• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 29, 2006

The two leading Spanish-language broadcasters will make upfront deals this spring, using the same currency as English-language networks. Both Univision and Telemundo will base guarantees on Nielsen's general-market ratings, as opposed to the niche Hispanic ratings they have previously used.

The two networks will negotiate using the Nielsen Television Index (NTI), which provides ratings for the Big Four networks, according to people familiar with the matter. Previously, they had used the National Hispanic Television Index (NHTI), which tracks only Hispanic households.

Telemundo, however, will still make deals based on NHTI if clients prefer to use it. "We do not feel the need to dictate one service or the other to our advertisers," said Steve Mandala, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Telemundo.

Univision, which is for sale, declined comment. A third Spanish-language network, Azteca America, is also expected to use NTI, although a spokesman declined comment.

In any case, ratings guarantees in the growing Spanish-language market will all use the general NTI data by September 2007, when Nielsen will drop the Hispanic NHTI metric. Instead, Nielsen will merge Hispanic homes into the NTI general sample, where they will account for about 10 percent of the overall pie.

The year-early shift, particularly in Univision's case, is aimed at attracting more ad dollars by facilitating the buying process, since ratings will be used that advertisers may be more familiar with. The move may also have something to do with trying to raise a potential purchase price at Univision, since the company is on the block.

"The benefit for Univision to switch now is to generate as much revenue as possible to make them look better as they're being sold, because it would happen next year anyway," said Alejandro Clabiorne, director of media for WING Latino and head of planning for MediaCom Latino.

Although open for business using NTI, Telemundo's Mandala cautioned against a rush to jettison NHTI. "I believe the transition period has a utility that we should avail ourselves of," he said.

Nonetheless, Mandala is a proponent of moving to general-market data. "Ultimately, it allows Spanish-language networks to position our audience delivery with complete transparency."

Univision is the leading Spanish-language broadcaster by far, generating $1.5 billion in ad revenue last year--more than double Telemundo's $746 million, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Univision has been aggressive in trying to establish itself as a peer to the six broadcast networks in order to extend its viability as a place to spend more dollars--and tap into budgets other than ones earmarked solely for Spanish-language media. "We're confident that this move will validate Univision's ability to successfully compete against any network in the country, and provide us with a powerful tool to attract marketers that had previously been reluctant to advertise in Spanish," said President-COO Ray Rodriguez in a statement when the network announced in December that it would join NTI.

Ratings give Univision some ammunition, at least compared to The WB and UPN. NTI prime-time ratings this season show that Univision outdraws both networks in both the adult 18-to-49 and adult 18-to-34 demos. Of course, the two struggling networks will combine to form the new CW network next fall, which could capture Univision's fifth-place status in the network rankings.

In the adult 18-to-49 rankings, Univision trails the Big Four by considerable margins. But in the adult 18-to-34 battle, the Hispanic network is within a rating point of both CBS and NBC.

On one level, Univision's bid for a greater share of the general ad market is vindicated by a disproportionately low amount spent in Spanish-language media. Hispanics make up 14 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. government--but Spanish-language media accounted for only 2.9 percent of the $143 billion U.S. ad market in 2005, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

"The argument is for the 150 of the top-300 advertisers who aren't buying Hispanic television, or those who aren't spending as much as they should," said Clabiorne.

However, the market for Univision and its competitors is growing. TNS predicts that spending on Hispanic network television will grow by 10.4 percent in 2006, more than any other sector of the ad market.

The growth reflects the boom in Hispanic buying power and marketers' desire to tap into it. Hispanic buying power is set to grow to more than $1 trillion in 2010--up 48 percent from last year, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

"The growth in terms of advertising has not mirrored the growth of the market," said Clabiorne, who believes moving to NTI will drive more revenue for both Univision and Telemundo.

Still, Univision's bid to capture more dollars may be slowed by its limited appeal. "Traditionally, they've been a niche," said Lisa Quan, vice president and manager of broadcast research at Magna Global. "(Buyers) are not going to think if you go to Univision you're going to get the same broad audience as an ABC."

The inevitable shift to NTI has sparked some debate within the Hispanic ad community, since it may prompt more general-market media buying shops to try and capture some of their business.

Hispanic media executives acknowledged that the change may make it easier for large-scale general shops to buy Hispanic television, but said that Hispanic agencies will maintain a leg up in planning and strategy--which are increasingly receiving attention in the media arena.

"You may have an agency that can get you a 'cheaper buy,' but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best buy," said Lucia Fernandez-Palacio, West Coast media director for Dieste Harmel & Partners.

"Insight is not a commodity," said Clabiorne. "Whereas the buying function can be reduced to a commodity, the nuances of the Hispanic market, the expertise of Hispanic planning, will always be at Hispanic advertising agencies."