I wanted to follow my last post on U.S. Spanish language TV ratings by focusing just on telenovelas, and how their similar storylines draw similar audience flows.

This analysis is based on the same data as the previous post, a consolidation of household (HH) ratings data from archived newsletters, dating back to April 3, 2009. Ratings were not available for certain dates when the newsletter was on hiatus, most importantly between December 18th and the 28th.

The following graph charts the ratings from beginning to end for various 8 p.m and 9 p.m. telenovelas on Univision. Initial episode ratings for certain titles are not shown since they began before April. The biggest performer within this group is Mañana Es Para Siempre, who began to rise in viewership during its last 46 episodes.  Similar audience increases are also seen for Sortilegio and slightly for En Nombre del Amor. These rises demonstrate how viewers tune in more often once a telenovela becomes “caliente,” once the viewers have become engaged with its characters and the plotline begins to reach climactic points before reaching a big finish. It’s the natural cycle of telenovelas. Not all titles follow this rule however, as in the case of this group’s underperfomer, Ciudado con el Angel. This title market the lowest rating (1.5 on April 10) and also experienced a gradual ratings decline during its final episodes, an unusual reversal of the norm.

For Telemundo I also got together various titles, albeit from a broader time periods since Telemundo programs telenovelas during their entire primetime at 8, 9 and 10 p.m. The highest overall performer seems to have been Mas Sabe el Diablo, but it might be usurped by the recently started ¿Dónde ésta Elisa? which opened up at 10 p.m with a respectable audience of 826,000 viewers and a 0.7 HH rating.

¿Dónde ésta Elisa? has maintained or increased its HH rating since then, which is quite extraordinary, as audience normally decreases for a a telenovela after the premiere episode before bouncing back. This enduring viewership could be due to the title’s mystery plot, which focuses on a young girl who is kidnapped in the first episode. This effective plotline will likely be replicated in future telenovelas.