‘La Tormenta’ Boosts Telemundo Network.

Telemundo announced its new 7pm novela “La Tormenta” delivered a 3.5 rating in Adults 18-49 (A18-49) on its premiere night (Sept. 19); a 62% increase in the time period versus May 2005. “La Tormenta” ranked as the third highest rated novela premiere in A18-49 at 7pm on Telemundo in recent years; following “Anita No te Rajes” & “Pasion de Gavilanes.”

“La Tormenta’s” performance was even better among Women 18-49 (W18-49), delivering a 4.6 rating, which represents a 100% increase versus May audience delivery in its time period. It also made an impressive debut compared to its predecessor’s – “Amarte Asi” – premiere rating performance: a 44% higher in A18-49. Additionally, “La Tormenta” generated 173,000 more A18-49 viewers from its 7-7:30PM lead-in.

“With every novela launch this season, we continue proving our strategy is right on the mark,” said Ramon Escobar, Senior Executive Vice President of Network Entertainment, Telemundo. “Telemundo is the clear leader in high-quality original programming in U.S. Spanish-language TV and more viewers support us each day.”

At the local level, “La Tormenta” increased the 7-8P time period across all metered markets versus July’05 HH ratings. For Telemundo’s WNJU in New York, the novela premiere delivered a stellar performance, beating the competition by a landslide in the coveted A18-49 demographic and out delivering Univision’s WXTV in every hour of the prime. WNJU primetime block averaged a 9.3 A18-49 rating, outperforming WXTV by 37%. New York’s primetime victory represented a 41% increase over WNJU’s May’05 sweep average, turning the table on WXTV for the lead. Miami’s WSCV, Ch.51 also had an outstanding performance as the #1 station all through prime time.