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Spanish-Language Show Tops Networks in Key Demo
By Marisa Guthrie and Lindsay Powers, The Hollywood Reporter | Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 4:29 PM
The cast of Univision's "Soy Tu Dueña"
Televisa
The number 1 show on television Tuesday night among the key 18-to-49 demographic was Univision's Spanish-language telenovela "Soy Tu Dueña," according to Nielsen numbers.
Underscoring the growing influence of the Hispanic viewer, the show beat out Fox's "Million Dollar Money Drop" and reruns of ABC's "No Ordinary Family," CBS' "NCIS: Los Angeles" and "The Good Wife," NBC's "Saturday Night Live: A Very Gilly Christmas" and The CW's "Life Unexpected" in the demo, which advertisers pay a premium to reach.
Compare Tuesday's episode of "Soy Tu Dueña" to "NCIS: L.A.," for example. "Soy Tu Dueña" had 3.7 million viewers (out of 5.8 million overall) in its 18-49 demo, while "NCIS" only had 2.7 out of 11.3 million. NBC's "Saturday Night Live: A Very Gilly Christmas" was the closest with 3.1 million viewers in the demo out of its 6.2 million overall — 21% less than the telenovela.
It's not the first time the series — which centers on a woman named Valentina Villalba (Lucero) who vows never to fall in love again after being left at the altar, until she meets José Miguel (Fernando Colunga) — has topped the key demo. In June, it climbed to the top for the first time, and has a handful of times since.
"Univision is committed to becoming the #1 television network in the United States among adults 18-49, regardless of language, within the next five years and our ability to deliver top quality programming like 'Soy Tu Dueña' allows us to further advance on this goal,” Univision Networks President Cesar Conde tells The Hollywood Reporter.
While the ratings are impressive and it's significant a Spanish-language show is beating the broadcast competition, the majority of the shows on the competing networks were in reruns, making the competition not as strong at this time of year. (The first time the show topped the demo was a similar situation, with many networks showing summer reruns.)
While a watcher of "NCIS: L.A." may switch off the television during a rerun, audiences of telenovelas are very loyal. Traditionally, Hispanic viewers are younger, and they consume a lot of media, including TV and movies (they pushed "The Last Exorcism" to a surprising $20 million haul at the box office this summer), and they're a growing demo.
Univision is the top-rated Spanish-language network, and it far outranks the NBC-owned Telemundo.
"Soy Tu Dueña" is currently the No. 1 regularly scheduled program (across broadcast and cable television) on Friday nights among all adults 18-34. The show, which airs every weeknight, traditionally has its highest-rated hour on Friday because of its cliffhanger nature.
It regularly ranks among the top five shows for the 18-34 demo and top 10 shows in the 18-49 demo in the current 2010/2011 season.
In September, Univision was named the most popular network among television viewers aged 18 to 49, the first time a Spanish-language station has beaten English stations in the key demo in the U.S.
That month, 2.1 million of Univision's primetime average of 3.8 million viewers were in the 18-49 demo, Nielsen reported. In comparison, 1.8 million of CBS' 5.7 million were in that group.
"Soy Tu Dueña's" two-hour finale airs Monday, December 27.
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