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Univision, Televisa & Telemundo
Two of the biggest players in the Hispanic media world are going through big changes. Univision Communications Inc.’s chief executive, Joe Uva, who guided the Spanish-language media giant through several turbulent years, and who stepped down in April of this year. Univision’s owners had recruited Uva, former head of media agency giant OMD, four years ago to bolster Univision’s revenue by recruiting blue chip advertisers. He endured a costly and distracting courtroom battle with Univision’s Mexican programming partner, Grupo Televisa, which threatened to cut off its supply of popular soap operas, or telenovelas, that fuel Univision’s prime-time ratings. Now, according to insiders, Univision’s owners want to leverage the company’s dominance in Spanish-language television to become more of a mainstream media company. Developing a strategy to achieve that will be the new chief executive´s priority.
In the wake of Comcast Corp.’s takeover of NBCUniversal, the president of NBCUniversal’s Telemundo network Don Browne, is stepping down as well. In an effort to avoid the debacle endured by Univision, Browne was the architect of Telemundo’s entry into the business of original programming. He wanted to end the network’s reliance on foreign studios for its prime-time shows. He oversaw the building of a 30,000-square-foot TV production center in Miami; and in recent months, the network has seen its investment begin to pay dividends. It has increased its ratings on the strength of its latest original telenovela, “La Reina del Sur.”
Whether entering new markets, or creating original programming, keep an eye on the media giants as they take on new leaders and new directions.
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