I never thought I'd see the day, but that day has come. The deep South, that bastion of all-American tradition, has become an all-American melting pot. Being from the South myself, I remember a time when there were no Latinos in the city where I was born -- a Southern capital city. Now, cities like Atlanta are not only filling up with vibrant Latino communities, but local media and marketers are responding to this new(ish) immigrant group.
According to the Census Bureau, the Latino population in Atlanta more than doubled from 1990 to 2000, with the population number jumping from a modest 7,640 in 1990 to a considerable 18,720 in 2000. In two Georgia cities, Gainesville and Dalton, Latinos make up over 20% of the total population (22.6% of the total population in Gainesville and 20% percent in Dalton). Dawson County's Latino population jumped an amazing 59% between 2000 and 2002. Perhaps the most compelling number floating around: a 348% increase in the Latino population in Northeast Georgia (sources).
With local Latino-targeted magazines, newspapers and web sites, it was only a matter of time until someone would see dollar signs and Georgia would get its very own local Spanish language channel. Enter Georgia TeVe. According to an Atlanta Journal Constitution article, which provides a lot of background on this venture:
This is the latest effort by entrepreneurs to appeal to Atlanta's growing and potentially lucrative Hispanic population, and the station hopes to differentiate itself from competitors in the market "because we're going to bring the local flavor," Georgia TeVe CEO Rafael Ortiz-Guzman said.
Perhaps that "local flavor" will what will convince Latino viewers to lay down that extra $50 per month to have access to the channel (available only via the local Comcast cable provider) instead of just watching their local Univision affiliate.
The following article from today's MediaWeek focuses on the July 1 launch of Georgia TeVe. For more information on this topic, see this post on Juan Tornoe's excellent blog Hispanic Trending.
Georgia TeVe launches July 1.
June 24, 2005
Rafael Ortiz-Guzman, who created ROG Productions six years ago, will launch Georgia’s first local Hispanic TV station on Comcast cable beginning July 1. The station, Georgia TeVe will broadcast 24 hours a day and air about 50 hours of local programming each week, including 12 original productions.
Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing Hispanic markets in the U.S., but is served by only one Hispanic station, Univision’s WUVG-TV. Hispanics make up 7.5 percent of the Atlanta market and number about half a million in the state, according to the U.S. Census.
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