Entravision Communications Corp. is the largest affiliate of Univision Communications Inc. in the country and by many estimates a traditional media company focusing on the Latino market. But it’s making a hard push into the evolving digital arena.

Over the last year, the Santa Monica-based company, which operates 49 radio stations and 55 television networks, has been cultivating social media “influencers” and building out its digital platforms. Entravision also acquired Smadex, a digital advertising company based in Spain.

Jeffery Liberman, Entravision’s president, said brands are increasingly looking to track advertising investments across a wide range of platforms from social media to television.

“We believe we are well positioned with traditional and digital assets to meet the marketing needs of advertisers and grow total advertising revenues,” Liberman said in a statement.

Entravision ranked No. 3 on this year’s Business Journal list of Most Profitable Public Companies. And while its digital revenue was down during the first quarter of 2019, Entravision executives said the company is retooling its strategy to reach more lucrative advertisers.

“We are feeling very positive about the potential for digital growth,” the company’s Chief Executive Walter Ulloa told investors in May.

The company reported $298 million in revenue in 2018, down from $536 million in 2017 when earnings got a boost from the $263 million sale of a portion of its broadband spectrum — a sliver of airwaves in high demand as telecom companies expand their 5G networks.  

Analyst Michael Kupinski at Noble Capital Markets Inc. said Entravision’s spectrum assets are gaining value with the rising demand for broadband.

The company is also developing more services for advertisers. Using its new Smadex technology, Entravision can provide digital advertisers with more detailed information on how consumers are interacting with their ads. Entravision is currently integrating that technology in U.S. media markets. 

The company says it’s looking forward to the presidential election season and the advertising dollars that are likely to follow.

“We’re expecting political ads to start up in the fourth quarter of 2019 and with the number of voters casting their ballot by mail on the rise – 38% of Latinos who voted in the last election sent their votes in by mail – we expect to see political buys placed earlier in the 2020 election cycle,” Liberman said.

The stations could use the boost.

This spring Entravision’s Univision and UniMas affiliated television stations returned to DishLatino after a nine-month absence. They were booted for a lack of subscribers as Univision ratings sagged.

Kupinski said the political season should be a bright spot. He said the company expects to bring in $15 million to $20 million in revenue this cycle, up from an average of about $10 million to $12 million.

About 40% of Entravision’s ad revenues come from California, he added, and that should increase with the state’s new earlier primary and rising profile on the national stage.

“Investors are starting to warm back up,” Kupinsiki said.