In 2004 ad pages for Hispanic magazines jumped 11.5 percent, spurring roughly a dozen new launches in 2005, including Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated Latino, ESPN’s ESPN Deportes and Meredith’s Siempre Mujer.

It all proved too much to swallow. In 2005, three major titles were shuttered in the second half, and thus pages ended the year down 2.9 percent, to 12,371.

That's led to a more sobering 2006. There have been just four new launches to date, presumably because publishers were somewhat spooked by last year’s numbers. And auto spending has been down, as it has with all consumer titles.

But even so, 2006 looks to be a better year than 2005.

Ad pages through September are basically flat at up 0.1 percent, to 8,605 pages. And revenue year to date is up 15.5 percent, to $168.4 million, based on rate cards before discounting, according to numbers released yesterday by the Media Economics Group, a Florida-based research firm that tracks advertising in Hispanic and black magazines.

“The pace of new launches slowed down a bit [in 2006],” says Media Economics Group president Carlos Pelay. “There were a lot that went on the market at the same time last year, and I think it’s going to take a while for the market to absorb the new launches. It’s very competitive for ad dollars.”

Still, Pelay notes that several Hispanic magazine categories are very healthy, led by entertainment. People en Español revenue was up 30 percent year to year in September, while TV y Novelas rose 66 percent and TV Notas jumped 214 percent.

Women’s magazines have also been strong, with Cosmo en Español up 50 percent in September and Siempre Mujer doing very well (the magazine changed its print schedule, so year to year comparisons for September aren’t possible).

And after last year’s rash of closings, including American Media’s Shape en Español, Televisa’s Cristina and Sears’ Nuestra Gente, there haven’t been major closures in 2006.

This year’s new magazines added to Media Economic Group's HispanicMagazineMonitor have been smaller launches as compared with 2005. Quince Girl, aimed at Latina girls celebrating the Hispanic equivalent of Sweet Sixteen, launched in March, followed by Fox Sports en Español and the entertainment magazine Muevelo, both in April. And Latino U, aimed at Hispanic college students, spun off an edition aimed at high schoolers.

By comparison, in 2005 three major new titles launched in sports alone, including Beisbol Mundial in addition to the SI and ESPN spinoffs.

Pelay thinks 2007 could be another strong year for launches. He says he knows of at least two new health publications launching, a category that currently has few Hispanic magazines.

As for whether automotive, the top ad category among Hispanic magazines, will begin coming back, Pelay is uncertain.

After showing declines every month this year, auto spending was finally up in July and August. Pelay thought that September would be up too but instead revenue decreased year to year again.

Year to date, automotive spending is down 4.6 percent, to $20.7 million. For the English-language magazines tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau, auto is down 10.1 percent, to $1.48 billion.

“It’s hard to say whether [September’s numbers] means that there’s no upward trend or not,” Pelay says. “Every major auto company is down this year except Toyota.”