latino lingo

Univision announced on BusinessWire that last night's broadcast of the awards show reached 11.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research’s Fast NTI Ratings. The release says the show was also the #1 program in its time period in many major markets (including NY, Miami, LA, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco) among key adults 18-34, 18-49, and teens 12-17, regardless of language.

More Hispanic Adults 18-49 watched last night than the combined Hispanic audiences of The Academy Awards, The American Music Awards, The Billboard Music Awards, The Emmy Awards, The Golden Globes, and MTV’s Video Music Awards, according to the release.

Compare this to 2004, when they showed the Latin Grammys in English on CBS and only reached 3.2 million people, according to an AP article. I sure hope the guy (or gal) who made that bone-headed decision has found another job by now ...

While I was at an album release party for a new salsa album by Ray Gonzalez y Su Orquesta and missed the beginning of the Latin Grammys (and Ugly Betty ... ok, yes, I admit I'm hooked ... is there a such thing as Betty's Anonymous?) I was back in time to watch my fellow Colombian Shakira take home a couple trophies, including Record and Album of the Year.

I also was able to catch many of the TV commercials, including some from Heineken and Wal-Mart among others. While I saw plenty that were pretty average, it was refreshing to see many well done spots that really spoke to the heart and to the culture. I hope the days of simply adapting general market scripts and showing a couple Hispanics are quickly heading behind us.

Ugly Betty, the ABC show produced by Salma Hayek and based on the popular Colombian telenovela "Betty la Fea" continues to receive high acclaim ... and ratings.

Thursday, despite the World Series (unless you're from St. Louis or Detroit did you really care who won? It was more like rooting for Albert v. Pudge) the show was not too affected. The show averaged a 4.2 with 18-49 and 13.2 million total viewers giving them an 8.9 rating in their time slot, according to Nielsen overnights. The show beat out Survivor in its time slot.

I've written about the power of telenovelas in the past. The long-term verdict is still out on Ugly Betty. While it's based on the concept of Hispanic telenovelas, it is different in that it's more like a sitcom/series than a traditional telenovela, which has an ending. Also, telenovelas highly appeal to Hispanic men, what with the passion and women and all. Ugly Betty has male viewers (including yours truly) and they will be key to the show's long-term success.