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In another sign of how the exploding Hispanic population is changing the landscape of local news, Univision stations in Los Angeles and New York claimed the country's top two rated early-evening newscasts in June among young adults.

Nielsen People Meter data issued for June shows that the 6 p.m. newscast on Univision's Los Angeles station, KMEX, averaged 140,000 adults 18-49, more than 73% ahead of the newscast on runner-up KABC. And in Gotham, Univision's WXTV averaged 116,000 adults 18-49 to finish 9% ahead of the market's No. 2 newscast on WABC.

Univision notes that some 77% of the local newscast viewers on KMEX and WXTV are bilingual.

KMEX's dominance actually stretches back farther and wider. For the past three months (April through June), the Univision outlet in Los Angeles has ranked as the No. 1 station across the nation among adults 18-49 regardless of language.

In May, updated U.S. Census data revealed that the nation's Hispanic population increased by 1.4 million to reach 45.5 million. This will have an impact on the presidential election, as a new government report shows an 18% surge in Hispanic voters during the last congressional elections compared to 2002, compared with a 7% increase among non-Hispanic white voters and a 5% increase in black voters.