You can say that Cristina Saralegui landed in Telemundo with a bang. Her first appearance on the network with the cast of “La Reina del Sur” on Tuesday became the highest rated primetime entertainment special in Telemundo’s history, averaging more than 2.3 million total viewers. The show was #1 at 9 pm across all Spanish-language stations in New York, Miami and San Francisco in key demos, according to Nielsen.
Cristina’s jump to Telemundo was announced during the network’s upfront on May 17, barely a day after NLB said the talk queen signed an exclusive contract to have her own satellite radio channel on SiriusXM. The 12-time Emmy winner will develop, host and executive produce a weekend variety show slated to air later this year.
Cristina and the “Reina” cast also gave the new Telemundo soap a good lead-in. “La Casa de al Lado” debuted with an average of more than 2 million total viewers.
