Telemundo Makes History Edging Out Univision In Ratings For 2016-2017 Season

Telemundo has made history as it has, for the first time ever, edged out Univision and are set to win the 2016-2017 broadcast season as the #1 Spanish-language network in primetime. Following a record-breaking summer, the network is ruling weeknights from 8pm-11pm among the highly-coveted demo: 18-49 (858,000) and adults 18-34 (398,000), according to Nielsen.

The network registered its highest share ever in Spanish-language TV, surpassing Univision and Unimas among adults 18-49 (43%) and adults 18-34 (45%). Telemundo also ranked among the top 5 broadcast networks with NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox, during the season and outperformed all cable networks, except ESPN, in the key demos.

“We are proud our investments are paying off and that Telemundo has become the new standard in primetime television, which is where the largest number of Hispanics go for their entertainment,” said Cesar Conde, Chairman, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. “This historic paradigm shift in Spanish language TV signals there is a new norm as more and more Latinos choose Telemundo.”

When advertisers target audiences that watch television, the 18-49 and 18-34 demo are the most important for network. That is why, the higher the ratings are, the better as they are able to hike up prices to air commercials during that hour.

Telemundo claimed the top three highest-rated series in all Spanish-language television in weekday prime time 8-11pm among adults 18-49 and adults 18-34 – “Señora Acero,” “El Chema,” and “El Señor de los Cielos” - and delivered the largest composition (24%) of adults 18-34 out of Total Viewers 2+ among all broadcast networks, regardless of language.

Univision has struggled to compete with Telemundo's programming and although the former have tried to compete with a similar strategy, they have failed miserably with titles like "La Piloto" and "La Doble Vida de Estela Carrillo". The latter two were thought out to air over multiple seasons like Telemundo's franchises, but due to poor reception, their sequels are being reconsidered and possibly scrapped for good. Univision has fortified their alliance to Televisa to produce more series that Latinos in the U.S. can more directly relate to. That is where Telemundo has an upper hand as they are the sole owners of their content and are able to target audiences better.

The news is not all bad for Univision and although they didn't win in the key demo, they did manage to win in over all audience. For the 25th consecutive season, Univision continues its reign as the No.1 Spanish-language network in primetime during the 2016/2017 season while also claiming the No. 1 Spanish-language network ranking across all dayparts.

“Univision is, and continues to be, the undisputed entertainment choice for Hispanic America. Our audience consistently looks to us to be entertained and informed with programming that resonates and impacts their daily lives,” said Lourdes Diaz, president of Entertainment, Univision Communications Inc. “These results reaffirm what our main focus has been all along, to deliver diversified programming, across genres and time periods while engaging our viewers through enthralling series and specials.”