Two months after Univision signed on to Nielsen Media Research’s national ratings service, sister network Telefutura is also joining the company’s main TV-ratings pool. The English-language broadcast networks all participate in the Nielsen Television Index, or NTI, and Univision and NBC Universal-owned Telemundo joined late last year.
By joining the NTI, which shows the performance of Spanish-language broadcasters head-to-head with English-language networks, Univision’s two networks and Telemundo are hoping to establish more even footing with advertisers. “This is another important step towards completing the broadcast picture,” Ray Rodriguez, President and CEO, Univision Communications, said in a statement. “Being part of the big picture makes it easier for advertisers and agencies to connect with us and ultimately with U.S. Hispanics.”
Previously, Univision, Telefutura and Telemundo had only subscribed to Nielsen’s National Hispanic Television Index, which only measures Hispanic households. But Nielsen plans to fold that sample into its larger pool by 2007, eliminating the NHTI. Until then, the three major Spanish-language broadcasters plan to subscribe to both services.
Telefutura’s first NTI ratings will be posted Feb. 27.
