Univision’s shrinking presence in the Indianapolis market could open doors for other media looking to capture Hispanic customers. That’s what advertising expert Kathy Cabello thinks. Cabello is president of the Indianapolis-based Cabello Associates, an advertising and marketing firm on the city’s Westside.
While Univision’s exit will cause a void in the Spanish-language TV media, local Web sites and radio stations may reach out to the aband oned viewers. The Internet may be the biggest change.”The Latino community is open to messages even on the Internet. The reality is that they are there.
It’s exciting to see what’s going to open up,” she said.”The pickup will be with radio. I anticipate they are going to pick up the slack, and that’s a positive thing.”Russ Dodge, general manager at Radio Latina WEDJ-FM (107.1), said the station has begun to pick up where Univision will leave off when it goes off the air. The radio station plans to upgrade its Web site with guest experts whose backgrounds include health, education, finances and immigration.”Obviously, many of those people that are doing those types of promotions in Univision will need a new home and , ideally, many of them will look to us,” he said.
In addition, Dodge said, he is adding more local news updates and listing community events on the air. But will a Spanish-language TV newscast, such as Univision’s Indianapolis affiliate WIIH (Channel 17) had until a few months ago, return to Indianapolis any time soon? Not likely, Cabello said.”It’s unfortunate.
It really is,” she said. “Because (Univision) went away, it’s going to be harder to bring another station in like that again. The market can’t hold what was there.”