Will Univision catch up to the major broadcast networks this decade?

[chrisspringob]

This is interesting:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101026/media_nm/us_univision

With double-digit ratings growth this season, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is off to a better start than any of the major English-language networks, and the future is promising as well.

The new census is expected to show a nearly 45% increase in the number of Hispanic Americans since 2000, to a total of 50 million. This couples with continuing audience erosion at the major networks and Univision's recent deal with Mexican programer Grupo Televisa, which locks up the source of much the network's popular programing for at least another decade.

Just a few years ago, the notion of Univision catching and surpassing them would have had mainstream network executives rolling with laughter. They're not laughing now.

And they're not talking publicly about it either: When asked to comment, the Big Four nets refused. But a couple of executives talked on background and indicated that they take the threat from Univision seriously.

"They're already No. 5," as one put it, having eclipsed the CW.

One top network researcher's calculations concluded that Univision could surpass the Anglo networks in seven years, even without the boost provided by growth in the Hispanic population.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Re: Will Univision catch up to the major broadcast networks this decad

I haven't watched much Univision, just what I see when I'm channel surfing, but if they expect to surpass the networks they really need some better quality programming. The stuff I've seen on there doesn't even match the "quality" of the CW programming. I'd rather watch infomercials.