Univision Names Randy Falco President

Univision Communications Inc. on Wednesday promoted Randy Falco, executive vice president and chief operating officer, to president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Additionally, Falco will become a member of the Univision board of directors and will continue to be based in New York. The appointment follows a “comprehensive search process,” according to Univision. He succeeds Joe Uva, who left Univision in April.

“Univision has been at the forefront of innovation and has grown its competitive position while continuing to serve and advocate for the important U.S. Hispanic community. I’m excited to lead a company with such tremendous growth potential and look forward to continuing to work with such an exceptional leadership team.”

Haim Saban, executive chairman of the Univision board of directors, stated, “The board unanimously agreed that Randy’s track record and expertise make him the ideal executive to lead Univision’s future growth. Randy has over 30 years of relevant industry experience and has demonstrated his highly-skilled leadership and strategic vision at Univision over the past six months. We are confident in Randy’s ability to deliver on Univision’s goals and accelerate our growth as a leading multi-platform media company in America.”

“I am thrilled to take on the role of chief executive officer,” said Falco. “Univision has been at the forefront of innovation and has grown its competitive position while continuing to serve and advocate for the important U.S. Hispanic community. I’m excited to lead a company with such tremendous growth potential and look forward to continuing to work with such an exceptional leadership team.”

Falco assumed the role of Univision’s executive vice president and chief operating officer in early 2011, overseeing all revenue functions for the company, including advertising sales, distribution sales and affiliate relations, as well as the operations of the company’s television and radio station groups, corporate marketing, research and corporate business development. Previously Falco was chairman and chief executive officer of AOL Inc., where he was responsible for all business and strategic operations of the company.

Prior to AOL, Falco spent more than 30 years in varying roles at NBC Universal Inc., culminating as president and chief operating officer of NBC Universal Television Group. In that role, Falco was responsible for the group’s operating and commercial functions, including advertising sales, affiliate relations, business development, cable distribution, global television distribution, IT and network and studio operations.