Nielsen Rates Estrella TV

BURBANK, CALIF.: Nielsen starts measuring Liberman Broadcasting’s Estrella TV network today. Liberman said the six-months-old network would now be included in Nielsen’s People Meter Sample. The audience estimates will be available in several syndicated and electronic reports, Liberman said.

The Spanish-language start-up was launched last September and now is in 27 “U.S. Hispanic markets,” as Liberman puts it, covering 73 percent of U.S. Hispanic TV households. Liberman had nine owned-and-operated stations, 19 affiliates, and 21 radio stations.

It’s most recent new affiliation deal was with KSBT, a low-power broadcaster serving Santa Barbara, Calif. The ninth station was W40BY, a translator station for Trinity Broadcasting’s WWTO-TV in Chicago; No. 8 was KWHD-TV, a Christian TV station in Denver that Liberman picked up for $6.5 million.

Estrella TV currently airs 56 hours of original Spanish-language programming each week and owns a library of more than 5,000 hours, Liberman said.