HispanicBusiness

An animated series and two specialty game shows helped the Fox network capture the Hispanic TV audience during the summer ratings doldrums, according to figures released by the Nielsen Media Group for the week of July 2-8.

Sunday's back-to-back episodes of "The Family Guy" claimed the top two spots in the Hispanic TV ratings for English-language programs, gaining a lackluster 4.3 mark for the 9 p.m. broadcast and a 4.2 for the 9:30 p.m. showing. The cartoon led the way while "Hell's Kitchen," a cooking competition, was third with a 3.7 rating.

Two Thursday episodes Fox's trivia show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" garnered fourth place (3.3) and shared fifth place (3.2) with ABC's "Primetime: Family Secrets" and CW's "Friday Night Smackdown."

Fox had a sixth program appear in the Top 10 – "American Dad" mustered a 2.8 rating to earn a share of ninth place.

Univision telenovela "Destilando Amor" edged Cristina Saralegui's weekly Univision talk show to claim No. 1 in the Hispanic TV ratings for Spanish-language programs in the post-"Fea Mas Bella" era. The ratings juggernaut wrapped up its season two weeks ago, allowing "Destilando Amor" to take last week's ratings with a four-night average mark of 17.8. "Cristina" was close behind with a 17.6 and "Duelo de Pasiones," another Univision telenovela, rounded out the top three with a three-night average rating of 16.1.

The Tuesday night broadcast of "Destilando Amor" drew more than 2.1 million households for a week-best 18.6 rating for an individual show.

Nielsen's figures, however, have their detractors. One group has started a petition, hoping Nielsen Media Group will change the way it samples the U.S. Hispanic population in its English and Spanish TV ratings. The Help Change TV group, which has a petition at www.HelpChangeTV.com, claims that Nielsen does not include enough U.S.-born Hispanics in its audience sample, leading to the impression that a vast majority of Hispanics watch Spanish-language TV.

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 via digital video recorder within 24 hours of their airing. 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 (July 2-8)
1. Family Guy – 9 p.m. Sunday (Fox), 4.3
2. Family Guy – 9:30 p.m. Sunday (Fox), 4.2
3. Hell's Kitchen (Fox), 3.7
4. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Fox), 3.3
5. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Fox), 3.2
5. Friday Night Smackdown (CW), 3.2
5. Primetime: Family Secrets (ABC), 3.2
8. CSI (CBS), 2.9
9. George Lopez (ABC), 2.8
9. America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC), 2.8
9. American Dad (Fox), 2.8

Top 10 Spanish-language shows (July 2-8)
1. Destilando Amor – four-night avg. (Univision), 17.8
2. Cristina (Univision), 17.6
3. Duelo de Pasiones – three-night avg. (Univision), 16.1
4. Ver Para Creer (Univision), 14.1
5. Aqui y Ahora (Univision), 12.8
6. Casos Vida Especial (Univision), 12.7
7. Yo Amo Juan Querendon – five-night avg. (Univision), 11.0
8. Don Francisco Presenta (Univision), 10.4
9. Sabado Gigante (Univision), 10.3
10. Primer Impacto Copa America (Univision), 10.2