Formerly |
|
---|---|
Company type | Private |
NYSE: UVN (1996-2007) | |
Industry | Mass media and entertainment |
Founded | Los Angeles, California in 1962 |
Founder | Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta of Televisa |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Daniel Alegre (US CEO); Bernardo Gomez Martinez, Alfonso de Angoitia (Mexico co-CEOs) |
Owner | Grupo Televisa (45%) |
Number of employees | 14,000 |
Divisions | Univision Digital Uforia Audio Network TUDN Univision Television Group Videocine Pantelion Films (50%) Televisa Networks Televisa Consumer Products Televisa Internacional Televisa Regional Vix |
Website | corporate |
Footnotes /references [1] [2] [3] [4] |
TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American media company headquartered in Miami and Mexico City that owns American Spanish language broadcast network Univision and free-to-air channels in Mexico such as Las Estrellas, Canal 5, Foro, and NU9VE alongside a collection of specialty television channels and production studios. 45% of the company is held by the Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company Grupo Televisa, which was a major programming partner for Univision until the company sold their content assets to Univision in 2022.
Since its founding in the early 1960s as Spanish International Network (SIN), the United States' first Spanish language television network, the company has catered to Hispanic and Latino Americans. It is currently a multimedia conglomerate, with free-to-air and specialty, digital and audio networks, including 65 television stations, online and mobile apps and products. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Univision Communications Inc. was founded in 1962 , as Spanish International Communications Corporation (parent of Spanish International Network) by Rene Anselmo, an American-Mexican TV executive Emilio Nicolas Sr., owner of KUAL-TV (now KWEX-DT) in San Antonio, and Mexican radio-TV magnate Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, head of Telesistema Mexicano (now Televisa). They consolidated the operations of some independent Latino stations into a network. In 1987, Nicolas sold his part of the company to Hallmark Cards, and the name was changed to Univision Holdings. By 1992, Hallmark re-incorporated the company to Univision Communications.
On April 8, 1992, Hallmark sold Univision Communications to a group that included Los Angeles-based investor A. Jerrold Perenchio (a former partner in Norman Lear's Embassy Communications, who was outbid by the Hallmark-led consortium for the network in 1987), Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, and brothers Ricardo and Gustavo Cisneros (co-owners of Venezuelan broadcaster Venevision) for $550 million, in order to refocus its television operation efforts on cable provider Cencom Cable Associates, which it acquired the previous year for about $500 million. In order to comply with FCC rules on foreign ownership of television stations, the deal was structured to give Perenchio a controlling 75% interest in Univision's station group and 50% ownership of the network itself; Azcárraga and the Cisneroses held a 25% stake in the network and a 12.5% stake in the station group. The deal placed Univision under common ownership with competing cable channel Galavisión, which the Azcárraga-run Grupo Televisa owned at the time. [9] The Cisneroses' ownership of stake in Univision Communications led to the broadcast of Venevision telenovelas from Venezuela, & eventually, to the co-production partnership of Venevision International and Univision Communications of telenovelas. The consortium ended up selling Univision Communications for $13.7 billion in 2007. [10]
From September 1996 to April 2007, Univision Communications Inc. traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UVN.
In 2001, Univision Communications Inc. acquired USA Broadcasting, the station group of USA Networks, which included 13 full-power television stations. Most of these stations became part of a new network called TeleFutura, which it launched in 2002. [11] Others joined Univision. In 2003, Univision completed the acquisition of Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation to form Univision Audio Network. [12]
Prior to 2007, [13] its headquarters was in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles. [14] [15]
In March 2007, Univision Communications was sold to Broadcasting Media Partners, a group led by Haim Saban that included Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners., TPG Capital, L.P., Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Saban Capital Group. [16]
In May 2008, Univision Music Group was sold to Universal Music Group and combined with its Latin label to become Universal Music Latin Entertainment.
In 2009, Univision Interactive Media was formed to house Univision.com, Univision Mobile, and an array of digital offerings. [17] Univision On Demand also debuted in 2009, through distribution partners. [18] That same year Univision also created Univision Studios, a new production arm focused on producing and co-producing content for the company's platforms. [19]
Randy Falco became Univision's CEO in 2011. [20] Under Falco, the company began to expand its platforms, including launching new cable networks such as Univision Deportes Network and Univision Tlnovelas, as well as English-language properties targeting Hispanic audiences such as Flama (a YouTube channel featuring content aimed toward Hispanic young adults), [21] and Fusion, a news channel operated as a joint venture with Disney–ABC Television Group. [22] [23] [16]
On January 7, 2013, TeleFutura rebranded as UniMás. [24] [25] In May 2013, Univision announced an investment in Robert Rodriguez's new English-language cable channel El Rey Network. [26]
In 2014, UCI launched Univision Mobile, La Fabrica and TheFlama.com and also continued to increase the reach of Univision Deportes, Fusion, and El Rey. [27] [28] [29] [30] Also in 2014, UCI expanded its partnership with Hulu, building on its launch as the first Spanish-language offering on Hulu in 2012. [31]
On August 16, 2016, Univision Communications purchased Gawker Media for $135 million. [32] The sale included six Gawker blogs – Kotaku, Jalopnik, Lifehacker, Gizmodo (and its sub-site io9), Deadspin, and Jezebel – but not the flagship Gawker site, which shut down in late August. [33] On September 21, 2016, the Gawker Media assets acquisition was completed and said assets were moved to Gizmodo Media Group. [34] [35] [16]
On May 30, 2018, Vincent Sadusky, formerly of Telemundo and the local station groups LIN Media and Media General, was appointed the new CEO of Univision, replacing outgoing Randy Falco. [36] Under Sadusky, the company began to backpedal on its attempts to diversify into English-speaking markets, electing to focus more on its core Spanish-language properties targeting Hispanics. As part of this effort, Gizmodo Media Group was divested to private-equity firm Great Hill Partners in April 2019. [16] [37]
On July 20, 2019, Univision rebranded its Univision Deportes Network cable channel as TUDN, as part of a collaboration with its content partner Televisa. [38] [39] [40]
On February 25, 2020, private investment firms Searchlight Capital Partners and ForgeLight (launched by founder & CEO & ex-Viacom CFO Wade Davis) agreed to acquire 64% controlling stake in the company held by its investment group ownership, while minority owner Televisa would continue to hold its 36% stake. As a result, the company would be led by Davis as CEO, eventually replacing outgoing Vincent Sandusky. The sale was completed on December 29, 2020. [41] [42]
On April 13, 2021, Televisa announced they would sell their media, content, and production assets to Univision. The new company would be known as TelevisaUnivision. [43] As part of the transaction, Televisa kept the company's telecommunication and multichannel television service assets, as well as broadcast licenses for stations that air Televisa's four Mexican networks; the Mexican news operations were spun off into Tritón Comunicaciones. [44] The merger was approved by Mexican Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) on September 15, 2021, and later by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on January 24, 2022, with the transaction completed on January 31 the same year. [45] [46]
In February 2022, TelevisaUnivision announced the relaunch of ViX as a streaming platform featuring both an ad-supported and a subscription tier, with an intended rollout of the AVOD tier set for March 31, 2022. [47]
In September 2022, TelevisaUnivision completed the acquisition of American OTT streaming service Pantaya from Hemisphere Media Group in exchange for cash and select Puerto Rican radio assets, including San Juan-based WKAQ (AM) and WKAQ-FM. [48] [49] That same month, TelevisaUnivision acquired the rights to the Latin American Music Awards from Dick Clark Productions. [50]
On September 27, 2023, they partnered with the Republican National Committee, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, FOX Business, and Rumble to host the second Republican presidential primary debate from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. [51] [52]
In November 2023, TelevisaUnivision faced serious backlash from Democrats and the Hispanic community when network executives decided to air an exclusive hourlong interview with former President Donald Trump on Univision in Spanish and UNIMAS and ViX in English with Spanish subtitles, despite Trump's vulgar comments towards the Hispanic community. Many Latino celebrities, politicians, and activists have called for a boycott and branding the network as "MAGAvision". [53] [54] [55]
On December 2, 2024, the company announced that as part of a major restructuon, the company would cut its workforce. This coincided with the introduction of a revamped leadership team and the departure of local head Jesús Lara from the company. [56]
TelevisaUnivision's portfolio of properties consists of broadcast, cable, and digital networks, as well as consumer products and brand licensing.
TelevisaUnivision provides programming throughout Mexico through four networks, and in the United States via Univision and UniMás through local affiliates. 253 Mexican local television stations (54.8% of the total commercial stations), and 59 U.S. local television stations air programming from all six terrestrial networks. [57] [58]
The six terrestrial networks are:
Network | Flagship | Programming |
---|---|---|
Las Estrellas | XEW-TDT 2 | general programming, sports, first-run telenovelas, and news |
Canal 5 | XHGC-TDT 5 | youth-oriented programming, American series, and films |
Nueve | XEQ-TDT 9 | telenovela reruns, sports, news, and comedy shows |
N+ Foro | XHTV-TDT 4 | all-news channel, talk, and debate programming |
Univision |
| general programming, sports, first-run telenovelas, and news |
UniMás |
| youth-oriented programming, reruns of novelas, and exclusive content. |
TelevisaUnivision beams its terrestrial brands to affiliates. Some of its Mexico-based affiliates are owned by its parent Televisa through Televisa Regional network, airing a mixture of Televisa programming and regional programming from all four Mexico-based terrestrial networks. Foro is the only network that only has one full-time affiliate, XHTV, but some of Foro's programming can be found on most Televisa Regional television stations.
TelevisaUnivision also operates a subsidiary called Televisa Networks (often recognized within the entertainment industry by its previous moniker, Visat).[ citation needed ] This subsidiary is responsible for the distribution of TelevisaUnivision Mexico programs by satellite. It is Televisa Networks that distributes the Las Estrellas signal through satellite to Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. As of 2019, the subsidiary is currently known as Televisa Internacional with Televisa Networks being folded into the company's international division. Other channels under the Televisa Networks umbrella include:
Aside from Televisa Networks, TelevisaUnivision also operates US-based cable channels:
Notes:
City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) | Owned Since | Affiliation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Phoenix | KTVW-DT ** | 33 (33) | 1992 | Univision |
KFPH-DT | 13 (13) | 2001 | UniMás | |
Tucson, AZ | KUVE-DT (semi-satellite of KTVW-DT) | 46 (34) | 2003 | Univision |
KFTU-DT | 3 (36) | 2001 | UniMás | |
Bakersfield, CA | KABE-CD | 39 (39) | 2002 | Univision |
KBTF-CD | 31 | 2002 | UniMás | |
KTFB-CD ** (satellite of KBTF-CD) | 4 | 1992 | UniMás | |
KUVI-DT | 45 (45) | 1997 | Quest | |
Fresno, CA | KFTV-DT ** | 21 (21) | 1992 | Univision |
KTFF-DT | 61 (23) | 2003 | UniMás | |
Los Angeles | KMEX-DT ** | 34 (34) | 1992 | Univision |
KFTR-DT ++ | 46 (29) | 2001 | UniMás | |
Sacramento – Stockton – Modesto | KUVS-DT | 19 (18) | 1997 | Univision |
KTFK-DT | 64 (26) | 2004 | UniMás | |
San Francisco – Oakland – San Jose | KDTV-DT ** | 14 (20) | 1992 | Univision |
KFSF-DT | 66 (34) | 2002 | UniMás | |
Denver | KCEC 1 | 14 (32) | 2003 | Univision |
Washington, D.C. | WFDC-DT ++6 | 14 (15) | 2001 | Univision UniMás (DT4) |
Miami – Fort Lauderdale | WLTV-DT ** | 23 (23) | 1992 | Univision |
WAMI-DT ++ | 69 (24) | 2001 | UniMás | |
Orlando | WVEN-TV ++6 | 43 (22) | 2001 | Univision |
WRCF-CD | 29 (16) | 2017 | UniMás | |
Tampa – St. Petersburg | WVEA-TV ++6 | 50 (47) | 2001 | Univision UniMás (DT6) |
Atlanta | WUVG-DT ++ | 34 (48) | 2001 | Univision UniMás (DT2) |
Chicago | WGBO-DT | 66 (35) | 1995 | Univision |
WXFT-DT ++ | 60 (50) | 2001 | UniMás | |
Boston | WUNI ++1 | 66 (27) | 2001 | Univision |
WWJE-DT | 50 (27) | 2017 | True Crime Network | |
Albuquerque, NM | KLUZ-TV 1 | 14 (22) | 2003 | Univision |
New York City | WXTV-DT ** | 41 (40) | 1992 | Univision |
WFUT-DT ++ | 68 (26) | 2001 | UniMás | |
WFTY-DT ++ (satellite of WFUT-DT) | 67 (23) | 2001 | True Crime Network | |
Raleigh – Durham, NC | WUVC-DT | 40 (38) | 2003 | Univision |
WTNC-LD | 26 (11) | 2003 | UniMás | |
Cleveland | WQHS-DT ++2 | 61 (34) | 2001 | Univision UniMás (DT2) |
Philadelphia | WUVP-DT ++ | 65 (17) | 2001 | Univision |
WFPA-CD ** | 28 | 1992 | UniMás | |
WMGM-TV | 40 (36) | 2017 | True Crime Network | |
Austin, TX | KAKW-DT | 62 (13) | 2002 | Univision |
KTFO-CD ** | 31 (36) | 1992 | UniMás | |
KXLK-CD | 29 (35) | 2018 | Ion Mystery | |
Dallas – Fort Worth | KUVN-DT ** | 23 (23) | 1992 | Univision |
KSTR-DT ++ | 49 (48) | 2001 | UniMás | |
Houston | KXLN-DT | 45 (30) | 1994 | Univision |
KFTH-DT ++ | 67 (36) | 2001 | UniMás | |
San Antonio | KWEX-DT ** | 41 (41) | 1992 | Univision |
KNIC-DT 5 | 17 (18) | 2006 | UniMás | |
Salt Lake City, Utah | KUTH-DT 4 | 32 (32) | 2004 | Univision UniMás (DT2) |
San Juan – Ponce, PR | WSTE-DT | 7 (7) | 20023 | Spanish Independent |
Footnotes:
City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) | Years owned | Current ownership status |
---|---|---|---|---|
San Juan, Puerto Rico | WLII-DT | 11 (11) | 2005–2020 | Dual Univision / UniMás affiliate owned by the Liberman Media Group |
Ponce, Puerto Rico | WSUR-DT | 9 (9) | 2005–2020 | Dual Univision / UniMás affiliate owned by the Liberman Media Group |
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | WOLE-DT (Satellite of WLII-DT) | 12 (12) | 2014–2021 | Dual Univision / UniMás affiliate owned by the Liberman Media Group |
Univision and its executives have been recognized for their news, entertainment, humanitarian efforts and sports.
Univision News has been recognized with the Peabody, Walter Cronkite and Gracies awards for its special "Entre el abandono y el rechazo"; the King of Spain International (Digital) Journalism Award for "Niños de la Frontera" part of Univision Noticia's La Huella Digital; and GLAAD Media Awards in the categories Outstanding Local TV Journalism for "Cobertura de Spirit Day" by Noticias 34 (KMEX-Univision 34) and Outstanding Documentary for "Identidad sin fronteras" part of Panorámica, a Univision/Pivot co-production. [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] The Radio & Television News Association of Southern California (RTNA) also recognized Univision Noticias with eight Golden Mikes including the top honor, Broadcast Legend Award to Univision News anchor María Elena Salinas. [70] Univision News anchor Jorge Ramos, described as "one of the most aggressive and influential newsmen in America" by Michael Scherer in his profile of Ramos published November 20, 2014, was named to the 2015 TIME 100, the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. [71] [72]
Univision's former president and CEO, Randy Falco, has been recognized by National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) with Board of Trustees' Award and by Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), with a Champion Award. [73] [74] Univision is also the recipient of ReadyNation's 2015 Business Champion for Children Award. [75] The company's social impact initiative Univision Contigo has been recognized with a variety of awards, including Cynopsis Social Good Awards for its 2016 Vote For Your America campaign and its ongoing early childhood development initiative, Pequeños y Valiosos. [76] [77]
Univision's sports network, Univision Deportes (TUDN) is recipient of two Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Live Sports Coverage in Spanish: 2014 FIFA World Cup and Outstanding Studio Show in Spanish: Fútbol Central by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS); additionally, UDNs' President Juan Carlos Rodriguez has been bestowed the Sports Network Executive of the Year Navigator Award by Cynopsis, while UDN accepted awards in the categories 'Tech Innovation' and 'Best Spot Over:30.' [78] [79]
UniMás is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network's programming, which is aimed at Hispanic Americans in the 18–34 age range, includes telenovelas and other serialized drama series, sports, sitcoms, reruns of imported series previously aired on parent network Univision, reality and variety series, and theatrically released feature films.
Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content.
KFSF-DT is a television station licensed to Vallejo, California, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language UniMás network to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside San Francisco–licensed Univision outlet KDTV-DT. The two stations share studios on Zanker Road near the North San Jose Innovation District in San Jose; KFSF-DT's transmitter is located atop Sutro Tower in San Francisco.
Azteca América was an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by INNOVATE Corp., which acquired the network from the Azteca International Corporation subsidiary of TV Azteca.
Noticieros Televisa, also branded as N+, is the news agency of Tritón Comunicaciones, which produces national and local news broadcasting bulletins for Univision's Mexican networks. It was headed by Leopoldo Gómez, vice president of Noticieros Televisa from 1998 to 2021; It was renamed as N+ in 2022 following the spin-off of the Grupo Televisa with the formation of Univision.
Uforia Audio Network is the radio broadcasting and music events division of TelevisaUnivision USA. Formerly known as Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation and Univision Radio, it is the eighth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States, and the largest specifically catering to Hispanic and Latino Americans. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles.
Randel A. Falco is an American media executive. Falco was president and CEO of Univision Communications Inc. from June 2011 until retiring in June 2018. Before joining Univision in January 2011 as executive vice president and COO, he served as chairman of the board and CEO of AOL from November 2006 to March 2009. Prior to his tenure at AOL, he spent 31 years at NBC, including serving as the network's president and COO.
Univision Canada is a Canadian Spanish language specialty channel owned by TLN Media Group, in partnership with TelevisaUnivision, the leading Spanish-language media company in the United States. Univision Canada broadcasts a variety of programming, including news, dramas, talk shows, sports, and more.
Telemundo is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content nationally with programming syndicated worldwide to more than 100 countries in over 35 languages.
Noticias Univision is the news division of Univision, an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by the Univision Television Group division of TelevisaUnivision. The news division is based out of the network's facilities, referred to as the "NewsPort", in the Miami suburb of Doral, Florida, which it shares with sister English language news channel Fusion and Univision's flagship owned-and-operated station WLTV-DT.
Univision is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes telenovelas and other drama series, sports, sitcoms, reality and variety series, news programming, and imported Spanish-language feature films. Univision is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and has its major studios, production facilities, and business operations based in Doral, Florida.
Las Estrellas is a Mexican television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. Its first official broadcast took place on 21 March 1951. It airs free-to-air through affiliate stations throughout Mexico, based on XEW-TDT in Mexico City.
Estrella TV is an American Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by the Estrella Media subsidiary of HPS Investment Partners, LLC. The network primarily features programs, the vast majority of which are produced by the network itself, aimed at Hispanic and Latino American audiences – featuring a mix of entertainment series, reality television series, drama series, news, sports, and imported Mexican-produced feature films.
MundoMax was an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network that was owned by RCN Televisión. The network broadcast programs aimed at Hispanic and Latino American audiences throughout the United States – featuring a mix of telenovelas and other serialized dramas, reality television series, game shows, and feature films.
TUDN is a Mexican-American Spanish language sports channel. Owned by TelevisaUnivision, it is an extension of the company's sports division of the same name, with TUDN the acronym of TelevisaUnivision Deportes Network. It launched on April 7, 2012, along with Univision Tlnovelas and FOROtv.
Univision tlnovelas is a Spanish language American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting telenovelas. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision. The channel launched on March 1, 2012.
TUDN is a sports programming division of Univision, a Spanish language broadcast television network owned by TelevisaUnivision, that is responsible for the production of televised coverage of sports events and magazine programs that air on the parent Univision network and sister network UniMás, and cable channels Galavisión and TUDN TV channel. The division's premier sports properties are its broadcast rights to Liga MX, select matches involving the Mexico and United States men's national soccer teams, tournament matches from the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa América. With the closure of the offices in Miami in late August 2024, the division's headquarters are now in Mexico City, Mexico.
Alberto Ciurana was a Mexican television executive who worked as Chief Content & Distribution officer of TV Azteca. Previously, Ciurana served as President of Programming and Content for Univision Networks, where he oversaw programming for the entertainment broadcast and cable networks of Univision Communications Inc. Ciurana moved to Univision after working as VP of programming for Televisa for 15 years and was part of a steady expansion of Televisa influence at Univision that builds on the partnership struck among them in October 2010.
Gizmodo Media Group was an online media company and blog network formerly operated by Univision Communications in its Fusion Media Group division. The company was created from assets acquired from Gawker Media during its bankruptcy in 2016. In April 2019, Gizmodo and The Onion were sold to private equity firm Great Hill Partners, which combined them into a new company named G/O Media.
TUDN Radio is a U.S. Spanish-language sports radio network operated by Uforia Audio Network, a division of TelevisaUnivision. It launched on March 15, 2017 on ten AM and FM radio stations, most of which previously affiliated with the ill-fated Univision America until its 2015 closure. The network features stations in the states of Arizona, California, Texas, Illinois, Nevada, New York and Florida, covering half of the country's Hispanic population.