Telemundo Orlando expanding news, celebrates ratings growth
To announce that it’s a player in Central Florida, WTMO Telemundo Orlando on Thursday revealed that it will expand its news Monday and celebrated its ratings growth.
The newscast “Telenoticias Orlando” will offer 90 minutes of continuous news beginning at 5 p.m.
Telemundo Orlando highlighted Nielsen figures showing that Hispanic households in this TV market have grown by 224 percent in the past decade. Nielsen figures show that Orlando is now the No. 3 Hispanic TV market on the East Coast after New York City and Miami.
“In the last three years, there has been a massive surge,” said General Manager Alejando Sánchez. “In this kind of Hispanic market — unlike San Antonio and Albuquerque that are more assimilated — it’s very Spanish growth.”
He pointed to Nielsen figures that show 77 percent of Hispanics in this nine-county TV market prefer to speak Spanish.
“That frankly has helped us have a strong position in the marketplace,” Sánchez said.
Telemundo Orlando especially scores with young adults in this market. In February prime time, WTMO was No. 4 with the 18-to-49 age group and No. 5 with the 25-to-54 age group. Telemundo’s miniseries — often called telenovelas — have resonated with viewers. The station ranked No. 6 in total viewers.
WTMO has an overall staff of 47, which is a modest size but efficient, Sánchez said. Beyond news, the station produces five other programs and 600 hours of local original content each year. The newsroom staff has grown from 11 three years ago to 18.
Telemundo Orlando highlighted that it has become a ratings force in news against English-language stations by drawing hard-to-reach young adult viewers.
Andrea Marcial and Valezka Gil, reporters who have covered Central Florida for the past four years, will anchor at 5 p.m.
At 5:30 p.m., they will be joined by Luis Estrada, a fourtime Emmy winner from Telemundo Atlanta. Estrada and Olga Aymat will anchor at 6 and 11 p.m.
WTMO has hired two journalists and two technical people for the expansion and may possibly make two more hires, said news director Gilberto Companioni.
“For Telemundo Orlando, it’s an opportunity to expand on our mission of offering more services and utility to our viewers,” Companioni said. “Telenoticias Orlando” will offer more extensive coverage with “robust” digital extensions “to help and empower the growing Hispanic community,” he added.
WTMO has doubled its digital operation in the last three years, Sánchez said.
The expansion coincides with increased investment by the Telemundo Network and parent Comcast to serve Spanishspeaking viewers, Companioni said.
“We have a very good relationship with our network, which is based in Miami,” Sánchez said. He promised that more collaborations with NBCUniversal and Universal Orlando are on the way.
WTMO is owned by ZGS Communications, which is based in Arlington, Va.