Will Lifetime Develop More Latino Programming Because Of The Success Of ‘Devious Maids’?

Looks like Lifetime’s new Latina themed show Devious Maids is a bonafide hit and a bonafide hit with Hispanics too as 19% of them in total viewers nearly doubles that of Lifetime’s primetime average. In other words, 9.5% of Hispanics watch other Lifetime programming vs. 19% of them watching Devious Maids. You can attribute the success of the show to specific themes: Latina protagonists, Latino themed situations, guilty pleasure escapism and a sexy Latin vibe to the show has really become a point of engagement TV for Hispanics. Who knows how many others are watching on an iPad or On Demand added to the ratings success.

To better elaborate, 3 million people across the U.S. watched the season one finale while The Emmy’s was on. The drama reached series highs across all of the key demographics, including 1.4 million Adults 18-49 viewers (+69%), 1.3 million Adults 25-54 viewers (+50%), 1.2 million Women 18-49 viewers (+90%) and 1.0 million Women 25-54 viewers (+51%), according to Nielsen Research.

The question now is: Will Lifetime develop more Latino programming because of the success of ‘Devious Maids’? The answer should be a resounding yes. They would be completely inept if reaching Hispanic viewers didn’t become their top priority in their overall programming strategy. Even hiring some Hispanic executives to help in the cause would be a plus. If they do make this part of their principal prime efforts, Lifetime could be looking at becoming of the most visionary channels in the television space and a template for every other network to follow.

According to Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Lifetime, “The performance and growth of Devious Maids has been incredible. Any time you see your ratings double over the course of a season, you know the creatives are making a great show that is hitting a chord with viewers.”

Devious Maids was renewed last month for a second season, with 13 all-new episodes scheduled to air next year.

Inspired by the hit telenovela, Ellas son la Alegría del Hogar, Devious Maids was created by Marc Cherry and is executive produced by Eva Longoria.