Telemundo Kick-offs Season With Strong Ratings Performance.

Telemundo Network closed another month with rating increases in Monday through Friday (M-F) primetime among the highly coveted demo of adults 18-49 (A18-49), making it the fourth consecutive month the Spanish-language network posts ratings gains in primetime. Averaging a 3.1 rating in A18-49 M-F for the month of September, Telemundo’s primetime delivered ratings growth both in A18-49 ( plus 24% vs. July and plus 29% vs. May) and A18-34 (plus 17% vs. July and plus27% vs. May) compared to this year’s sweep months of May and July. In addition, Telemundo solidified its position in the market with a 138% ratings advantage over Telefutura, more than doubling its performance in M-F prime (3.1 vs. 1.3). Meanwhile, Univision faced 5% ratings decline in A18-49 and 7% ratings decline in A18-34 in primetime compared to the month of August.

“This performance is a result of a new structure and a talented, experienced and dedicated team. In a little over five months, we have fine-tuned our strategy and continue to trend up and improve our performance,” said Don Browne, President, Telemundo. “Our primetime performance, the successful premiere of La Tormenta, plus the recent premiere of the second season of Decisiones and the upcoming launch of our new morning show Cada Dia con Maria Antonieta Collins, is a clear evidence that we are on the right track.”

Broken down by time period, Telemundo registered gains for every one of its originally-produced shows:

7PM – Telemundo’s newest novela “La Tormenta” is averaging a 2.9 rating in A18-49, recording the strongest delivery in the time period since last October. Premiere-to-date, the novela’s A18-49 delivery is 12% higher than Aug’05, plus 21% vs. Jul’05 and plus 32% vs. May’05. Among A18-34, “La Tormenta” averaged a 2.7 rating, plus 8% higher than Aug’05, plus 23% vs. Jul’05 and plus 42% vs. May’05.

8PM – “El Cuerpo del Deseo” hit new highs in Sept’05 with Adult 18-49 and 18-34 demos reaching their best deliveries in the time slot in the past year. Among A18-49 the novela averaged a 4.0 rating, growing 43% over Aug’05 and increasing 14% vs. the Sept’04 time period. In A18-34 “El Cuerpo del Deseo” averaged a 3.6 rating, growing 44% over Aug’05 and increasing 3% vs. Sept’04.

9PM – “Los Plateados” continued its upward trend with Sept’05 marking the third month of consecutive gains in A18-49; with a 2.7 rating “Los Plateados” grew 13% over Aug’05.

10PM – Since its premiere in August’05, the reality series “El Principe Azul” has grown the time slot’s performance over Jul’05 and May’05 in all key adult demos. Among A18-49 “El Principe Azul” averaged a 2.7 rating (plus 17% vs. Jul’05 and plus 29% vs. May’05) and a 2.4 rating among A18-34; a 4% increase vs. Jul’05 and plus 20% vs. May’05.

Local Markets:

Telemundo’s primetime block shows a positive growth trend in all Nielsen’s Metered Markets for the third consecutive month. Among A18-49, Telemundo’s KVEA, Ch. 52 in Los Angeles is up plus 5% vs. Aug’05 and plus 12% vs. July’05; WNJU, Ch. 47 in New York increased plus 35% vs. Aug’05 and plus 18% vs. July’05; Chicago’s WSNS Ch. 44 gained plus 20% vs. Aug’05 and plus 15% vs. July’05 and San Antonio’s KVDA Ch. 60 grew plus 16% vs. July’05. Among Hispanic Households, Miami’s WSCV, Ch. 51 is up plus 12% vs. Aug’05 and plus 20% vs. July’05.

Additionally, “El Cuerpo del Deseo” delivered the highest ratings in Telemundo primetime in the 5 Nielsen Metered Markets. For the past 5 weeks the novela has consistently been the #1 show among A18-49 in New York; while last week it also became the #1 novela in Miami among households.

Source: Nielsen Media Research