Fox News is Launching a New Spanish Language Channel

Is America's biggest right wing media bullhorn making a move to get even more Latino voters?

Photo by Rubaitul Azad on Unsplash

Fox News announced yesterday that it is launching a new Spanish-language channel dedicated to sports, politics, and cultural Issues. This new channel, “Fox Noticias,”  will be anchored by popular Latina Fox and Friends Weekend host, Rachel Campos-Duffy.

“I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to host ‘Fox Noticias,’” said Campos-Duffy, who is Mexican-American. “As the fastest-growing electorate, accounting for nearly 20% of the population, the Hispanic American community is thriving, and I am proud to bring a new show that breaks down the news of the day with a focus on the kitchen table issues that matter most to our community.”

According to “The Hill”, Fox News, “The top-rated cable network”, claims that data shows it carries 36% of the Hispanic cable news audience and 45% of the 25-54 age demographic. The network also reported the largest growth in Hispanic viewership last quarter, up 65% in total day viewers.

Check out the enormous growth of Hispanic viewers watching Fox News:

So, what’s this all about? Could Fox News have a major impact on the November elections by appealing to Latino voters?

While Spanish-language viewership is declining, and even though this move may challenge Univision and Telemundo, it’s still a narrow play for voters. My followers know that only 17-20% of Latino voters get their political information in Spanish. This means we're talking about a small sliver of persuadable Latino voters. Like, really small. Single digit small.

But let’s say Fox News is dramatically successful. In fact, for the sake of argument let’s say they get 50% of ALL Spanish-speaking voters. That would equate to 10% of the Latino electorate. It's not insignificant, but hardly enough to justify buying and building a whole new channel.

Seems like something else is going on.

Let me explain:

Given Fox News claims of increased Hispanic viewership on their English-language channels, this could be a strategic play for a shrinking market. Again, readers of The Great Transformation know that the share of the Spanish-speaking population in the country is actually shrinking, contradicting the notion that all Latinos speak Spanish. The way you communicate to the majority of the Latino electorate is in English, especially the most persuadable ones.

Spanish-language media giants know this. Univision, for instance, is struggling. Remember the controversy that erupted surrounding Trump’s interview on Univision with reporter Enrique Acevedo earlier this year? Latino advocacy groups were outraged that Trump was given a platform, particularly in such a soft interview setting. But Univision is feeling the pressure to become less partisan as its market shrinks. Fewer Spanish speakers, increased competition from Telemundo, diversification of media outlets and younger Spanish speakers favoring YouTube and TikTok make competition for eyeballs fierce.

Fox News entering the fray only intensifies the pressure in an already competitive landscape.

This is why I don’t believe the launch of “Fox Noticias” has anything to do with the upcoming election. This is much more likely a market play where Fox is hedging against the demographic cliff they’re heading over. The average Fox News Channel viewer is old. Really old. And without securing new, loyal viewers, its existence is challenged.

So, while the Harris campaign announces its Hombres for Harris outreach efforts to Latino men today, and as she participates in a Univision town hall in Las Vegas tonight, remember that “Fox Noticias” will be entering millions of Spanish-speaking homes starting October 15th. Both parties are fighting for a shrinking slice of the Latino vote, but Fox News’s strategy seems less about this November and more about playing the long game for Latino voters.