,380 | |||||||||||||
| 2008 | 11,958 | |||||||||||||
| 2009 | 12,543 | 17,477 | ||||||||||||
| 2010 | 14,177 | 9,750 | 33,455 | |||||||||||
| 2011 | 14,955 | 12,607 | 33,378 | |||||||||||
| 2012 | 13,320 | 14,042 | 64,137 | 33,006 | ||||||||||
| 2013 | 13,745 | 13,588 | 67,851 | 21,399 | 32,939 | 25,898 | ||||||||
| 2014 | 19,265 | 10,470 | 67,956 | 23,979 | 33,021 | 26,525 | ||||||||
| 2015 | 15,138 | 8,298 | 66,848 | 26,972 | 31,673 | 26,665 | ||||||||
| 2016 | 9,114 | 7,843 | 67,139 | 31,022 | 31,328 | 24,708 | ||||||||
| 2017 | 10,789 | 6,777 | 65,856 | 31,822 | 29,888 | 22,027 | 17,525 | 2,930 | ||||||
| 2018 | 12,182 | 6,786 | 56,802 | 30,444 | 29,063 | 17,440 | 15,634 | 2,909 | 27,400 | 92,200 | ||||
| 2019 | 9,677 | 6,734 | 48,731 | 30,338 | 29,334 | 17,700 | 18,075 | 3,268 | 97,838 | 27,400 | 73,355 | |||
| 2020 | 6,153 | 8,763 | 38,864 | 26,597 | 19,817 | 13,550 | 17,804 | 2,979 | 88,856 | 27,400 | 72,000 | |||
| 2021 | 10,899 | 3400 | 41,817 | 17,482 | 18,502 | 6,500 | 16,391 | 3,315 | 84,950 | 25,477 | 72,200 | 35,000 | 24,920 | |
| 2022 | 13,802 | 6,139 | 29,122 | 17,387 | 6,259 | 85,500 | 23,200 | 72,592 | 24,840 | 19,983 |
Source: Alliance for Audited Media.n
Note: Numbers represent audited average circulation if an audited statement is available for that year. If unavailable, the most comparable publisher’s statement was used if it exists. If no data is available, that year is left blank. This chart tracks Tuesday circulation for the Philadelphia Tribune.n
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Economics
U.S. media company TelevisaUnivision, formed from a merger of Mexico’s Grupo Televisa and Univision in early 2022, reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission a total revenue of $4.6 billion in 2022. This is significantly higher than the company’s revenue of $2.8 billion in 2021, which includes figures from before and after the merger. (Telemundo’s revenue is not available for analysis, as its parent company, Comcast, does not provide network-specific revenue.)
Revenue for TelevisaUnivision
Total revenue (in U.S. dollars)
| Year | Univision Revenue | TelevisaUnivision Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $2,911,400,000 | |
| 2015 | $2,858,400,000 | |
| 2016 | $3,042,000,000 | |
| 2017 | $2,973,300,000 | |
| 2018 | $2,713,800,000 | |
| 2019 | $2,687,900,000 | |
| 2020 | $2,541,900,000 | |
| 2021 | $2,841,000,000 | |
| 2022 | $4,625,900,000 |
Source: Univision and TelevisaUnivision press releases and Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
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While audience data is not available for Spanish-language news radio, revenue data is available. Average station revenue for Spanish-language news stations that are listed in the BIA Advisory Services database has largely recovered from declines in revenue in 2020.
Revenue for Spanish news radio stations
Average station revenue for Spanish-language news radio stations (in U.S. dollars)
| Year | Station revenue |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $1,452,631 |
| 2016 | $1,426,316 |
| 2017 | $1,334,211 |
| 2018 | $1,306,579 |
| 2019 | $1,292,105 |
| 2020 | $1,002,632 |
| 2021 | $1,159,211 |
| 2022 | $1,200,000 |
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of MEDIA Access Pro and BIA Advisory Services data.
Note: Data from previous years is updated annually. Stations here include the formats Spanish News, Spanish News/Info, Spanish News/Sports, Spanish News/Talk and Spanish News/Variety in BIA Advisory Services’ database, which contains revenue data for 19 stations in these formats. BIA Advisory Services typically does not report revenue for stations that are not part of a radio market. Data includes full-power AM and FM radio stations in the BIA Advisory Services database in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
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There is no revenue data available for Black-oriented newspapers, which are mostly privately held, and no database that the Center is aware of separates out Black-oriented TV or radio news stations from all English-speaking news outlets.
Newsroom investment
The portion of local TV newsroom staff who are African American is at 13.2% in 2022, now remaining roughly steady between around 12% and 13% since 2018, according to a survey of TV stations from RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University. By comparison, the percentage of television news directors who are African American is smaller, at just 6%. In 2022, 9% of the TV news workforce and 7% of TV news directors are Hispanic/Latino, both declines from 2021.
Hispanic/Latino and African American staff in TV newsrooms
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Hispanic/Latino and African American staff as part of the TV news workforce
% of the TV news workforce that is …
| Year | African American | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 10.1% | 4.2% |
| 2000 | 11.0% | 7.0% |
| 2005 | 10.3% | 8.7% |
| 2010 | 11.5% | 5.8% |
| 2015 | 10.8% | 8.2% |
| 2016 | 11.1% | 8.9% |
| 2017 | 10.9% | 10.5% |
| 2018 | 11.7% | 10.8% |
| 2019 | 12.0% | 11.6% |
| 2020 | 13.3% | 10.9% |
| 2021 | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 2022 | 13.2% | 9.1% |
Source: RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University.
Note: The data source lists share of the workforce that is “African American” and “Hispanic/Latino,” so those terms are used in this section.
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Hispanic and African American local TV news directors
% of TV news directors who are …
| Year | African American | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1.6% | 3.8% |
| 2000 | 3.0% | 9.0% |
| 2005 | 3.9% | 5.8% |
| 2010 | 3.3% | 6.6% |
| 2015 | 4.3% | 6.0% |
| 2016 | 5.5% | 8.8% |
| 2017 | 5.3% | 7.1% |
| 2018 | 6.4% | 8.4% |
| 2019 | 5.5% | 10.7% |
| 2020 | 3.9% | 10.0% |
| 2021 | 6.5% | 10.3% |
| 2022 | 6.0% | 6.8% |
Source: RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University.
Note: The data source lists share of the workforce that is “African American” and “Hispanic/Latino,” so those terms are used in this section.
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Find out more
This fact sheet was compiled by Research Assistants Sarah Naseer and Christopher St. Aubin and Senior Researcher Elisa Shearer.
Read the methodology.
Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This is the latest report in Pew Research Center’s ongoing investigation of the state of news, information and journalism in the digital age, a research program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Find more in-depth explorations of Hispanic and Black news media by following the link below:
- Research topic: Hispanics/Latinos
- Research topic: Black Americans
- Black U.S. podcast listeners choose distinct topics, have different reasons for listening than other groups, April 25, 2023
- Social media continue to be important political outlets for Black Americans, Dec. 11, 2020
- Black U.S. adults follow many COVID-19 news topics more closely, discuss the outbreak more frequently, June 5, 2020