Gitanas Scores Big @ Telemundo.

Telemundo’s Tuesday night premiere of its latest original production “Gitanas” (9pm ET/PT) is the highest rated novela launch in the network’s history. The novela, produced for U.S. Hispanics by Telemundo and Argos (Mexico), garnered a 5.2 rating among Spanish language Adults 18-49 (A18-49); giving Telemundo a remarkable 24% ratings gain compared to the launch of the prior novela in the same time period. “Gitanas” also earned the top spot as the highest-rated premiere ever among Women 18-49 (6.5 rating), Adults 18-34 (5.2 rating), Women 18-34 (6.3 rating), and tied for #1 among Men 18-34 (4.3 rating).

“Gitanas” scored big in several key Hispanic markets, being the highest-rated premiere of all time among Hispanic households (HH) in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Antonio with a 15.6, 9.3, and 4.2 rating, respectively; as well as in New York where the novela was the #1 program in primetime with a 20.0 HH rating. In Miami, “Gitanas'” launch episode was the second highest-rated premiere for the timeslot with an 16.6 HH rating.

To date, four of the top five novela premieres on Telemundo have been original productions and have all debuted within the past year (ranked on A18-49 rating). “Gitanas” took the lead (Jul’04), out-ranking “La Baby Sister” (April ’01, only non-original in the top 5). Previously, “Prisionera” (March’04), “El Alma Herida” (Dec’03), and “Amor Descarado” (Sept.’03) registered record-braking premieres for the network.

“Everyone at Telemundo is extremely proud of ‘Gitanas’, a novela that clearly distinguishes our original style,” said the network’s Executive Vice President of Programming and Production, Ramón Escobar. “We are committed to offering the US Hispanic audience compelling, high-quality productions and it is exceptionally satisfying to see that the viewers recognize and support our efforts.”

With a stellar cast that includes Saúl Lisazo, Dolores Heredia, Manolo Cardona, and Ana de la Reguera, “Gitanas” tells the passionate love story between María Salomé (de la Reguera), a beautiful gypsy woman, and Sebastián (Cardona), a non-gypsy man, who will have to fight against the intolerance of their cultures and a secret past full of hatred in order to be together. For the novela’s production, Telemundo commissioned Argos to build a magnificent back-lot at Mexico’s Xochitla Ecological Park and tape on-location in the beautiful port of Topolobampo in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. For the story’s adaptation, scriptwriters have the permanent counseling of several gypsy families who also serve as extras for some of the scenes. “Gitanas” is closed captioned in English on cc1.