Telemundo reports best season ever.

Telemundo announced it posted its best season ever during the 2005-2006 season, delivering substantial growth in the highly competitive weekday primetime slot. According to data provided by Nielsen Media Research, Telemundo was the only Spanish-language broadcaster to report ratings increases over last season during the peak viewing hours of Monday-Friday prime (M-F, 7-11pm). Increased ratings were prevalent during every hour of the 2005-2006 season during primetime, giving Telemundo eleven consecutive months of year-to-year growth and making it the fastest-growing broadcast network among the key demos of Adults 18-49 (A18-49) and Adults 18-34 (A-18-34).

During the 2005-2006 season, Telemundo’s weekday primetime block registered a rating of 3.5 among A18-49, a 25% increase (168,000 additional viewers) vs. the prior season (2.8 rating). In A18-34, the network increased from a 2.5 rating to 3.4; a 36% increase (116,000 additional viewers) compared to the same period. Telemundo’s impressive growth comes despite the declining performance experienced by other Spanish-language competitors, including Univision and Telefutura. In all, Telemundo retained a 24% share of the Spanish language audience among A18-49, gaining 6 share points versus last season.

“Delivering the best season in Telemundo’s history definitely confirms we’re on the right track. Producing original content is the right strategy and when you combine that with a great and talented team you have great results,” said Don Browne, President, Telemundo. “We are very excited about our upcoming projects and we are working hard to spread our primetime success to the weekend and other dayparts.

All of Telemundo’s weekday primetime novelas delivered solid increases among A18-49 this latest season, setting record-breaking performances. Some highlights include:

“Tierra de Pasiones” delivered the highest rated premier for an 8pm novela as well as the second highest rated premier for Telemundo with a 4.8 rating on 2/20/06.

“El Cuerpo del Deseo” delivered an average of 4.3 rating points, making it the second highest rated novela along with “Pasión de Gavilanes” produced and aired by the network.

“La Tormenta’s” 3.3 rating average for its total run, makes it the second highest rated novela to air on the network during the 7:00-8:00pm block.

“Corazón Partido” garnered a 4.6 ratings for its finale on 6/13/06 and ranks as the fourth highest rated novela during its time period.

“Decisiones” achieved an average rating of 3.7, growing 76% versus last season.

Source: NHTI 9/20/04 – 9/18/05 vs. 9/19/05 – 8/29/06