Univision’s Young-Adult Ratings Edge Over The CW Is More Dramatic Than a Telenovela

Univision is on a ratings tear — especially among millennials and the oldest members of Gen Z.

The No. 1 Spanish-language broadcast network is No. 1-er this season, having grown double digits across the board: +25% year over year in total viewers, +27% in adults 18-49 and +23% in adults 18-34. Univision is not only beating the pants off of Telemundo, its direct competition, the Spanish-language leader is also annihilating English-language broadcaster The CW. And it’s doing so especially among the youngest adults, those 18-34, which is the audience CW shows tend to serve.

Thus far this season, Univision’s holds a 31% primetime advantage over Telemundo in total viewers (up from 12% at this point last season), and a 34% edge among viewers aged 18-49 (up from 19%) and a 42% gain in the 18-34 demo (up from 36%).

Those leads are nothing compared to the primetime beatdown Univision is delivering to The CW.

Compared to The CW, Univision holds 165% total-viewer advantage this fall (or significantly more than two times higher) and an astonishing 345% lead among adults 18-49 (more than four times higher). The gap between Univision and The CW among adults 18-34 stands at 566% — more than six times higher.

Univision has gained viewers on the strength of telenovelas like “Si Nos Dejan” (pictured above), which averages 314,000 viewers ages 18-34. That is only Univision’s third-best performance in the young demo thus far this season, however. Nos. 1 and 2 are both CONCACAF World Cup qualifying soccer matches featuring Mexico: Mexico vs. Canada (383,000 viewers 18-34), and Mexico vs. Honduras (350,000).

All told, Univision is averaging about 230,000 viewers ages 18-34 each evening. Telemundo is more in the 160,000-range on an average night, while The CW is in the 30,000s.

Those numbers, like all in this story, are from Nielsen’s “most current” ratings demographic, which includes one week of delayed viewing where available. The Fall 2021 season started on Sept. 21, 2021. We have Live + 7 data for all primetime TV episodes through Oct. 10, 2021, and Live + Same Day data for Oct. 11 through Oct. 24.

It’s only fair to point out here that The CW premiered “All American” Season 4 and new series “4400” on Oct. 25, so those are not tallied here at all. The “Batwoman” Season 3 premiere and “Legacies” Season 4 premiere do not yet have DVR viewing tallied. And since these are Nielsen numbers, digital viewing — which would probably disproportionately boost The CW’s figures — is also not counted.

Speaking of fairness, Telemundo has also grown this season: up 6% in total viewers, 11% among adults 18-49 and an 17% in the 18-34 age bracket compared to last season. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The CW, however, is currently down 30% in total viewers, is -35% in 18-49 and is -41% in 18-34. That’s not so great.

The divide is particularly stark when one considers that just five years ago, the CW and Univision were pretty close competitors. Clearly, that’s not the case anymore. And if it wasn’t clear from all the numbers above, Telemundo is also pretty badly beating The CW these days — just not nearly as dramatically as Univision.