MUMBAI: Spanish language TV network in the US, Telemundo has entered into an agreement with Nielsen to include Telemundo in the Nielsen's National Television Index (NTI).

Prior to this announcement, the Telemundo network only subscribed to Nielsen's National Hispanic Television Index (NHTI), which measures only Hispanic audiences.

Telemundo president Don Browne says, "This agreement is a great step forward. The inclusion of Telemundo in NTI is a sign of the maturation of Spanish language television and a clear recognition of a robust, healthy and growing market. From now on, as marketers target their audiences, they will now have a vehicle that will transparently evaluate audience delivery in Spanish side by side with English language networks. From a consumer perspective, it's a great day for the Hispanic consumer, as this agreement acknowledges the power of this audience by providing a more sophisticated tool to track their viewership."

Telemundo will maintain its current subscription to NHTI until September 2007, when the National People Meter (NPM) sample, upon which NTI is based, will become the sole sample for both English-language and Spanish-language media. The NPM sample, comprised of approximately 10,000 households, is subscribed to by broadcast networks, cable networks, syndicators, advertisers and agencies across the US.