Univision

Francisco Lopez-Balboa will have his hands full if privately held Univision is sold or goes public. He was just named CFO of the Spanish language telecaster, reporting to CEO Randy Falco.

Univision network said Friday the popular Sabado Gigante will end its weekly broadcast on Sept. 19. Created by its Chilean-born host, the boisterous presenter with a huge grin known as Don Francisco, the weekly three-hour show Sabado Gigante long has been Univision’s most popular program. With an average of 2.2 million viewers, the show remains No. 1 on Saturday nights among Hispanics in the U.S.

Google’s former head of Hispanic audience sales joins Univision Digital as EVP-GM to continue advancing the company’s digital expansion.

MIAMI (AP) — Three weeks after Univision host Rodner Figueroa was fired for remarks he made about First Lady Michelle Obama, Carlos Calderon and Jomari Goyso were named the new […]

Univision’s private equity owners have been talking about cashing out for years. Now they’re taking their most concrete step yet — enlisting big banks to underwrite an IPO.

Erika Maldonado, who has been filling in as co-anchor of Univision O&O WGBO Chicago’s evening and nightly newscasts since October, has been given the job permanently. A 10-year veteran of […]

Fox along with Tribune, Univision and Ion met with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, officially acknowledging their interest in selling spectrum in the FCC incentive auction next year by offering suggestions on how the auction should be conducted.

Fox along with Tribune, Univision and Ion met with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, officially acknowledging their interest in selling spectrum in the FCC incentive auction next year by offering suggestions on how the auction should be conducted.

Univision has extended President and CEO Randy Falco’s contract through January 2018. And why not? With Falco presiding, Univision Communications Inc. has grown to 16 broadcast, cable and digital networks; 61 TV stations; 67 radio stations; and has content creation facilities in Miami, New York and Los Angeles.

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and broadcaster Univision have entered into a Consent Decree under which Univision will pay a $20,000 civil penalty for broadcasting five instances of a “simulated” EAS tone as part of a radio broadcast.

Fox, Tribune Media, and Univision are among the founders of NewCoin, which aims to fix measurement deficiencies in local television markets. Dallas will be the beta test site.

Not so long ago, people argued that HBO wasn’t going to unbundle anytime soon, or ever. So what changed?

The Univision station in Puerto Rico, WLII Caguas, laid off 99 employees in its news, production and promotion departments today. In doing so, the station nixed its morning, noon and […]

Hispanic media giant Univision will be a major supplier of content when satellite operator DirecTV launches an Internet-delivered service aimed at a Hispanic audience, report Ronald Grover and Liana Baker. Univision’s content would be a crucial offering for DirecTV’s online service, which is expected to launch later this year.

Kevin Cuddihy named president of local media and Jessica Rodriguez becomes chief marketing officer.

The July sweeps aren’t as competitive as the other four-week periods monitored throughout the year to set ratings for local advertisers. But that doesn’t make Univision’s July sweeps showing any less impressive. The Spanish-language broadcaster picked up its second straight July victory, just the second time a non-English network has won a sweep period.

For the second year in a row, Spanish-language television network Univision nabbed the No. 1 spot in primetime among 18-49 year-old viewers during the July sweeps. Univision Communications said its flagship Univision network outpaced its English-language competitors during the prime-time hours among the demographic group most important to advertisers.

Across all its platforms, Univision Digital said it had more than 27.5 million uniques during the global soccer competition. It had 25 of its highest trafficked days during the games, reaching the apex with 10.3 million visits on June 23. Univision reported 73 million digital livestreams during the Brazilian matches, or about 15 Super Bowls worth of livestreams. People tuned into more than 43 million hours of live viewing on WatchESPN, and it averaged 892,000 viewers per match.

The Germany-Argentina final averaged 26.5 million total viewers on ABC/ESPN and Univision, becoming the most-watched men’s championship game in the U.S. and wrapping a big tourney.

The World Cup has been a record-breaking event for Univision, which has dominated its TV rivals in several of America’s largest cities — Los Angeles, Miami and Houston. It even won the New York market for some games. The unprecedented exposure that it has received from the World Cup could not have come at a better time for Univision, which is exploring the possibility of a deal in the middle of a flurry of big media industry mergers.

Univision has benefited from increased female viewership for World Cup games after a series of ads emphasized the soccer players’ manly qualities.

Univision, which had the most-viewed telecast in its history this week (the World Cup), is switching from a free streaming service (which it’s been providing for the entirety of the World Cup so far) to an authenticated version of the same, requiring viewers to log in using credentials from their cable providers. It’s a move likely to please cable operators and infuriate subscribers.

Sunday’s Mexico-Netherlands game averages 10.4 million total viewers, becoming the most-watched program in Spanish-language TV history.

The broadcast giant has been knocking on the doors of deep-pocketed buyers, including CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. So far, Univision hasn’t gotten the nibbles its owners have been looking for. The reason: Potential buyers are balking at a $20-billion price tag for a company weighed down by $9 billion in debt.

Haim Saban’s efforts to sell Univision Communications included talks with billionaire investor Carlos Slim Helú. Mexico-based Slim, one of the wealthiest persons in the world, whose holdings include media assets, is said to be weighing a bid for the large Spanish-language TV network, sources say.

The owners of Univision Communications, in their search for an exit, have held preliminary discussions in recent weeks with several media companies, including CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The asking price is said to be more than $20 billion.

Soccer, spicy love stories, a search for a next-generation Latino boy band and even NASCAR racing have become armaments in a stepped-up battle for Latino television viewers. For years, the two established Spanish-language media companies — Univision Communications and NBCUniversal’s Telemundo — have dominated the space. But with more than $2.5 billion in annual advertising revenue up for grabs, Latino media has become one of the hottest and most competitive corners of the industry.

A watershed moment in Major League Soccer’s 18-year history will occur this week, as the league is poised to announce new media rights deals that will bring in far more revenue and lead to a consistent, streamlined television schedule. The eight-year deals with ESPN, Fox and Univision are priced five times higher than the average annual value of the league’s current media deals.

Univision remains the No. 1 network among Hispanics by far and the No. 5 broadcast network overall, but ratings are down sharply this season, for the first time in years. In its upfront presentation to media buyers Tuesday, Univision plans to emphasize influence over ratings, pushing its broad platform including cable and digital and its radio stations.

As part of its upfront presentation, Univision Communications is expected to preach about its ability to reach Hispanic consumers in the United States across a broad portfolio of 16 broadcast, cable and digital networks. Its upfront is set to take place Tuesday.

The Univision CEO says: “Based on what I have seen and heard, I am still concerned that the proposed merger could be bad for competition and most importantly, bad for Hispanic audiences.”

Univision is launching an English-language video channel today called TheFlama.com with an eye on Hispanics between ages 15 and 30. The initiative builds on the youngster-targeted, English-language television channel, Fusion, which Univision debuted last fall in conjunction with Disney. The developments underscore a widely held belief among marketers that Hispanic teens and young adults speak Spanish with their families while addressing their friends in English.

In anticipation of tighter retransmission consent regulations, the Spanish-language station owner wants the FCC to allow it to keep on negotiating contracts for Entravision stations as well.