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for TeleFutura
Young-skewing Univision net pulling new viewers
By Kevin Downey
Univision took a gamble when it launched its TeleFutura network less than a month ago, risking cannibalization of its dominant flagship network in its bid to create a second network to appeal to younger Hispanics.
It turns out it was a risk worth taking, judging by early viewership numbers.
Overall Spanish-language TV viewing is up since TeleFutura launched on Jan. 14 in 72 percent of Hispanic homes.
The share of the primetime Hispanic audience watching Spanish-language television has increased to 60 percent in Chicago, to 55 percent in Los Angeles, to 62 percent in Miami, and to 50 percent in New York.
That represents an increase of between 6.9 and 11.1 percent in those markets since the November 2000 sweeps, according to a TeleFutura report based on Nielsen data.
Meanwhile, Univision’s adult 18-49 rating has dipped just 0.1 point while Telemundo’s rating has dropped by only 0.3 point, evidence that the new network is pulling an audience largely new to Spanish-language television.
Univision’s combined adult 18-49 rating for its flagship network and TeleFutura has gone up by 1.3 rating points.
That's all according to Univision's strategy when in December 2000 it bought the 13 stations from USA Networks that are the backbone of the Telefutura network.
The plan was to create a network that would reach young people and men who were not watching the novelas that make up much of Univision and Telemundo’s primetime lineups.
The idea was to offer a mix of dubbed English-language movies, music and sports, in addition to the novelas like "Betty la Fea" that pumped up Telemundo’s ratings last year.
At the time, Univision envisioned TeleFutura competing with the English-language networks as much or more than the Spanish-language networks.
Univision’s strategy to attract a new audience has been focused on a variation on Univision’s programming strategy.
Both networks rely heavily on top Latin American production companies like Televisa and RCN for programming, but TeleFutura’s lineup is noticeably geared to younger demographics.
The network, for instance, has a daytime dance music show for teens called "La Cartelera Pepsi," a Friday night boxing show called "Solo Boxeo," and movies like "Batman Returns."
A report released yesterday by Univision shows that TeleFutura’s primetime audience has a median age of 33.9.
That makes its audience comparable to UPN's and the WB’s, which have median ages of 34.1 and 29.1 respectively, according to a separate study done by Magna Global USA.
According to Univision, TeleFutura’s audience is younger than every other major network’s. Univision’s median age is 34.3 while Telemundo’s is 34.4. Fox’s median age is 36, ABC’s is 44.9, NBC’s is 45.5, and CBS’s is 52.
Although information on advertising spending isn’t available yet, it’s likely that the network will pull in new dollars to the Spanish-language market as well.
Ad spending on Univision and Telemundo increased 36 percent, to $1.4 billion, through October 2001, in a year in which the overall ad economy had one of its biggest declines ever, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
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HISPANIC
TELEVISION VIEWERS |
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|
Market |
Nov. 2001 |
Post- |
% Chg |
|
Chicago |
|||
|
Spanish-Language TV |
54 |
60 |
11.1 |
|
English-Language TV |
33 |
38 |
15.2 |
|
Los Angeles |
|||
|
Spanish-Language TV |
51 |
55 |
7.8 |
|
English-Language TV |
37 |
34 |
-8.1 |
|
Miami |
|||
|
Spanish-Language TV |
58 |
62 |
6.9 |
|
English-Language TV |
29 |
25 |
-13.8 |
|
New York |
|||
|
Spanish-Language TV |
46 |
50 |
8.7 |
|
English-Language TV |
38 |
35 |
-7.9 |
|
Source: TeleFutura, based on data from Nielsen Media Research |
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February 8, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
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