Among broadcasters, Spanish-language network Univision came in fifth during the February sweeps, besting The CW.

The network scored a 1.7 average rating among adults 18 to 49, according to Nielsen, sandwiched by The CW with a 1.4 and NBC’s 2.9. Univision’s performance is down 6 percent from the same period last year.

The growing Hispanic marketplace has been increasingly considered a factor in the industry, with advertiser spending increasing at a greater rate than on English-language networks. Still, Univision continues to struggle to gain media and advertiser acceptance as a sixth U.S. broadcast network among the general-market players, since it programs in Spanish and targets a Hispanic audience.

During the sweeps, Univision aired “Premio Lo Nuestro,” a Latin music awards show, and the USA vs. Mexico soccer match, in addition to its regular programming of telenovelas, talk, newsmagazines and sports.

Univision’s closest competitor, NBC-owned Telemundo, earned a distant 0.4. TeleFutura earned a 0.3 and Azteca a 0.1.

Nielsen began measuring Univision alongside English-language networks in January 2006, then followed suit with its competitors.

With the launch of telenovela-focused MyNetworkTV last fall, some observers wondered if the upstart network might draw viewers away from Univision. But Hispanic viewers barely registered any interest in the MyNetwork programmers.