Cristina Saralegui-Hosted 'La Reina del Sur' Special Boosts Telemundo Ratings

Cristina Saralegui's first on-air appearance on Telemundo since it was announced at upfronts in mid-May that she would be joining the network was a ratings winner on Tuesday night.

Telemundo's Cristina Presenta La Ultima Noche con La Reina del Sur, was the network's highest-rated primetime entertainment special among total viewers (2.4 million) and the key adults 18-49 demographic (1.4 million) to date, according to Nielsen.

In local markets, Cristina Presenta was the highest-rated Telemundo special in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco in the last year in the adult demo.

In addition, Telemundo's latest telenovela, La Casa de al Lado, debuted to more than 2 million viewers -- with 1.2 million in the adult demo.

Saralegui, who has won 12 Emmys, left Univision late last year for competitor Telemundo, where she will develop, host and executive produce a weekend variety show set to air at the end of the year.

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