Youth In NYC Flock To Univision WXTV-TV.

Younger New York TV viewers are flocking to Spanish-language Univision 41 (WXTV) in droves according to a comparison of Nielsen Station Index (NSI) demographic data for the November 2003 sweep with data from the November 2002 sweep period. A study of key early fringe, early news, and late news time periods where local TV stations compete, reveals that Univision 41 is number one among all New York’s local stations in many instances among viewers aged 18 to 34 years old and has made massive year-to-year gains among slightly older but still highly prized viewers aged 18 to 49 and 25 to 54. Sweeps are the four, four-week periods each year in which the audiences of TV stations nationwide are measured in order to set advertising rates. The November 2003 sweep covers the period from October 30 to November 26,2003. The November 2002 sweep is October 31 to November 27, 2002.

Univision 41 is number one in New York in every key local weekday news time period among viewers aged 18 to 34, a group which English-language networks fear has abandoned television. Univision 41 is number two among every other prized demographic group in each weekday early news race, 5 pm, 6 pm, and 6:30 pm, with massive year-to-year gains although it is often fourth or fifth in household rating. In addition, Univision 41 has scored huge gains in early fringe time periods (3 pm to 5 pm), where it faces competition from such TV powerhouses as “Oprah,” “Judge Judy,” and “Dr. Phil.”

Here are the highlights:

EARLY FRINGE, 3 PM: Univision 41 rockets from number four to number one among viewers aged 18 to 34 in the 3 pm to 4 pm weekday hour with “Classe 406,” a young- skewing novela which replaced “El Juego de la Vida” (The Game of Life), seen during November 2002. “Classe 406” attracted an average of 86,000 viewers aged 18 – 34, up 132% from November ’02, to topple WABC-TV’s “General Hospital” from first place in the time period. “Classe 406 also scored massive gains among viewers aged 18 – 49 and 25 – 54, up 202% and 93% respectively with 124,000 viewers aged 18 – 49 and 85,000 aged

25 – 54. “General Hospital” finished second among 18 to 34 year olds with 74,000 viewers but continued to lead the 18 – 49 and 25- 54 categories with 192,000 and 195,000 respectively, although those

figures are down 16% and 11% from November 2002.

EARLY FRINGE, 4 PM: Univision’s talk show, “El Gordo y La Flaca,” seen weekdays 4 pm to 5 pm, knocked WABC-TV’s “Oprah” outof first place among viewers aged 18 to 34 with 95,000, a gain of 23% over the previous year’s second place 77,000. “El Gordo y La Flaca” is also up 61% to 169,000 viewers aged 18 – 49 and up 48% to 145,000 viewers aged 25 – 54. “Oprah” continues to lead in the two older categories with 243,000 and 278,000 viewers respectively.

5 PM NEWS RACE: In New York’s hotly contested 5 pm news race, Univision 41 leads among younger viewers with 105,000 aged 18 – 34 for “Primer Impacto” (First Impression), a news magazine. What’s more, among viewers aged 18 – 49 and 25 – 54, “Primer Impacto” beats every other competing news program on broadcast TV in New York except for the 5 pm “Eyewitness News” on WABC-TV, although it is fourth among 5 pm weekday news programs in household rating. “Primer Impacto” is up 26% to 201,000 viewers aged 18 – 49 and up 43% to 222,000 viewers aged 25 – 54.

6 PM NEWS RACE: No fewer than six New York broadcast stations compete in the 6 pm weekday news race, and Univision 41’s “Noticias Univision 41” with anchors Rafael Pineda and Denisse Oller is number one or number two in the three key age groups — although it is fourth in household rating. “Noticias Univision 41” is number one among those aged 18 – 34 with 109,000 viewers and number two among those aged 18 – 49 with 250,000 viewers, the latter a gain of 22% over its third place November 2002 numbers, and second only to WABC-TV’s 277,000 viewers. Among viewers aged 25 – 54 “Noticias Univision 41” is up 19% to 268,000 viewers, second only to WABC-TV’s 6 pm news, which is seen by 350,000 persons aged 25 -54. “Noticias Univision 41” ran third among viewers aged 25 – 54 a year ago.

6:30 PM NEWS RACE: In New York’s five-way, 6:30 pm network news race, Univision’s “Noticiero Univision” with anchors Jorge
Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas is first among viewers aged 18 – 34 and second among those aged 18 – 49 and 25 – 54 respectively — up from third place in both older categories. “Noticiero Univision” is up 9% to 125,000 viewers aged 18 – 34, up 27% to 256,000 viewers aged 18 – 49, and up 17% to 269,000 viewers aged 25 – 54. In the latter two categories “Noticiero Univision” beats the “CBS Evening News” with Dan Rather, “NBC Nightly News” with Tom Brokaw, and trails only the “ABC World News” with Peter Jennings. “Noticiero Univision” is fourth in household rating at 6:30 pm.

11 PM NEWS RACE: In the 11 pm weekday news race, “Noticias Univision 41” with anchors Pineda and Oller, has moved up from
third place to first with 95,000 viewers aged 18 – 34. Among those aged 18 – 49 “Noticias Univision” is up 47% to 241,000 viewers, and among those aged 25 -54 it is up 19% to 230,000 viewers.