''El Planeta'' is a
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
-based
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
newspaper serving the
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
community of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. It is the largest Spanish-language newspaper in New England.
Company history
Founded by Javier Marin in 2004 in
Brookline
Brookline may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston
* Brookline, Missouri
* Brookline, New Hampshire
* Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Brookline, Vermont
See ...
as Hispanic News Press (HNP), the company launched ''El Planeta'' in May 2005 with 5000 copies in circulation. In September 2005, four editions of the newspaper targeted four different areas in
: (
Greater Boston,
Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
,
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
and
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
). In September 2005
Phoenix Media/Communications Group
Phoenix Media/Communications Group is an American, Boston, Massachusetts-based corporation with several publishing and broadcasting interests.
Operations
Phoenix Media's current outlets include the ''Portland Phoenix'' of Maine, and it previ ...
(PMCG) noticing the growth in the Hispanic market and, seeing this as great opportunity to enter in a different market, acquired a 35% stake of ''El Planeta'', becoming the major stakeholder of the company. In January 2009 ''El Planeta'' was finally fully integrated in PMCG and spun-off HNP. Between 2009 and 2012 the newspaper positioned itself as a leading outlet in the Hispanic community increasing its circulation to 50,000 copies. They also maintained and grew events such as "Health and Family", "Powermeter 100", "Best of Boston" and "Latin Taste of Boston".
In late 2011, Javier Marin decided to invest in a new media outlet. He approached WCEA / Cuencavisión, a TV station founded in 1982 by Peter Cuenca, a Cuban immigrant to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Marin took ownership and management of the station in order to transform its business model. A year later in 2012, he and two other partners built a state of the art new studio in
Somerville
Somerville may refer to:
*Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford
Places
*Somerville, Victoria, Australia
* Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia
* Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...
, MA and rebranded the TV station as MásTV. In early 2012, Marin decided to re-acquire ''El Planeta'', as he saw the opportunity to re-integrate it into a media strategy for the local growing market. By May 2012 the re-acquisition transaction was consolidated and ''El Planeta'', TuBoston.com and ''Health and Family Magazine'' joined MásTV and a new integrated media company was formed, MÁS MEDIA.
As of 2011, ''El Planeta'' was "the leading publication in the New England Hispanic market".
Distribution
With a total weekly average circulation reaching out to over a 100,000 weekly readers, El Planeta is the largest circulating Spanish language newspaper across the Greater Boston Metropolitan area, including
Lowell, and Lawrence in the
Merrimack Valley
The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those l ...
of Massachusetts. Its circulation is monitored weekly, with a 95% average pickup rate. Its mission is oriented to inform, educate, and unite the Hispanic community with others.
Community events
* Powermeter 100 highlights the 100 most influential people for the Hispanic community.
* Salud y Familia Event is a free annual celebration of Hispanic heritage since 2006. It takes place at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center at
Roxbury Community College
Roxbury Community College (RCC) is a public community college in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. RCC offers associate degrees in arts, and sciences, as well as certificates. RCC has transfer agreements with Curry College, North ...
.
* Latin Taste of Boston, a major, local Hispanic food festival in Boston.
* Best of El Planeta: Every year El Planeta Newspaper asks its readers to vote for their favorite restaurants, cocktails, hair salons, retailers, neighborhood stores, local personalities and more in a total of 60+ different categories. At the event El Planeta presents all the winners for each category.
References
Further reading
"Ethnic papers thrive in flagging market"''
Boston Business Journal'', 2006
"Phoenix Media buys El Planeta"''Boston Business Journal'', 1 December 2008
"Phoenix buys into El Planeta" ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', 2005
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Planeta, El
Hispanic and Latino American culture in Boston
Newspapers published in Boston
Non-English-language newspapers published in Massachusetts
Spanish-language mass media in Massachusetts
Spanish-language newspapers published in the United States
South End, Boston