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Market Profile
SITUATED IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF ALABAMA NEAR THE FOOTHILLS OF THE Appalachian mountain range, Birmingham is a metropolitan hub in a region that also features dozens of rural communities. The diverse local economy of greater Birmingham got a significant boost in 2001, when Mercedes-Benz USA doubled the size of its manufacturing plant in the region. Honda also constructed a brand new automotive plant in the area that year, which it recently expanded.
In general, the city is experiencing a rebound in the fourth quarter after shaking off a sluggish summer, thanks largely to the region's automotive sector, says Sharon Gee, publisher of the Birmingham Business Journal, a weekly business publication.
Beyond automotive, Birmingham, the state's largest city, with a population of 246,903 according to the 2000 U.S. Census, is home to six institutions of higher learning, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The university's renowned medical research and development facilities continue to foster local economic growth, as well.
Birmingham, the nation's No. 40 television market according to Nielsen Media Research, also includes the Alabama cities of Anniston and Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of Alabama. With 690,030 TV households, the latest development in Birmingham's broadcasttelevision scene is a proposal by a local businessman to launch the market's first Spanishlanguage television station. Jonathan Barbee, president of Birmingham-based advertising and public relations firm Media Works International, hopes to negotiate a deal with Univision Communications, Telemundo or TV Azteca to create a Birmingham affiliate.
Barbee and two private investors would foot 52 percent of the estimated $6 million-$7 million in startup costs, with the remaining stake taken by other investors. Barbee says he anticipates creating 75 to 100 new jobs with the proposed station (probably a low-power outlet at the outset), which he hopes to have on area cable systems by the end of next year.
"The Hispanic population has risen about 300 percent in the last 10 years, so we decided to bring a Spanish-speaking station to town," says Barbee. While the U.S. Census pegs the number of Hispanics in the Birmingham metro area at around 17,000, or about 1.8 percent of the population, Barbee says he has evidence that Hispanics number around 50,000 in the metro area and could actually...