Spanish-language programming and sports were big gainers during the first half of 2022, according to a new analysis from research and analytic firm iSpot.TV.

iSpot found that, despite the shift of viewing to streaming, live TV continues to deliver for advertisers, increasing impressions by 7.29% from a year ago.

Nevertheless iSpot recommends that advertisers put 30% to 40% of their ad budgets into over-the-top programming. Advertisers put just 9% of their budgets into OTT during the first half, according to the measurement firm.

Also: iSpot.tv Says Advertisers Underspend on Streaming

Spanish-language networks, led by Telemundo, Univision and UniMas, grew their share of ad impressions by almost 11%.

Live sports scored big, delivering 25.5% of all TV ad impressions during new programming, up from 22.4% a year ago. The growth was helped by the Winter Olympics on NBCU and the Super Bowl, which this year kept viewers engaged till the end of the fourth quarter.

Impressions also ticked up for cable news, with Fox News, CNN and MSNBC up a combined 3.6%. 

Among advertisers, the travel category increased its ad impressions by 93% compared to last year when COVID made people reluctant to travel. Sports betting ad impressions were up 81% and commercials for movies were up 64% as studios released eagerly anticipated films and families returned to theaters. 

The most seen single ad featured Liberty Mutual’s LiMu Emu and Doug.

The top 10 brands ranked by share of impressions were Liberty Mutual, Progressive, GEICO, Indeed, T-Mobile, Balance of Nature, Allstate, Subway, Verizon and Toyota. ■

Univision has struck a deal to air Narcos, the popular Netflix original series about drug lord Pablo Escobar, on Univision Network leading up to the series's second-season launch on the streaming service later this year.  

Univision-owned UniMás will air the first season of another Netflix original series, the the Spanish-language comedic drama Club de Cuervos, about a family-owned soccer team, ahead of its upcoming second season on Netflix.

Financial terms and air dates were not released. Separately, Netflix and the Univision Story House development and production unit said they will co-produce a drama series, El Chapo, about that other famed narcotics criminal. The drama will be available to Netflix members in the U.S. after it aits on UniMás in 2017. In the rest of the world, episodes of El Chapo will premiere exclusively on Netflix.

Univision and Netflix said the arrangement would give millions of U.S. Hispanic viewers who don't subscribe to Netflix the chance to sample Narcos and Club de Cuervos and to promote the shows' returns to Netflix.

Here are descriptions from the programmers of these series: 

Narcos chronicles the gripping real-life stories of the drug kingpins of the late 1980s and the corroborative efforts of law enforcement to meet them head on in brutal, bloody conflict. It details the conflicting forces – legal, political, police, military and civilian – that clash in an effort to control the world’s most powerful commodity: cocaine. The series re-partners creator and executive producer José Padilha (Elite Squad, RoboCop) with acclaimed Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (Elite Squad, Elysium), who earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of a captivating Pablo Escobar alongside Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl) and Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones) as real-life DEA agents Steve Murphy and Javier Peña. Narcos is produced by Gaumont Television for Netflix.

Club de Cuervos, which debuted in all Netflix territories last August, is an outrageous original Spanish-language series from Mexican filmmaker Gaz Alazraki (Nosotros los Nobles). Balanced equally among comedy and drama, Club de Cuervos brings viewers into the middle of a no-holds-barred battle between members of a wealthy family to determine who will gain control of the beloved professional soccer team, The Cuervos of Nuevo Toledo. The series stars Luis Gerardo Mendez and Mariana Treviño, and features Stephanie Cayo, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Ianis Guerrero and Antonio de la Vega.

U-verse TV's universe of Spanish-language television channels once again includes Univision.

AT&T’s telco-TV service on March 24 restored Univision Communications-owned broadcast network UniMás and pay TV channel Galavisión to its channel lineup, some 20 days after U-verse pulled the plug on those two channels and flagship network Univision.

AT&T had restored Univision to U-verse TV on March 9, a good-faith “temporary” gesture to allow Hispanic U-verse subscribers to watch that evening’s Democratic Presidential Debate telecast co-hosted by Univision and The Washington Post.Further temporary extensions came following the debate.

Univision's initial reaction to AT&T's decision to black out its networks was fierce. The broadcaster accused the telco of undervaluing Univision and the Hispanic audience.

"We are always proud to stand with the Hispanic community, regardless of the costs to Univision," the Spanish-language media firm said in a March 7 statement. "For us, it is about standing up for the future of multicultural media and the opportunity for it to thrive in a multiplatform marketplace. In many of the markets U-verse serves, Univision stations are ranked No. 1, regardless of language. If, as the most popular Spanish-language broadcaster, we do not take a stand and require the distributors treat us on par with English-language broadcasters, what does that mean for the minority and independent creators that come after us?"

Since then, Univision and AT&T have remained relatively mum as negotiations continue to renew the deal that expired Feb. 28. In a February internal memo to employees, Univision said it made several attempts to open negotiations with AT&T but the telco had not moved forward to renew its pact with the broadcaster. For its part, AT&T said in a statement that it was in talks with Univision.

One reason for AT&T’s reluctance to make a new deal could be tied what some analysts have said are AT&T's efforts to shift U-verse customers to its recently acquired DirecTV platform. A DirecTV-Univision carriage deal was struck in March 2013.

As of March 31, there are no official updates as to when Univision and AT&T might reach terms on a new deal.

Separately, NBCUniversal and satellite-TV provider Dish Network are at odds over carriage of Telemundo's 16 owned-and-operated TV stations and cable network NBC Universo. NBCUniversal's networks remain on Dish as part of a cooling-off period tied to arbitration invoked by the satellite provider.

Patricio Wills, the executive responsible for such hit telenovelas as UniMás’s La Viuda Negra and Telemundo’s La Reina del Sur, has agreed to steward a Miami-based startup that will develop content exclusively for UniMás and its digital platforms.

The first project from Wills’s new venture, which has yet to be named, is expected to debut in October.

Wills is the founder, president and CEO of RTI Colombia. In February of 2011, he added oversight of Producciones RTI, the company’s joint venture with Telemundo that produced La Reina del Sur (“Queen of the South”), one of the U.S. network’s most successful primetime dramas.

By 2013, RTI-produced telenovelas weren’t airing on Telemundo in the U.S., though. Following the 2011-2012 series Flor Salvaje, Mexican media company Televisa joined forces with RTI. The result placed La Viuda Negra on Univision Communications-owned UniMás. (Univision Communications has an exclusive deal to air Televisa-owned programming in the U.S.)

The most recent RTI/Televisa series to air in the U.S., La esquina del Diablo, also aired on UniMás. That series concluded its run in April of 2015.

Now, Wills has been charged with developing “edgy, action-packed series” for UniMás’s primetime lineup — a task that will have the nearly 40-year Latin television veteran develop content specifically for U.S. Hispanic audiences.

 “Patricio is, without a doubt, an innovator and one of the best content creators in media,” Univision Communications president and CEO Randy Falco said in a statement. “As we continue to grow UniMás as one of the leading Spanish-language broadcast networks, we are pleased to join forces with Patricio to continue to innovate and bring our audience the best in alternative formats and stories.”

The agreement with Wills is significant to the evolution of UniMás, which shifted from previous male-focused incarnation TeleFutura in January 2013 to target all Latinos in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-35-year-old demographic. As UniMás grew, it did so with Televisa-owned RTI programming. By bringing Wills in-house, Univision Communications’ sales team now has the power to go full throttle with product integration opportunities and plot customization, as Telemundo has done for the last several years.

Willis’s deal with UniMás arrives at a critical point for parent Univision, which saw the expected resignation of Alberto “Beto” Ciurana as president of programming and content in late January. Ciurana’s exit followed the departure of several other key Univision executives, including Ruth Gaviria, who exited as executive vice president of corporate marketing last August. She resurfaced last month as chief marketing officer for radio-station owner Intercom Communications.

His final project with RTI Productions — La Viuda Negra II — debuted at 10 p.m. Feb. 28 with a world premiere simulcast on Univision, UniMás and Galavisión networks, as well as on Univision Digital platforms.

The bittersweet story of a 13-year-old Medellin street urchin who rises to fame after being profiled in a Cannes Film Festival-nominated film, but ends up in jail amid accusations of theft and murder, will hit U.S. TV screens on UniMás.

Sony Pictures Television-RCN Television co-production Lady, La Vendedora de Rosas debuted Jan. 26 on UniMás, airing weeknights at 9 p.m. Playing former child star Lady María Tabares is Natalia Reyes, a Colombian actress who was a 2002 finalist on reality show Popstars: Colombia and who has starred in various Colombian telenovelas over the past 15 years.  

The series dramatizes the story of Tabares, who began selling roses at a young age and is discovered by Colombian film director Victor Gaviria. Her performance in the film La Vendedora de Rosas (“The Rose Seller”) won international accolades and the first-ever nomination of a Colombian film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. Despite the success, she was back on the streets a year later, and was witness to the murder of her partner and the father of her child.

On April 10, 2008, Tabares’s life took a sharp turn downward, as she was convicted of theft and homicide and sentenced to 26 years in prison. She was released in May 2014, under the stipulation that she remain under house arrest.

Filmed in Bogotá, Colombia, Lady, La Vendedora de Rosas features a screenplay written by Lina Arboleda, Pedro Miguel Rozo and Juliana Lema. The series was executive produced by Andrea Marulanda and Juan Pablo Posada.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán has certainly been getting lots of airtime on Univision’s networks these days.

So far, those appearances have been on the network’s newscasts, with in-depth coverage of the Mexican drug lord’s Jan. 8 capture by authorities after his third escape from prison.

Starting this fall, though, El Chapo’s story will become the grist for fiction, as Univision Communications-owned UniMás will air the new, “unauthorized” series Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán: El Varón de la Droga.

The drama is based on a novel by Andrés López López. Univision did not reveal a specific premiere date and time for Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán: El Varón de la Droga, nor did it disclose casting details.

In a statement, UniMás said the series “will bring audiences an extraordinarily authentic view of the inner workings and politics of the drug trafficking subculture.”

Univision Communications president of programming and content Alberto Ciurana said the story of “El Chapo” had been on his radar well before the drug lord’s capture earlier this month. The fact that Guzmán is in custody again — at least for now — gave UniMás the opportunity to start promoting the forthcoming series.

“The Chapo Guzmán story has been one of the most captivating stories of this past year, and we’re thrilled to bring an inside look into his world to our audiences,” Ciurana said. “Our team has been hard at work the past several months, developing a story that takes our audiences deep inside the dark and fascinating world of one of the most feared outlaws of all time.”

Guzmán’s desire to see his life made into a biographical film, ironically, is what led Mexican authorities to find him hiding in a Los Mochis home. As was widely reported, actor Sean Penn interviewed Guzmán last October for Rolling Stone magazine. It then emerged that the interview was arranged by one of Hispanic television’s biggest stars, Kate del Castillo.

Del Castillo has enjoyed a highly successful 25-year career as a protagonist in telenovelas such as Televisa’s 1991 Muchachitas, her breakthrough series; and Telemundo’s 2011 smash La Reina del Sur. The latter series is about a drug lord’s girlfriend who assumes control of his affairs after he is murdered.

Del Castillo has not yet spoken publicly about her involvement in Guzmán’s capture, but said Jan. 15 that she is ready to tell her side of the story. In an English Twitter post on Jan. 13, Del Castillo she thanked fans for her support and said: “Not surprisingly, many have chosen to make up items they think will make good stories and that aren’t truthful. I look forward to sharing my story with you.”

Even so, any validation of a friendship with the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel could greatly damage Del Castillo’s career. On Jan. 13, Mexico City-based newspaper Milenio published a series of text messages between Del Castillo and Guzmán, who had not yet been captured by Mexican authorities. The texts were “flirtatious” in nature, the newspaper noted.

Del Castillo was last seen on Spanish-language television as the lead in the Telemundo series Dueños del Paraíso, which concluded its run in April 2015. She also appeared in several episodes of The CW’s Jane the Virgin.

Sling Latino, an OTT-TV Spanish-language service introduced in June, has added the broadcast feeds of Univision and UniMás, marking the first time Sling TV’s platform has offered live local broadcast channels.

Among other changes, Sling Latino has also added cartoon channel SupereÑe to its España and España Extra packs, which sell for $7 per month each. Sling TV has also updated the Sling Latino web site with features that let customers personalize the offering.

Sling TV has yet to offer local broadcast nets on its core $20 per month package, but company CEO Roger Lynch said at the recent Multichannel News/B&C Next TV Summit in New York that the OTT provider hopes to add them to the mix “when they’re ready.”

Dish Network has not released any new Sling TV sub numbers, but Dan Rayburn, EVP of StreamingMedia.com and principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan, surmised in this blog post that it has fewer than 500,000 based on data supplied by third-party vendors “who know what Sling TV’s traffic looks like.”

Spanish-language broadcaster Univision has added its name to the growing list of networks with direct-to-consumer streaming services, launching Univision NOW, allowing viewers to watch live broadcasts of its Univision and UniMás networks and their full lineups of telenovelas, sports, news, award shows and other content for $5.99 per month or $59 per year.

“Our loyal and passionate audience leads the market in live television viewing, and also over indexes on smartphone penetration and digital video consumption,” Univision president of Content Distribution and Corporate Business Development Tonia O’Connor said in a release. “Therefore, providing access to our broadcast networks, Univision and UniMás, on mobile devices is critical to our mission to entertain, empower and inform. “In addition to our robust TV Everywhere offering for pay TV subscribers, we now have a solution for our viewers who watch our networks over the air. Our goal is to serve all U.S. Hispanics.”

The launch comes after the Spanish-language broadcaster said in July it intended to launch an initial public offering, which has gained little traction as media stocks have sunk in recent months. Univision would be one of the few free public broadcasters to offer a subscription streaming service. CBS launched CBS All Access about a year ago, which includes a robust content library of past shows, but not all of the network’s broadcast content, like NFL football.

Other networks like Home Box Office with HBO Now, Showtime with its OTT offering and other services like Sling TV, Sony PlayStation Vue and Verizon’s go90 have all been launched to tap into the elusive market for younger viewers, who according to some research are abandoning pay TV for a mixture of online video and subscription video on demand content.

Not all of Univision’s content will be available through Univision NOW – particularly certain movies that are on the UniMás network. But the broadcaster said it has full digital rights to soccer matches and other sports. The OTT service also includes access to local news in New York, Los Angeles and Houston for customers in those markets. Other local news markets are expected to follow.

Subscribers to Univision NOW also will receive access to primetime content up to seven days after its linear premier, three-day DVR functionality on live streams and push notifications to watch live breaking news.

Univision and UniMás are currently available over the air for free and via TV Everywhere apps that require a pay TV subscription. With the OTT service, the networks apparently hope to attract cord-cutters who have severed their video relationships with cable, satellite TV and telco TV operators.  

According to Univision, its viewers over-index on mobile, digital video and social media. According to the network, Hispanics spend 36% more time on smartphones per week than the general market, and engage with apps 18% more than the general population, as well as consume 12 hours of online video a month, according to a Nielsen Total Audience Report Q1 2015.    

A new, five-year collective bargaining agreement with the players association in the books, Major League Soccer is ready to kick off its 20 anniversary season on Friday night in California with momentum on its side.

The domestic futbol circuit, borne from FIFA awarding the U.S. the rights to the 1994 World Cup, enters the milestone campaign with new national TV contracts and dedicated match windows that should generate higher ratings and enhance fan experiences with games unfolding across weekends.

The league and commissioner Don Garber, who is making the rounds to a trio of contests this weekend, are also welcoming a pair of new clubs this season with a second side in the New York area and an MLS return to the Sunshine State.  

Moreover, MLS hopes to cash in on futbol fever that sambaed its way to the U.S. from the 2014 Brazilian World Cup, and will reenergize again in Canada this June and July, as the women's team attempts to add a third Women's World Cup to its mantle.

Having inked a new CBA that will increase salaries and provide for the first form of free agency in the single-structure entity's history, MLS's 20th season gets underway at the Stubhub Center in Carson, Calif., where the defending champion and Landon Donovan-less Los Angeles Galaxy host the Chicago Fire at 7 p.m. (PT).

Univision Deportes president Juan Carlos Rodriguez noted the match will mark the first time Spanish-language services, aggregating their ratings, kick off a major U.S. sports league’s campaign,

As part of new eight-year deals worth $90 million annually – more than trebling the $27 million yearly payout under the last rights pact –the Univision-owned services will be the Friday night place for MLS action.

ESPN2 – the worldwide leader has been with the league since its inception – has the 5 p.m. window on Sundays, while Fox Sports 1 will serve up matches at 7 p.m., creating a de facto futbol doubleheader. In addition to authenticated TVE products, WatchESPN and Fox Sports Go, streaming the matches, ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes are also televising those contests. 

In fact, all national games will be presented in Spanish, as MLS looks to build on its Latino base, whom already represent one-third of the league's fans..

The other matches will play on Saturdays, with local/regional sports outlets carrying the matches.  The new clubs – Orlando City FC and New York City FC, which have regional deals with FOX 35 / WRBW MY65 and YES Network, respectively – will make their MLS bow on ESPN2 on March 8. A 30-minute pregame show provides a lead-in.

“The ability to drive viewers to the respective time slots is going to be huge for the networks and the league. The new scheduling on Saturdays is also good for the clubs in being able to market and get fans to the games, and for the players in terms of practice and routines,” said senior vice president of programming Scott Guglielmino, noting over the years games were played at various times to accommodate network window wishes.

“As thrilled as we are with the increase in rights fees, the league and our fans are going to benefit more from the consistency of scheduling and promotion that will create appointment viewing,” MLS president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures Gary Stevenson, who said last season matches were held on seven different days and 28 starting times.

The MLS brand is also expanding abroad. Discovery Communications' Eurosport will cover four matches per weekend, while Sky Sports has inked a deal to cover two games weekly. “These will serve as platforms to other players who may be looking to MLS as an on-field option,” said Stevenson.

This season, major internationals such as Kaka, Steven Gerrard, David Villa and Frank Lampard, will join MLS rosters.

Stateside, there will be heightened levels of production. Each partner will originate telecasts from the stadium, with talent on-site at the various stadia.

Promotion will also ratchet up. David Nathanson, general manager and COO of Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, said that during the league's Feb. 23 broadcast meeting in Orlando, discussions not only centered about cross-promotion among the national partners, but how “the regionals and local stations carrying games on Saturdays will make viewers aware of the big matches on ESPN and Fox on MLS Soccer Sundays.” Fox is returning to the MLS pitch after presenting league matches from 2003-11.

Nathanson noted the domestic league will also benefit from promotion during Fox Sports’ coverage of FIFA’s distaff quadrennial north of the border. “It’s the perfect opportunity to expose new fans of Women’s World Cup to MLS,” he said.

FSI  opens with one of its three doubleheaders on March 8 -- Sporting Kansas City hosting the New York Red Bulls at 7 p.m. followed by the Seattle Sounders entertaining the eastern conference champion New England Revolution.  The network’s coverage will feature on-site, pre- and post-game and halftime segments,, with a field reporter and soccer insider flanking the talent in the booth.

Nathanson said the network will also serve up an expanded post-game show after its Sunday primetime match, opening the pitch to Garbage Time with Katie Nolan, at 9:30 p.m..,starting  March 15.

Gugliemo, said the worldwide leader will enhance MLS’s presence on ESPN FC show that airs weekdays on ESPNews at 6 p.m, and Sundays at midnight on ESPN2. “The social buzz for MLS is a virtuous part of the soccer conversation among fans,” he said.

The website features many league-specific elements, including an oral history of the circuit and 20 of its key moments.

“Twenty years is a big anniversary for MLS. It’s a busy sports landscape that’s only become more competitive over the years with other sports and other soccer leagues,” said Gugliemo. “MLS has grown in the marketplace and the in-stadium experience for fans is tremendous. It’s a big anniversary and ESPN is very proud to be part of it.”

Univision is upping its MLS game considerably via a relaunched website. It will also offer an English-language SAP option for all its telecasts, with former U.S. national team player Paul Caligiuri providing the commentary.

“Whether in Spanish or English, soccer fans are going to feel a great level of excitement for MLS,” said Rodriguez.

Univision’s Saturday coverage of Liga MX, the most-watched soccer circuit in North America, for the first time will include live look-ins of MLS action and goals.  Although Rodriguez recognizes it could result in some loss of viewership for Liga MX matches, “the goal is to grow the sport overall.”

He also noted that Univision’s game plan also calls for Somos MLS (We Are MLS), to air on UDN, beginning on March 8, at 10 p.m., and serve as a weekly recap, highlight show for the league.

MLS segments are on tap for Republica Deportiva, Futbol Club, Contacto Deportivo and Locura Deportiva, and the U.S. Spanish-language media leader also will leverage player appearances within some of its entertainment programming.

The new contract also calls for flex scheduling for the penultimate weekend, so the three national partners can televise the most important matches. That leads to “Decision Day” on Oct. 25, the final Sunday of the 2015 regular-season. Stevenson explained that five games in the Eastern Conference will unfold concurrently at 5 p.m., with one game airing on FSI and another on UniMás. Immediately following at 7 p.m.,, all five Western Conference match-ups will unfold, with one game airing on ESPN2 and  a second on UDN. All of the other contests will be showcased across network and league digital platforms, so fans can keep abreast for the final push toward playoff seedings.

The 2015 postseason will feature a dozen teams, with all of the games appearing nationally for the first time. FS1 and ESPN2 will cover the playoffs in their entirety, save for a pair of games on the Univision services. Alternating the events over the course of the contract, FS1 will air the All-Star Game this summer, while ESPN2 has MLS Cup.

Echoing sentiments expressed by the others, Nathanson is sanguine about the league’s Nielsens fortunes.

“With the commitment from the networks with the telecasts and the distinct, destinations for viewers where they know they can find the action, we’re giving MLS its best chance to [improve ratings] in its 20 years,” he said.

With the largest club soccer audience already in its book with the first leg, Univision Deportes is eyeing top viewership with its coverage of the finale of the Liga MX 2014 Apertura tournament tonight.

Broadcaster Univision and cable service Univision Deportes Network will simulcast the second leg of the championship between Tigres and America live from Estadio Azteca on Dec. 14 at 6:55 p.m. (ET).

UniMas and UDN’s coverage of the first leg – Tigres won 1-0, thanks to Joffre Guerron's header (pictured) – averaged 2.2 million watchers from 9:24 p.m. to 11:32 p.m. on Dec. 11, a total that included 1.4 million adults 18 to 49, according to Nielsen data.

Officials at the leading Spanish-language media leader in the U.S. noted those deliveries were the best for any club soccer match in 2014, surpassing NBC’s coverage of the Nov. 22 English Premier League between Manchester United and Arsenal on NBC and Fox’s broadcast of the UEFA Champions League final in May.

Diego Balado, Lindsay Casinelli, Félix Fernández, Ana Caty Hernández, Rodolfo Landeros, José Luis López Salido, and Luis Omar Tapia will provide the coverage on and off the pitch. Univision Deportes’ newest team member, Venezuelan sportscaster Adriana Monsalve, will join the final match coverage.

Univision Deportes has revealed the 25 categories that will be considered during its inaugural Premios Univision Deportes (Univision Sports Awards), set to air Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. on UniMás and UDN.

The two-hour presentation is recognized by the network as "the ultimate sports award show for U.S. Hispanics honoring top athletes and teams from the leagues and sports that Hispanics care about most."

All told, 65 sports figures have been nominated for their roles in soccer, basketball, baseball, boxing, auto racing and more. Some of the nominees include, Landon Donovan, Miguel Herrera, Albert Pujols and James Rodríguez.

Fans will be able to vote as well for Goal of the Year, Extreme Sports Athlete of the Year, Best Athlete Post on Social Media and Best Artistic Performance by an Athlete. Sports personalities, such as journalists, broadcasters, and retired world class athletes will also select winners at Premios Univision Deportes.

Categories and Special Recognition Awards include:

Best Soccer Game of the Year

Best Boxer of the Year

Best MLS Player of the Year

Best Sports Moment of the Year

Best Baseball Player of the Year

Best Liga MX Player of the Year

Breakthrough of the Year

Best Save of the Year

Best Car Racing Performance

Best Basketball Player of the Year

Best World Cup Record

Best Hispanic Performance in Europe

For the Love of Sports Award

Sport Achievement of the Year

Humanitarian Work Award

World Champion Award

Paralympics Athlete of the Year Award

Tennis Performance Award

Lifetime Achievement Award

Liga MX Champions Award

Hispanic Sports Hall of Fame

Goal of the Year

Extreme Sports Athlete of the Year

Best Athlete Post on Social Media

Best Artistic Performance by an Athlete

Univision Deportes is also hosting a nationwide search for everyday heroes called For the Love of the Game, where the winner will receive a $25,000 cash prize, as well as a paid trip to attend the Premios Univision Deportes gala in Miami. The gala will include an hour-long red carpet pre-show, complete with musical performaces by Latin music acts. 

In March of 2010, none other than The Wall Street Journal took notice of a new trend in the ratings and revenue magnet of Hispanic television, the telenovela.

Rather than focusing on the racy (and toned-down) title of the Telemundo drama Sin Senos No Hay Paraíso (“There’s No Paradise Without Nipples”), the Journal instead turned its magnifying glass on the character of Catalina — a “beautiful but poverty-stricken young girl who wanted nothing more than an ample bosom so she could attract a boyfriend in a powerful drug cartel.” For added drama, Catalina’s life is thrust into turmoil when a hit man hired by her narco-novio winds up shooting her.

Nearly five years have passed since Senos ushered in what the Journal dubbed the “narco-novela” — a trend that includes MundoFox’s airing of Colombian series El Capo; the 2012 Telemundo smash Pablo Escobar, El Patrón del Mal; Telemundo’s early 2014 entry Camelia la Texana; and even a Colombian scene-by-scene retelling of AMC’s acclaimed meth-fueled series Breaking Bad — UniMás’s Metásasis.

The latter program debuted June 8 at 10 p.m. on UniMás. As Hispanic Television Update reported in June, lead character “Walter White” is now “Walter Blanco,” a Colombian high-school chemistry teacher who, like a certain Albuquerque, N.M.-based high-school chemistry teacher, turns to methamphetamine production with a former student to provide for his pregnant wife and disabled son after he loses a battle with terminal cancer.

Unlike Breaking Bad, the tale of Señor Blanco was condensed into a typical telenovela arc of four months; the Metástasis series finale was Sept. 18.

Now airing in that timeslot as of Nov. 10: En la Boca del Lobo, which tells the story of the man responsible for the downfall of the infamous Cali drug cartel.

The story centers on Ricardo Salgado, portrayed by Luis Fernando Hoyos (Love in The Time of Cholera), an engineer and soldier who rises to become head of security for the godfather of the Cali cartel, which is at war with the Medellin cartel. After losing his best friend and family, Ricardo has nothing else to lose and is willing to turn in the Cali cartel to the CIA. The operation goes south, forcing Ricardo to fight for his own life.

As of the week ending Nov. 9, En la Boca del Lobo had not placed among the top 25 most-watched Spanish-language prime-time programs; the aforementioned Pablo Escobar-themed telenovela ranks No. 22.

In fact, the top-rated telenovela is a prime example of the tried-and-true Cinderella story. Mi Corazon es Tuyo, airing at 8 p.m. weeknights on Univision, tells the story of a wealthy widower who unknowingly hires a struggling exotic dancer as the nanny of his seven unruly children. According to Nielsen, the show averaged roughly 7.3 million viewers during the week ending Nov. 9.

The No. 2 ranked show, Univision’s Hasta el fin Del Mundo, focuses on the oldest of three sisters who takes over the operations of the family chocolate factory following their father’s death. For added value, the female protagonist is engaged to a man looking to cash in on her wealth but falls for her chauffeur, a former race-car driver. Hasta averaged slightly more than 3.1 million viewers for the week ending Nov. 9, according to Nielsen.

No. 23-ranked Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal attracted an average of 421,000 viewers for UniMás.

While simulcasts on Univision and cable service Univision Deportes Network represent the primary plays for the Spanish-language media leader with the 2014 World Cup, UniMas and Galavision will also get in the live game action from Brazil.

Flagship network Univision and the 40-million subscriber UDN, which is carried by all 10 of the top U.S. distributors, save for Comcast, will air 56 of the tourney’s matches. The schedule is highlighted by the host nation meeting Croatia in the event opener on June 12, as well as all three of Mexico’s Group A matches.  Although all of those matches air during the week, they figure to draw sizable ratings for the networks as El Tri faces Cameroon on June 13, Brazil on June 17 and Croatia on June 23.  The game versus Brazil should be gigantic from a Nielsen perspective.

The Univision/UDN combo will also present all of the knockout stage matches, and culminate the tournament with the semifinals on July 8 and 9, and the title game from Estadia de Maracana in Rio de Janiero.  Live match action aside, UDN will become Univision Communications' de facto World Cup during the tourney, presenting encores, as well as preview, review and highlights programming.

For their part, broadcaster UniMas and cable channel Galavision will air eight matches from group stage play. The top telecasts, depending on the prior results figure to be on June 23 with Brazil’s final Group A match versus Cameroon on June 23, and defending champion Spain’s Group B encounter with Australia.

Check out the complete schedule below:

Leon pushed Pachuca in the second period of extra time to win the Mexico’s first division Clausura tournament on Sunday night and UniMas/Univision Deportes topped Telemundo/mun2 in the ratings for the two matches between the clubs.

UniMas and Univision Deportes Network's May 18 simulcast of the Liga MX Clausara averaged 2.5 million viewers from 8:52 p.m. to 11:43 p.m. that night, according to Nielsen data. That made it the most-viewed club soccer match on any U.S. network in 2014, besting Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Major League Soccer action, among others, according to officials at network parent, Univision Communications.  There was no breakdown between networks, with all of the viewership attributed to UniMas.

Leon’s 2-0 win, which gave them the Clausara title on aggregate, tallied 4.7 million viewers who saw some portion of the match, while averaging 1.6 million adults 18 to 49.

Sunday’s deliveries surpassed the 1.73 million viewers Telemundo garnered with its May 15 coverage of the opening leg of the two-game set that was won by Pachuca 3-2, which had stood as the most-watched Liga MX 2014 playoff matchup. That total included 991,000 of the abovementioned demos.

In addition, mun2’s simulcast in Spanish, delivering an additional 192,000 total viewers and 172,000 adults 18 to 49.

With Liga MX rights in the U.S., the networks telecast the home-team matches.

Starting next season, Telemundo holds the rights to both Leon and Pachuca, while Univision, which has scored the top ratings for all club soccer in the U.S. with its Liga MX coverage, will air the home matches from the circuit’s 16 other clubs.