HispanicBusiness

Not even the Thanksgiving holiday could stop Univision's smash hit series in Nielsen's Spanish-language prime time TV ratings for the week of Nov. 20-26.

"Fea Mas Bella," the weekday serial that spawned ABC's "Ugly Betty," posted a 14.1 rating on Thursday night – on Thanksgiving Day – and finished the week with a five-day average rating of 20.3 to top all Spanish-language programs viewed by Hispanics in the United States, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The show's Tuesday night broadcast topped all other Spanish-language shows in the Hispanic viewing category with a 23.0 rating, equaling more than 2.6 million Hispanic viewers. Univision's "Cristina" jumped from eighth place in the Nov. 13-19 rating period to No. 2 with her Monday broadcast, which drew a 16.0 rating.

ABC's "Desperate Housewives" topped the list of English-language shows seen by Hispanics while animation, an awards show and NBC's hit series "Heroes" rounded out the top five. "Desperate Housewives" posted a 7.0 rating to lead the pack. It was followed by Fox's "The Simpsons" (5.9) and a tie between "Heroes" and ABC's "American Music Awards" (5.8). Fox's animated series "American Dad" and "Family Guy" shared the No. 5 spot with 5.3 ratings.

The following lists are TV ratings based on Hispanic viewership. Nielsen's ratings include viewers who watched the program while it aired and others who viewed the shows within 24 hours of their airing via digital video recorder. The group says that the Hispanic TV audience represents more than 11.63 million television households in the United States. The rating is equivalent to the percentage of households or persons watching a TV program during the average minute.

Top 10 English-language shows (Nov. 20-26)
1. Desperate Housewives (ABC), 7.0
2. Simpsons (Fox), 5.9
3. Heroes (NBC), 5.8
3. American Music Awards (ABC), 5.8
5. American Dad (Fox), 5.3
5. Family Guy (Fox), 5.3
7. Grey's Anatomy (ABC), 5.1
8. Prison Break (Fox), 4.9
9. NFL post-game – Thursday (Fox), 4.7
10. He's a Bully, Charlie Brown (ABC), 4.6

Top 10 Spanish-language shows (Nov. 20-26)
1. Fea Mas Bella – weekday avg. (Univision), 20.2
2. Cristina (Univision), 16.0
3. Premios TV Y Nov. 06 (Univision), 14.8
4. Heridas De Amor – weekday avg. (Univision), 14.6
5. Mundo de Fieras – weekday avg. (Univision), 14.5
6. Don Francisco Presenta (Univision), 13.8
7. Sabado Gigante (Univision), 13.5
8. Noche de Estrellas (Univision), 13.3
9. Ver Para Creer (Univision), 11.7
10. Casos Familia: Edicion Especial (Univision), 11.4