Univision is Numero Uno in California

In today's Capitol Weekly, I have the first of a three part series on Univision, California top TV network--in any language. The media is splintering. The Internet is exploding. Network audience share is dwindling. Local stations across the country are scraping for viewers as ratings continue to slide. Every station that is, except Univision. In an era of media fragmentation, the country's most popular Spanish-language network is consolidating its iron-clad grip on the Hispanic market. Univision, and its sister network Telefutura, control more than 80 percent of Spanish-language broadcast market nationally. And in California, Univision is the unquestioned ratings king--in English, Spanish or otherwise. "In the Latino market, Univision is the equivalent of CBS and NBC combined at the height of their popularity [in the 1960s]," said Carlos Rodriguez, whose polling firm, Latino Opinions, has done work for Univision. This July, Univision was the most watched network in prime time among all adults (18-49) in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, Monterey, Palm Springs and Bakersfield (and finished a close second in San Francisco and Santa Barbara), according to Nielsen Media Research, the TV ratings firm. Univision has such a dominant share of television-watchers that "on fifty-two nights last season, Univision was the #1 network in any language among 18-34s" nationwide. That was the message the company broadcast on Nov. 7 in full-page ads in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.... And that is just the start: Read the entire piece here. And there is a sidebar on the programming secrets that make Univision such a success.