Telemundo Celebrates Its Success And Positive Impact On The Community & Industry.

To celebrate Telemundo’s success to-date and the network’s positive economic impact, NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright will visit the new production facilities in Miami and meet with employees and key community leaders today June 30th.

In the two years since NBC invested $2.7 billion in the acquisition of Telemundo, it has reclaimed the title of the fastest growing television network in the industry. Thanks to a new primetime strategy that has transformed Telemundo into the largest U.S. producer of original Spanish content. As of May 2004, Telemundo’s total share of Spanish-language television viewing among the key A18-49 audience increased 53% year-to year.

“Having just completed the Universal acquisition, I am thrilled to see the progress we have made with another recent, high-profile transaction,” said Wright. “$2.7 billion is the largest commitment to the growing Hispanic population that any media company has ever made, and it is already paying off in dramatic ways. Viewers are tuning in to Telemundo in record numbers, and our new production facilities have created hundreds of new jobs in the Hispanic community.”

Telemundo’s ratings surge is largely attributable to the network’s switch to originally-produced programming for the U.S. Hispanic. Hit novelas such as Amor Descarado, El Alma Herida and Pasion de Gavilanes have resonated with this audience. Telemundo’s 2004-2005 programming schedule, for the first time in Spanish-language television history, will consist of 100% original primetime productions.

“Thanks to the incredible support and resources of NBC, as well as the talent and hard work of our employees, Telemundo has become a formidable market competitor,” said Jim McNamara, President and CEO of Telemundo. “Bob’s visit to our Miami studios is an affirmation of NBC Universal’s continued support and dedication to both Telemundo and the Hispanic community.”

Miami is one of three locations where Telemundo has established a production studio dedicated to producing original primetime novelas. With these new state-of-the-art facilities, the network is now in a position to control its own primetime, from development to production to broadcast.

As a result of increasing production in the local area, Telemundo has contributed to South Florida’s growth in the economic and employment sectors. With Telemundo producing 2-3 novelas per year, each budgeted between $8-$10 million, the studios employ 206 employees in positions of production, administration, on-air talent, directors and writers.

NBC and Telemundo have also created inter-company casting initiatives, providing opportunities for talent to appear on both networks. On the daytime side, Silvanna Arias was recently cast on NBC’s soap opera, Passions. Additionally, Al Rojo Vivo’s Maria Celeste Ararras has appeared on the Today show and Dateline. The networks have also been able to share news resources, and bilingual reporters in markets served by both NBC and Telemundo.

As part of the NBC family, Telemundo will also provide viewers with a Spanish-language broadcast of the 2004 Olympic Games. This will mark the first exclusively non-English language Olympic broadcast in U.S. television history.