Univision

Univision, the Spanish-language broadcaster that is operating under new ownership, has secured double-digit percentage increases in advance advertising commitments for its next programming cycle, the latest traditional broadcaster to benefit from an unusually speedy “upfront” market, when TV companies try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory.

It will feature an expanded free advertising supported (AVOD) and an all-new subscription tier (SVOD) offering, bringing together the best of VIX, Univision NOW and PrendeTV under “a unified global product and vision.” Rodrigo Mazon is tapped as EVP-GM of SVOD. It will be available across U.S. and Latin America next year.

ABC, Fox, NBC, Univision split the win on weak night for Nielsens.

It’s not every day you watch someone stop a truck mid-air, in the middle of a tornado. Albert Martinez, Emmy-award winning chief meteorologist for Univision’s network news, may not be a superhero, but his knack for augmented reality (AR) helps his weather explainers fly off the screen. In addition to that flying truck, Martinez has withstood Category 5 hurricane winds, crashed a car off a bridge, submerged himself in nine feet of dirty flood water, and started a wildfire in the Univision studio. Martinez has his own theory about why his unconventional weather explainers are so popular with viewers.

Univision is planning to build its addressable advertising capabilities, starting with beta tests with Vizio and Dish this year. More partners will be brought on next year, said Donna Speciale, president of advertising sales and marketing at Univision. Univision earlier announced being involved in the beta testing of Nielsen’s addressable technology, since sold to Roku. It also joined Project OAR, a group led by Vizio that looks to set standards for addressable advertising.

The Spanish language television giant is in the midst of significant change. Not six months into new ownership and a new CEO (former Viacom CFO Wade Davis), the company announced a larger merger with the Mexican TV giant Televisa and plans to go global in the streaming video space.

The Spanish-language broadcaster issued preliminary first quarter results that indicates $1.36 billion in available liquidity for “potential financing transactions” around a pending deal to create a Spanish-language media powerhouse.

Univision said it has made a multi-year deal to use products and services from Google to make its media businesses more digital. The deal includes Univision using Google’s cloud to consolidate its multiple digital distribution platforms and run production and data applications. Univision will also take advantage of Google’s Android, Android TV OS, YouTube, Google Play, Google Ad Manager and Google search.

Univision and Televisa have come to terms on a merger agreement, a long-awaited deal that will create a Spanish-language TV giant with broad reach in Mexico and the U.S. The deal calls for Televisa to contribute its media, content and production assets and a handful of networks to a new entity to be known as Televisa-Univision. Televisa’s assets are valued at $4.8 billion. The new company will be led by Univision CEO Wade Davis, who headed the investor group that acquired Univision in early 2020.

Univision Communications says its core media networks’ advertising declined 6% in the fourth quarter to $315.2 million. The company says there was softness in various advertising categories — automotive, media and entertainment, telecommunications, restaurants and financial. All were impacted by pandemic.

New free-to-consumer service launches with sponsors including Chase, Clorox, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’, McDonald’s, Toyota, Universal Pictures, Verizon and Walmart.

Univision said that ahead of its May 18 upfront presentation, it will hold an event for advertisers that will introduce the company’s new management and its new direction to advertisers. The new event — set for March 24 — will be titled “A New Vision at Univision.” Earlier this year Univision was acquired by a group headed by former Viacom CFO Wade Davis.

The Spanish-language media company joins as a member of the primary steering committee dedicated to creating a standard by which all parties in the TV ecosystem can collaborate and unite on addressable advertising.

Univision has bought Spanish-language streaming service Vix as it gears up to launch its ad-supported domestic streaming outlet PrendeTV. Vix is available in the U.S. and throughout Latin America.

Univision’s PrendeTV streaming service will premiere this quarter with a group of blue-chip advertisers as launch partners, according to Donna Speciale, recently named president of advertising sales and marketing at the Spanish-language media company.

Spanish-language broadcast giant Univision today announced first quarter launch plans for PrendeTV, joining the crowded streaming market with a free, add-supported service created for the U.S. Hispanic audience. It will featuring premium 100% Spanish-language programming, debuting with over 30 channels and 10,000 hours of video-on-demand content in Spanish from global partners.

The appointments include veteran executives from ViacomCBS, WarnerMedia and Telemundo. Pierluigi Gazzolo fills the newly created role of president of Univision Communications Inc. and chief transformation officer, while Luis Silberwasser fills the newly created role of president of the Univision Television Networks Group, leading Univision’s national TV properties.

The new ownership, in partnership with Televisa, says it will enhance Univision’s digital presence, deepen relationships with Hispanic audiences and communities, and create market-defining content for the next generation of Spanish-speaking viewers. Televisa will maintain its existing ownership and the Program License Agreement with Univision. Veteran media executive Wade Davis becomes CEO of Univision.

The FCC’s Media Bureau has approved the Univision Holdings sale of majority ownership interest in the Spanish-language media company and its broadcast properties (65 TV stations and 58 radio stations) to investment firms Searchlight Capital Partners and ForgeLight. The bureau’s approval is conditioned on the sale of three Puerto Rico TV stations — WLII and two satellites, WSUR and WOLE — to comply with FCC local ownership rules.

Sheryl Crow leads a long list of performers and celebrity guests who will appear in a Jan. 1 television special replacing the 132nd Rose Parade, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Rose Parade’s New Year Celebration presented by Honda will air on ABC, NBC, Hallmark Channel, Univision, RFD-TV and KTLA Los Angeles featuring performances filmed at locations across the country to limit travel and ensure safety.

Leading Spanish-language media company Univision reported robust digital and soccer viewership as key growth drivers in its third quarter financials report. A further boost came from higher subscriber fees as well as its return to Dish Network after an almost nine-month carriage dispute with the satellite pay-TV service was resolved last spring.

Univision Network Chief Meteorologist Albert Martinez will join HellerWeather’s Tim Heller and The Weather Company’s Mike Convey for a TVNewsCheck webinar focused on elevating local TV weather segments to more effectively compete with digital platforms. Key to their strategy: storytelling with augmented reality. Register here.

Nearly 30% of the fact-checks published by these two television channels for the Whatsapp chatbot have been original stories, rather than translations.

“Yes. Isn’t that incredible?” Esteban Creste, VP and news director of Univision’s WXTV New York, is taking a well-earned victory lap. The station’s late news, Solo a las Once (Only at Eleven), won the July sweep in adults 18-49 and came in second in adults 25-54 — that’s against all New York stations, regardless of language. “It’s not only that we’re number one,” Creste says, “it’s number one during these times that people are desperate for information.”

Liberman Media Group is buying WLII Caguas-San Juan, Puerto Rico, and two repeaters for an undisclosed price.

Univision executives said the Hispanic media giant is seeing steady improvement during the current third quarter as it looks to recover from spring’s COVID-19 doldrums. Speaking to Wall Street analysts on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, CFO Peter Lori said advertising revenue for the third quarter was on track for a 15% year-over-year decline in the third quarter. That’s an improvement from the second quarter’s 40% plunge.