Spanish-language broadcaster Univision came up with a simple formula for success Tuesday night, beating all the English-language broadcast networks in the key 18-49 demo, based on Nielsen overnights. The secret to its success was skipping the State of the Union Address, which saw its ratings dip from last year’s speech across all of broadcast. Univision aired a lineup of original dramas.

TVbytheNumbers.com reports that Univision averaged a 1.6 rating in viewers 18-49 for prime time to lead all broadcast nets, followed by NBC (1.4 average), ABC (1.3), CBS (1.2) and Fox (1.0). That advantage failed to hold up in total viewers, where CBS led the way with 6.9 million, followed by NBC (5.3 million), ABC (4.4 million), Univision (3.8 million) and Fox (2.5 million).

Leading up to the State of the Union at 9 p.m., CBS, NBC and Fox aired repeat programming, while ABC put up a fresh episode of “The Taste.” The series notched its lowest average ever in 18-49, a 1.5 — down three-tenths from a week ago.

Coverage of the State of the Union — which was commercial-free on all broadcast networks — fared best on NBC, which pulled a 1.6 average rating in the 18-49 demo for the speech, down from a 2.0 a year ago, followed by a 1.2 on ABC (down from a 1.4), a 1.1 on CBS (down from a 1.5) and a 0.9 on Fox (down from a 1.7).

Low ratings for the State of the Union are partially explained by its being carried on a wide range of broadcast and cable outlets.