HispanicBusiness

Live, hard-fought competition for a golden, glistening trophy and boasting rights dominated the television airways and captured the Hispanic viewing audience for the week of January 5-11.

Approximately 1 million Hispanic film fans tuned in to watch Salma Hayek, Jennifer Lopez and others present the Golden Globe awards, but what really grabbed top ratings was football, football, football.

Playoff action took the top-four ratings as the National Football League continued its march through post-season play towards the final AFC vs. NFC face-off in the 43rd Superbowl, to be held in Tampa on February 1st. In this week's football action, Fox broadcast the NFC divisional playoffs on Saturday with the Arizona Cardinals decisively triumphing 33-13 over the Carolina Panthers in a blow-out offensive battle. The game was the most-watched English-language show, earning a 7.8 rating among 1.4 Million Hispanic viewers, according to numbers released by the Nielsen Media Group.

College championship bowls also seized the attention of Hispanic fans as the Florida Gators beat No. 2 Oklahoma 24-14 in the Bowl Champion Series. That college game took the number four spot, while the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Monday tied for the eighth highest-rated program among viewers.

Among Spanish-language programs, the Univision network continued to rule the roost, claiming all top-ten spots among most-watched Spanish-language programs. Telmundo, however, broke into the rankings at number 13 with its slightly risquι soap opera Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso. King of the ratings hill was Fuego En La Sangre (Fire in the Blood), which grabbed over 5 million viewers, or almost one third of all Hispanics tuned in to watch at its time slot.

Las Tontas No Van Cielo (Dumb Women Don't Go to Heaven) entered its second month of broadcast on Univision with excellent ratings. The soap opera garnered a 16.9 rating and an average audience of 3.75 million for its five nights. Starring actress Jacqueline Bracamontes as Candida "Candy" Morales Alcalden and Jaime Camil as Dr. Santiago Lopez-Carmona, the telenovela narrates their tumultuous search for love and respect in a world filled with betrayal, loss and injustice.

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

Top 10 English-language shows and ratings (January 5-11, 2009)
1. FOX NFC Playoff – Saturday (Fox) 7.8
2. FOX NFC Playoff, Kick – Saturday (Fox) 6.1
3. AFC Division Playoff, Post-game – Sunday (CBS) 5.8
4. FEDEX BCS National Championship – Thursday (Fox) 5.7
5. Golden Globe Awards – Sunday (NBC) 5.2
6. Barbara Walters Special – Wednesday (ABC) 4.5
6. AFC Division Playoff, Post-game – Saturday (CBS) 4.5
8. Desperate Housewives – Sunday (ABC) 4.2
8. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – Monday (Fox) 4.2
10. Primetime: What Would You Do – Tuesday (ABC) 4.1

Top 10 Spanish-language shows and their ratings (January 5-11, 2009)
1. Fuego En La Sangre – Five-day Ave. (Univision) 20.5
2. Cuidado con el Angel – Five-day Ave. (Univision) 19.5
3. Tontas No Van Cielo – Five-day Ave. (Univision) 16.9
4. Don Francisco Presenta – Wednesday (Univision) 15.7
5. Rosa De Guadalupe – Thursday-Friday (Univision) 14.2
6. Aqui Y Ahora – Tuesday (Univision) 13.8
6. Cristina – Monday (Univision) 13.8
8. Cine Especial – Sunday (Univision) 12.4
9. Sabado Gigante – Saturday (Univision) 12.3
10. Hora Pico – Sunday (Univision) 11.0

Next week in the ratings: American Idol returns.