Neilsen to include Univision in national ratings

In a move that is expected to better measure the nation's growing Latino audience, Nielsen Media Research announced it will include Univision shows in its national ratings sample starting next week, according to a story in the LA Times.

Nielsen has been criticized for a long time for not giving a complete picture of television viewership by using a system that excludes the preferences of millions of Spanish-speaking Latinos when it calculates the size of TV audiences and the most popular shows, the story reports.

In a nutshell, this means Univision will now be measured directly against its main competitors and against the major networks of CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox.

If audiences for prime-time shows broadcast by Univision in the past had been measured against the networks, Univision often would be the fifth-most popular network among viewers under age 50. However, among the 18-to-34-year-olds, Univision frequently would finish second, behind only Fox, the story says.

This is a major development in the media world and could likely result in advertising rate changes. Stay tuned.