Land of Passion, a Telemundo series

While people of Latin descent comprise the largest ethnic group in the U.S., and though their buying power is increasing, Spanish-language networks still have trouble courting advertisers' interest, reports the L.A. Times (via TNS Media Intelligence).

Ad spend on Spanish-oriented media has risen more than 14 percent last year from 2005, per Marketing Charts (via Nielsen). However, TNS Media Intelligence found only 3.2 percent of TV and print advertising in the nation is directed at Spanish markets in their language.

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies also determined that of the nation's top 250 advertisers, about 100 do not make any attempt to reach the Spanish market at all. Those that do often fail to commit more than 1 percent of their budgets to Spanish speakers.

Despite the rich untapped potential of the Spanish-speaking segment, advertisers may be dragging their feet for good reason. A number of advertisers, mainly in banking, investment and technology, are uncertain whether they should try garnering their loyalty in Spanish or whether messages in English already draw those of Hispanic descent.

For example, toy company Fisher-Price dropped its Spanish campaign in 2005 after finding that it "didn't increase awareness … because [campaigns were] readily understood in English," explained Brenda Andolina, director of brand marketing for Fisher-Price. She pointed out that toy ads showing happy children face few language barriers.

Univision and Telemundo, considered to be contenders on the same plane as networks like NBC, CBS and Fox, suffer bargain bin ad prices. 30 seconds on either of the two main Spanish-speaking networks cost 40 to 50 percent less than the same amount of time on an English-language network.

Both networks did admit the majority of their viewers are bilingual, with Univision netting a strong audience between the ages of 18 and 34. Telemundo draws a slightly older age group.