Cristina Saralegui Heads to Telemundo

NEW YORK: Telemundo Communications Group unveiled its 2011-2012 grid to advertisers yesterday, with highlights that include four new novelas—among them an adaptation of the Antena 3 hit Física o Química—and a new weekend variety show from former Univision personality Cristina Saralegui.

Emmy Award-winning personality Cristina Saralegui spent more than 20 years at Univision with the hit The Cristina Show. She comes to Telemundo to develop, host and executive produce a weekend variety show slated to air at the end of this year.

The weeknight prime-time novela slate includes Amor de Película (Love…Just Like in the Movies), Caidas del Cielo (Fallen from Heaven), a U.S. Hispanic version of Antena 3’s Físico o Química (Physical or Chemistry) and Una Maid en Manhattan (Maid in Manhattan).

Telemundo also announced the renewal of its multi-year deal with Billboard for the Billboard Latin Music Awards. The broadcast of the 2011 Billboard Latin Music Awards was the highest rated across all demographics in the award show’s 13 year history with the network. The new agreement also includes Premios Billboard de la Música Regional Mexicana, the network’s first-ever musical awards show dedicated exclusively to regional Mexican music. Further, Telemundo Digital will launch a new and entertainment web and mobile channel in partnership with Billboard en Español.

Another highlight in the digital space is the The Telemundo Novelas App, a bilingual app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. In terms of branded entertainment, Telemundo unveiled MIA Mundo, while a new research initiative “cultural connectors”, will explore trends among 18-to-34-year-old Hispanics.

The Upfront comes on the heels of record ratings gains for the NBCUniversal-owned Spanish-language broadcaster. “Six years ago we announced that producing original content for U.S. Hispanics would be the foundation of our business model," said Don Browne, outgoing president. "In a very short time, we have delivered record- breaking performances and have become the number one producer of original Spanish-language content in the U.S. Thanks to the talented Telemundo team and the support of the advertising community, we can declare a promise made, a promise delivered. The 2010 Census has reflected the dramatic growth of U.S. Hispanics’ economic and political power. They are changing the face of America and provide an enormous opportunity for any business to grow into the future. With our strong slate of original novelas, specials, news, sports and weekend programming, we are uniquely positioned to help the advertising community shift their investments to take advantage of this extraordinary growth opportunity.”

“The marketing conversation has shifted, and ‘multicultural’ is no longer niche…it is driving mainstream growth,” said Jacqueline Hernández, COO of Telemundo Communications Group. “‘The Shift’ is game-changing, and our strategy, our expertise and our proven track-record position us ideally to help our clients leverage the shift to grow their business.”