MANO-A-MANO POR LOS DOLARES GRANDES (Mano-A-Mano For Those Grand Dollars)

Amid the competition among broadcast and cable channels for chunks of an estimated $10 billion-plus in Upfront spending, there's an equally fierce romp for another formidable pot of money underway. Just like the broadcast and cable nets, the big players in this episode made their best pitch to the ad community this past week at public Upfront events in New York.

We refer to some $1.5 billion in Upfront cash set aside for Spanish, bilingual and English-language networks targeting U.S. Latinos. As we prepare to find out from the 2010 Census whether the nation's Latino population is 50 million or more, en route to double that count within the next 20-30 years, Univision (together with sister nets Telefutura and Galavision) and Telemundo remain top rating thoroughbreds on this track, surrounded by an ever-wider assortment of competitors at their sides, just in Spanish-language TV alone from players old (Azteca America, Sorpresa, Discovery en Espanol, etc.) and new (Estrella TV, WAPA America, etc.) alike.

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