To recognize the contributions and culture of Hispanics in the U.S., the period from September 15–October 15 is designated as Hispanic Heritage Month. In advance of this celebration, The Nielsen Company offers a snapshot of the critical media usage trends for this demographic segment based on surveys with thousands of Hispanic respondents around the country and in Puerto Rico.

While many may view the Hispanic community as homogeneous, the fact is it has as much diversity as—or perhaps more than—any other ethnic group in this country. The Hispanic/Latino community varies widely depending on factors such as country of origin, citizenship, education and socio-economic status. As a result, media consumption is just as varied. To better understand this market beyond the broad category of "Hispanic," Nielsen has created four categories to segment the American Hispanic market based on acculturation level. Classification was determined by answers to two questions: the primary language used at home and frequency of watching Spanish language TV.