Spanish-language TV keeps outperforming English-language inventory, but the size of that advantage depends on which metric you choose. That is the central finding from EDO’s third annual Spanish-Language TV Outcomes Report, published September 30, 2026.
The study tracked 1.3 million national ad airings from 631 brands on U.S. Spanish-language networks between August 2025 and July 2026, delivering 332.3 billion impressions. In raw impact, the average Spanish-language ad generated 47% more ad-driven engagement than the average English-language spot. Once audience size and spot length are controlled, the per-person lead is 24%.
Scale and efficiency tell different stories
The 47% figure is an impact measure: it includes the reach that Spanish-language networks deliver. The 24% figure is what EDO calls effectiveness, measured per person per second. Both numbers matter, but they lead to different decisions in media planning.
That distinction becomes sharper when compared with previous reports. EDO put the effectiveness edge at 30% a year ago and 31% in its first edition. The new report does not reconcile the lower figure or disclose a methodology change. In other words, Spanish-language TV still outperforms, but the per-viewer advantage has narrowed at the same time total impact grew.
Laura Grover, EDO’s senior vice president and head of client solutions, said Spanish-language TV is no longer just “the most overlooked opportunity in advertising” and is among the fastest-growing.
The World Cup effect, and the ads that stopped
World Cup coverage produced some of the biggest numbers in the report: 7,743 Spanish-language airings, 17.8 billion impressions, and an average tournament ad with 11 times the impact of an average ad across both languages. Telemundo’s hydration-break sponsorships reached 39 times the impact of an average English- or Spanish-language TV ad.
But the most actionable finding is what happened after the final. Of 233 new creatives that debuted on Telemundo and Universo during the tournament, only 19% ran again on Spanish-language TV. The ones that did were 43% more effective than the average Spanish-language ad in post-tournament soccer coverage. Dove’s “Keep Girls In Sports” spot aired 18 times during the tournament and was 21% above average; afterward it aired 199 times and rose to 63% above average.
What marketers should do
- Measure impact and per-person effectiveness separately before reallocating TV budgets.
- Keep culturally relevant Spanish-language creative on air after major events instead of going dark.
- Track genre-level performance: news led at 48% effectiveness, scripted entertainment at 44%, sports at 14%, reality at 9%.
The report is directional, not definitive: EDO’s model projects a baseline from the minutes around each airing rather than using a randomised holdout, and it does not prove the link to sales. Still, the pattern is consistent for performance marketers. Spanish-language audiences respond strongly when brands stay present, and the post-event window is where much of that efficiency shows up.
Source: PPC Land
