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Upfront Navigator: TELEMUNDO: Looking to Woo Viewers from a Very Tough Rival

May 15, 2006  •  Post A Comment

Telemundo, the second-largest U.S. Spanish-language network, will have an upfront presentation that’s less about fall debuts and more about telenovelas and other programs debuting throughout the season.

NBC Universal-owned Telemundo will use that strategy to try to win viewers from its dominant rival, Univision, which has more than three times the viewers. Both are gaining momentum as advertisers’ interest in Spanish-language media grows. In January Telemundo was placed on Nielsen Media Research’s National Television Index, bolstering its status with ad buyers.

The ratings reflect the challenge facing Telemundo, which produces most of its own programming. For the week ended May 1, Telemundo eked out a 0.4 rating in adults 18 to 49 and averaged 788,000 total viewers. Univision, which gets most of its content from partial stakeholder Televisa, averaged a 1.5 rating in the age group and garnered 3.4 million viewers for the week.

Last season Telemundo didn’t post any breakout hits, but its stripped 8 p.m. telenovela “El Cuerpo del Deseo,” (“Body of Desire”) was a solid performer.

The network’s 10 p.m. hour program, “Decisiones,” (“Decisions”) will also run into next season. “Decisiones,” which celebrated its first anniversary last week, is a scripted series that features close-ended stories each episode inspired by true events.