Telemundo chief flags up US ads disparity

Spanish-language channels in the US are getting only half the advertising revenues they should, according to the new chief executive of Telemundo, the second largest broadcaster in a Hispanic television market that is becoming more crowded.

“Hispanic television media get 8 per cent of the viewership on average on a single day and only 4 per cent of the total advertising [revenue],” Emilio Romano said, six months after Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit named him to run the network in Miami. “That means we’re getting only half of what we deserve,” he said. Telemundo has traditionally battled Univision, the Hispanic market leader, for advertising budgets, but faces new competition as News Corp plans to launch a free-to-air Spanish-language network this autumn with RCN Television of Colombia.