Former Univision Personality Gives Telemundo Ratings Boost
Laura Martínez -- Multichannel News, 12/15/2008 9:21:00 AM
Carmen Dominicci, the Puerto Rico-born TV personality who earlier this month was terminated by Univision, chose to break the silence and speak up about her ordeal and what she considered an “unfair” treatment by the Spanish-language media giant on rival network Telemundo.
During a two-part interview with Telemundo’s María Celeste Arrarás, the former Univision presenter accused her former employer for firing her “unjustly” because she made public her decision to divorce Fernando del Rincón, also a Univision personality.
Dominicci and Del Rincón married in 2007, but this year she filed a complaint for physical abuse, something she claims Univision didn’t want her to do.
“I decided to come forward and denounce the abuse. But Univision chose not to support me,” Dominicci said during the interview, which ran Dec. 11 and Dec. 12 on Telemundo’s Al Rojo Vivo. “I felt like I was being kicked out of my parents’ home.”
In an unusual move, Univision sent the following statement: “While Univision does not typically comment on employee matters, particularly when it comes to their personal lives, we feel it is necessary to set the record straight with respect to the recent allegations made by our former employee, Carmen Dominicci, regarding Univision’s handling of her marital discord with our current employee, Fernando del Rincon. Univision obviously has not taken and would not take sides in such an intensely private matter as a divorce.”
As for Telemundo, the Dominicci interview is likely to result in a ratings boost. Based on Nielsen’s Time period figures, Al Rojo Vivo on 12/10 averaged 19% above November 2008 (1,128,000 vs. 944,000 persons 2-plus) and on 12/11 averaged 45% above November 2008 (1,368,000 vs. 944,000). Program averages will be not be available until this Thursday.
