ESPN Deportes rises in the competitive Sports Cable Network race.

ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language sports cable network, completed a full year of national Nielsen measurements Sunday, April 26, with stellar results. The network, added to Nielsen’s Hispanic sample April 28, 2008, averaged a 0.5 Hispanic rating and delivered 20,000 Hispanic homes over the past 12 months, becoming the highest-rated and most-watched Spanish-language sports cable network in the U.S. In addition to earning the No. 1 spot in its category, ESPN Deportes was the second most-viewed network among all Spanish-language cable networks.

In addition, over the past year ESPN Deportes has become the home of sports news and information among Hispanics. The network’s news and information programming led the way averaging 0.5 Hispanic rating and 18,000 Hispanic homes, anchored by Fútbol Picante which averaged a 1.1 rating over the 12-month period. Fútbol Picante hit an all-time high of 3.79 Hispanic rating for post game analysis of the Mexico-Honduras World Cup Qualifier, April 1, 2009. From April 2008 – April 2009, ESPN Deportes aired a total of 4,678 hours of sports news and information – 67 percent higher than its closest competitor. The network finished its first year of measurements with 38 of the top 50 highest-rated sports news information telecasts on Spanish-language cable. In 2009, ESPN Deportes’ news and information is on to an even stronger start, averaging a 0.56 Hispanic rating, representing 24,000 Hispanic homes.

In addition to ESPN Deportes’ ratings success, ESPN is also leading the way in delivering the largest Hispanic audience among all sports cable networks, regardless of language. In first quarter 2009, the five nationally measured ESPN networks delivered 29 million Hispanics collectively, representing approximately 68% of the Hispanic population. ESPN (36,000 Hispanic homes) and ESPN Deportes (27,000 Hispanic homes) ranked as the top two national sports networks in terms of Hispanic household delivery.

ESPN Deportes has also enjoyed significant increase in distribution since April 2008. Over the past year the network’s distribution has increased 41% to 4.9 million Hispanic homes.