Telemundo delivers its highest rated special.

Telemundo reported audience results for the live telecast of the 56th Annual Miss Universe Pageant on May 28th. Among persons 2 plus, the pageant captured 2.1 million viewers as measured by Nielsen’s NTI audience survey. Compared to last year, the telecast attained solid growth for the network among key adult demographics including a plus 23% increase among Adults 18-49 (1,181,000 vs. 959,000) and a +45% increase among Adults 18-34 (632,000 vs. 435,000.)

Hosted by renowned veteran Telemundo presenter Candela Ferro and Alfonso “Poncho” de Anda of Telemundo’s “Cada Dia,” the two hour telecast also brought substantial increases to the network’s time period average (Monday-Friday 9:00pm ˆ 11:00pm) across all key demographics versus the time period average performance for May 2007.

The pageant grew its audience delivery with every passing half hour, reaching over 1.5 million viewers by the end of the show, while outperforming both of Telemundo’s Spanish-language broadcast competitors in its final half hour (10:30pm-11:00pm) among the highly coveted demographic of Adults 18-49.

Prior to the pageant, Telemundo aired a one hour special “Camino a la Corona” hosted by Monica Noguera and Rashel Diaz, introducing participating beauty contestants, which also delivered strong results for the network. “Camino a la Corona” registered an increase of plus 39% among Adults 18-49 (755,000 vs. 542,000) and plus 63% among Adults 18-34 (434,000 vs. 266,000) compared to last year’s telecast of “Delegadas.”