• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, September 26, 2006

Dethroning Univision is not the primary objective for NBC's Telemundo, the No. 2 Spanish-language broadcaster. Instead, NBC Universal Chairman-CEO Bob Wright said a high tide can lift all boats.

"Our issue is not to overtake Univision," he said yesterday at an Advertising Week event in New York. Wright said Telemundo takes in 30 percent of ad dollars spent in the Hispanic broadcast market--and his goal, for now, is a modest increase to 40 percent or 45 percent. The market has such high potential for revenue growth that a slight increase in share can result in a big lift to the bottom line, he said.

The Hispanic broadcast market doesn't yet receive the level of advertiser support commensurate with the desirability of the audience, he added. Many general-market advertisers are "hesitant" to jump into the space, although he noted that may be due to the logistics of expanding planning operations.

"We still don't have the pricing volume or advertiser support of the general market," Wright said.

But the influence of networks like Univision and Telemundo--which NBC acquired in 2001 for about $11 billion less than Univision was recently sold for--will soon be unavoidable from a marketing standpoint.

"That's a very good future," said Wright, "and that's what we bought into."