Nielsen Consumer Insight. http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/insights/consumer_insight/July_2009/from_hayworth_to_cansino

1. Consumer Insight
reprinted from July 2009
Delivering consumer clarity www.nielsen.com
From Hayworth to Cansino: Turning the Tides in
Latino Movie-Going Sensibilities
By: Ruth Behr, Director of Client Consulting and Reny Diaz, Client Solutions
Associate, The Nielsen Company
CI SUMMARY: Hispanics comprise a growing 15% of today’s American moviegoers and
amounted to over 128 million of U.S. box office admissions in 2008. Latinos not only
represent an opportunity to positively impact overall box office success, but they are an
influential segment with the power to build brand awareness.
Denied her golden ticket to stardom, then obscure Margarita
Latinos represent an
Cansino’s dreams were crushed when she found herself replaced
by blond bombshell Loretta Young as the lead in Fox’s remake of overwhelming 28% of
the 1928 blockbuster Ramona. Cansino’s ethnic name and Latin today’s heavy
features had evidently designated her impractical. It wasn’t until moviegoers...
two years later, when Columbia Pictures changed Rita’s last name
to Hayworth and dyed her dark hair to auburn, that she ever stood
a chance of being noticed in Hollywood.
Today, the movie industry’s attitudes toward Latinidad are quite the contrary: Though Latinos
comprise an exponential 15% of the U.S. population, they represent an overwhelming 28% of today’s
heavy moviegoers—a substantial contribution to any feature film’s box office success.
A growing audience
About 26 million of today’s American moviegoers are Hispanic, most commonly between the ages of 12
and 34. Almost half of these young Latinos watch 11 or more movies in theaters every year, making them
100% more likely than the national average to be considered “frequent moviegoers”. Half of all Hispanics
prefer to see a movie within the first 10 days of a film’s opening. Understanding Latino consumption and
entertainment habits can help studios and agencies maximize the success of a feature with this valuable
segment of the movie-going population.
reprinted from July 2009 http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/insights/consumer_insight continued on next page.

2. Language lessons
For Hispanics, in-home language preference—categorized as either A family unit supersedes
English-dominant, Spanish-dominant or bilingual—plays a smaller individual language
role in the movie-going experience than might be expected. While
language differences often exist among Hispanic families, the ability
preference...
to participate in an activity as a family unit supersedes individual
language preference.
Hispanic Moviegoers by Language Segments
English-Dominant Spanish-Dominant Bilingual
Moviegoers Moviegoers Moviegoers
33% of U.S. 44% of U.S. 23% of U.S.
Hispanic Moviegoers Hispanic Moviegoers Hispanic Moviegoers
• 61% are ages 12-34 • 42% are ages 12-24, • 55% are ages 12-34
• 4+ household 24% are ages 45+ • 4+ household
members • 3+ household members
• More technologically members • High propensity to
adoptive than the • High propensity for engage in gaming
average U.S. moviegoer large TV ownership activities on mobile
(e.g., DVRs, surround (46”+). phones.
sound, gaming • Likely to engage in • Highly interested in
consoles). regular multimedia streaming full-length
• Frequent social activity on mobile movies to a gaming
networkers. phones (e.g., stream or console.
download music, • Frequent social
ringtones, wallpapers, networkers.
pictures).
Source: The Nielsen Company, NRG Moviegoer Benchmark (2008).
Hispanics are 77% more likely to take turns picking films within their movie-going party. For example, although
one-third of Hispanic moviegoers in Spanish-dominant homes see movies with Spanish dubbing or subtitles in
theaters, less than half prefer this format to a standard English-language experience.
And just as the majority of Spanish-dominants sit through—and presumably enjoy—English-only films, 18% of
their English-dominant counterparts have seen a Spanish-dubbed or subtitled film in theaters1. The familial bent
in Hispanic movie-going translates to greater instances of ticket and concession purchases per party, as Hispanic
households are generally larger and more extended compared to the average movie-going family.
reprinted from July 2009 http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/insights/consumer_insight

3. The main attraction
Hispanics are worth an estimated $1 billion to the U.S. movie industry, representing 30% of moviegoers who
see 10 or more summer movies in theaters. Summer is the most important season for the industry, often
accounting for 40% of the year’s box office revenue.
Average Number of New Releases Seen in
Theater by Ethnicity (Last 12 Months)
Total 7.9
White 7
Hispanic 11.5
Black 8
Asian/Other 9.5
Source: The Nielsen Company, NRG Moviegoer Benchmark (2008).
Showing all moviegoers except outliers (53+).
The Family, Horror/Thriller, Romantic Comedy and Action Adventure Animated movies cross
genres attract the greatest interest from Hispanic moviegoers . Family language dominances
2
films, in particular, provide entertainment that crosses the generation better than other
and language preferences of Hispanic families. This is mainly evident
with attendance to animated movies, as Hispanics can comprise over
genres...
one-quarter of these audiences. Animated movies may cross language dominances better than other
genres because not only can they be understood with varying degrees of English comprehension, but
abuela is likely attending with her grandchildren as well.
Overall, Hispanics command the highest share of audience in the Horror/Thriller and Romantic Comedy
genres. Their highest headcount contributions—in Action Adventure and Family—correspond to the
highest-grossing genres in the U.S. market.
With regard to the 800 million DVD units sold in the U.S. last year, Hispanic households are 24% more
likely to purchase them compared to the average American household. In fact, almost 79% of Hispanic
moviegoers bought at least one DVD in 2008.
reprinted from July 2009 http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/insights/consumer_insight

4. TV ads engage and captivate
As important contributors of movie-going audiences, Spanish- Spanish-language
language and Hispanic-heavy English networks would be wise to not television is particularly
overlook their fair share of studio spend. On average, 1.5% of prime- effective in targeting
time Spanish broadcast was time-shifted by moviegoers—7% less
than the English-language counterpart’s average. This trend
Hispanic moviegoers...
contributes to the boost in live commercial ratings for the average Hispanophone program, making
Spanish-language television particularly effective in targeting Hispanic moviegoers.
Percent of Broadcast & Ad-Supported Cable
Minutes Spent by Heavy Moviegoers Ages 12+
(Hispanic AND Non-Hispanic)
Spa
nis
hA
Univisio
dS
Tele
upp Az
ABC 6%
mun
Tel d Cab 0.4%
ort tec
n 6%
efu le
e
do 2
tur 1%
%
C6
a 1%
%
a
NB
%
S5
CB
5%
FOX
CW 2%
MNT 1%
ION 0.3%
TNT 4%
All Other Ad Supported Cable 49% ESPN
3%
US
A3
%
TB
SC
3%
NI
CK
2%
Source: The Nielsen Company, BTA: Moviegoer (2008). Heavy moviegoers
defined as those who have seen 11+ new releases in theaters over
the past 12 months. April-May 2009.
In addition to spending TV time differently, Hispanic moviegoers Spanish television
also internalize movie advertising more positively. Almost two- represents an
thirds of Hispanic moviegoers consider movie ads on television
as “informative and eye-catching”, making them 7% more likely
opportunity to
to think so compared to the average movie-going population3. target moviegoers...
reprinted from July 2009 http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/insights/consumer_insight

5. Many Hispanic moviegoers still consider current amounts of movie advertising on Spanish television as
“not enough”. In 2008, movie studios spent an estimated $103 million on Spanish-language network
and cable television. This amount equates to 3% of reported spending for the motion picture category—
a 13% increase from 2007 movie spending on Spanish-language TV. For a medium that tends to
over-deliver the moviegoer target, Spanish television represents an opportunity to target
moviegoers who may otherwise be inaccessible.
An analysis of Universal’s Fast and Furious television campaign demonstrates the added reach Spanish
programming can provide. With an opening weekend audience worth $72.5 million—46% of which was
reported Hispanic—the brand tapped Hispanic moviegoers for part of its success. Fully 11.3% of
moviegoers saw spots on Spanish broadcast and cable—almost half of which would never have been
reached with the rest of Universal’s campaign.
But Hispanic moviegoers don’t just watch Spanish television. While Univision elicits 20% of Hispanic
moviegoer’s broadcast and cable viewing minutes, English-broadcast networks ABC, CBS, the CW, FOX
and NBC together command over 15%. Networks ESPN, NICK, TBS, TNT and USA rule cable for
Hispanic moviegoers, comprising 10% combined. English-language programming often occupies the
majority of Hispanic moviegoers’ time spent on broadcast and ad-supported cable.
Synchronized sensibilities
Considering that Hispanics comprise one-quarter of the most frequent moviegoers, Hollywood’s
reversion from Hayworth back to Cansino is reflective of an era where Hispanic moviegoers are valued
for precisely that which Rita Hayworth felt obliged to alter—cultural sensibility. Understanding the
unique consumption habits of Hispanics will help the movie industry tailor a portion of its advertising to
a box office constituency that can build brand awareness and success for movie features to come.
1 2007 Nielsen NRG moviegoer benchmark.
2 2007 Nielsen NRG moviegoer benchmark.
3 2007 Nielsen NRG moviegoer benchmark.
reprinted from July 2009 http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/insights/consumer_insight