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'Univision' is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest Hispanic audience, largely due to repurposed telenovelas and other Mexican programs produced by Grupo Televisa. Joe Uva is the CEO of Univision Communications, Inc.
Univision is headquartered now in New York City, after years of being in Los Angeles, [1] and its major production facilities/operations are in Miami, Florida. It is available on cable in most of the country, with local stations in several markets with large Hispanic populations. Most of these stations air full local news and programming in addition to network shows. Univision's major programming is closed-captioned in Spanish, but unlike main competitor Telemundo, it almost never provides English subtitles.
The network was sold in March, 2006, to a consortium led by Jewish-Egyptian billionaire Haim Saban, TPG Capital, L.P. and Thomas H. Lee Partners for $12.3 billion or $36.25 per share plus $1.4 billion in acquired debt. On March 12, 2006 The buyout left the company with a debt level of twelve times its annual cash flow, which was twice the norm in buyouts done over the previous two years. [2]
History
Univision dates its origins to 1955, when KCOR-TV, later KWEX-TV, began broadcasting to the Hispanic community in San Antonio, Texas. That station was part of the Spanish International Network (SIN), Univision's predecessor. SIN was owned by Telesistema Mexicano, Mexico's largest private broadcaster and the forerunner of Televisa.
Today's most-watched Univision affiliate, KMEX-TV channel 34 of Los Angeles went on air in 1962. In the next 20 years, SIN would acquire other high-rated Spanish language television throughout the Western United States, then expanded the market to Florida, New York City and Chicago, Illinois.
1986 was a pivotal year for the station group and the network. Emilio Nicolas, Sr., President of SICC sold the television station group to Hallmark Greeting Cards and Azcarraga, the owner of SIN changed the name from SIN to Univision. Univision's new CEO Joaquin Blaya was to sign the contracts for two programs that would change the network. Blaya signed Cristina, now a famous talk show host and Mario Kreutzberger who brought from Chile his famous Don Francisco of Sabado Gigante. Under Hallmark ownwership, Joaquin Blaya the network began proeduction of first morning television show The program was , ''Mundo Latino'' anchored by Lucy Pereda and Frank Moro, who were both Cuban. Moro left for Mexico to continue his career as a soap opera actor and the network brought in Jorge Ramos
In 1988, the network began to produce television shows with a national audience in mind. The first production was titled "TV Mujer" (Woman TV). The program was a magazine styled show aimed to the Hispanic woman living in the United States. Anchored by Lucy Pereda during its first year and Gabriel Traversari, the program consisted of a melange of cooking and entertainment segments.
Pereda was replaced shortly after finishing her first year by Mexican-American, 'Lauri Flores' who hailed from KXLN TV Ch 45 in Houston, Texas where she was Director of Programming, Promotions, Special Events, and Public Information as well as Producer and host of a local Community Affairs show "Entre Nos". During Ms. Flores' time as host of TV MUJER, the show remained the number one daytime show on Spanish -language television, according to Strategy Research Corporation's (SRC) 1989 fall sweep performed from May to November 1989, outperforming its time period competition by 33 percent. Telemundo's "Dia a Dia", launched before the arrival of "TV Mujer" saw its rating diminishing.
A model from "Sabado Gigante" became the add-on host in its last year, hired to sit-in while Flores was on maternity leave -- Jackie Nespral. Jackie became a formal host during the show's final season. "TV Mujer" begat a series of other programs: "Hola, America", "Al Mediodia" before they were all cancelled never really getting the ratings of the original concept.
Univision then decided to expand news programming in the afternoon and launched "Noticias y Mas" with the before mentioned Nespral and a team of three other anchors: Ambrosio Hernandez, Myrka de Llanos and Raul Peimbert. In 1990, Hernandez bolted for the local Telemundo station, WSCV-51 to anchor its evening news programming, being joined by Peimbert shortly after that being wooed to anchor the new Telemundo evening news. Nespral left to join the weekend edition of the "Today" show leaving De Llanos on the anchor desk by herself. Univision had other plans for the moribund show. They revamped it, changed the name, the theme music and installed a weekend reporter to be De Llanos' partner: Puerto Rican born Maria Celeste Arraras who joined the now tabloid news program called "Primer Impacto".
In 2002, Univision entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Raycom Media to operate two television stations in Puerto Rico: WLII in Caguas and WSUR-TV in Ponce. At the time, WLII had a longtime LMA with another Puerto Rican station, WSTE, which Univision honored. It was also around this time that Univision resumed broadcast expansion by signing affiliation agreements with stations in Raleigh, North Carolina, Cleveland, Ohio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia among many others -- most of which where acquired from USA Broadcasting and had previously been affiliated with the Home Shopping Network. Both WLII and WSUR-TV were then sold to Univision in 2005.
In 2003, WIIH in Indianapolis, Indiana began broadcasting. WIIH is owned and operated by LIN TV affiliated with Univision.
In late 2004, a feud began between Univision's chairman, 78-year old entertainment guru Jerry Perenchio, and the 36-year old head of Televisa, Emilio Azcárraga Jean. The dispute was about Univision's continual editing of Televisa's programming, and failure to pay for transmission of Televisa produced sports and specials. The feud intensified to the point where Televisa's most famous stars have been banned from appearing on any Univision-produced shows and specials. In addition, Televisa has filed a lawsuit against Univision for breach of contract. In recent years, Univision also lost several key on air personalities to Telemundo, including long time weekend news anchor Maria Antonieta Collins, tabloid news anchor Maria Celeste Arraras, and sports announcer Andres Cantor.
Univision previously overtook the now-defunct English-language networks UPN and the WB, now the CW Television Network as the fifth-most popular network overall, and in the 18-to-34-year-old and 18-to-49-year-old demographics it sometimes ranks higher than that. More advertising on TV is targeted toward those age groups than toward any other part of the viewing audience.
On February 9, 2006 Univision Communications confirmed that it was putting itself up for sale. Rupert Murdoch, chairman of the News Corporation, stated that his company was considering buying Univision, but backed off that position [3]. Other expected bidders announced were Time Warner, CBS, Disney, Grupo Televisa of Mexico (under a partnership due to foreign ownership laws), Bill Gates, and several private equity firms. Tribune Company was rumored to be interested in buying Telefutura.
[4]
Then on June 27 2006, Univision announced that it accepted a $12.7 billion dollar bid from a group of private equity investors led by TPG Capital, L.P. and Thomas H. Lee Partners. The investor group also included Madison Dearborn, Providence Equity, and children's television mogul Haim Saban -- founder of Saban Entertainment. This marks Saban's return to broadcast ownership, as Saban (minus partner Shuki Levy) was 50% owner, along with News Corporation, of the Fox Family Channel (now known as the Disney-owned ABC Family Channel). On March 27, 2007, federal regulators approved the sale. [1] According to the Los Angeles Times, the deal was closed and the ownership change was made official on that same day. [2]
However, Univision's shareholders filed two class-action lawsuit against the company and its board members to stop the buyout. One lawsuit claims that the board members structured the deal to only benefit the company's insiders and not the average stockholders. The other lawsuit was filed on behalf of a shareholder identified as L A Murphy, who claims that the board put its own personal interests and the interests of the winning bidder ahead of shareholders, and also failed to adequately evaluate the company's worth. In the meantime, more lawsuits were filed, one against Univision's records division for heavy handed tactics, and the other from a winner of a "Despierta America" $30,000 makeover contest for breaking its own rules and cancelling the makeover right in the middle of it. [5]
Also, Univision yet again continues to gain broadcast penetration and has done so non-stop since 2004, with stations in Detroit, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), Minneapolis and Nashville, among many others.
On June 25, 2007, Univision made history in the Television Ratings with the Finale of La Fea Mas Bella, which beat all English Television Broadcasting Networks with a 3.0 rating out of 9 share, making it the most watched show for the night and the 2nd most watched show of the week. [3]
Primetime Schedule
News/News Investigation shows are in 'red'; Reality/Game Shows are in 'green'; Primetime Talk Shows are in 'blue'; Telenovelas are in 'purple'.
| 7:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM | 9:30 PM | 10:00 PM | 10:30 PM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | ''La Hora Pico'' | ''Buscando A La Nueva Banda Timbiriche'' | ||||||
| Monday | ''Yo amo a Juan Querendon'' | ''Amar Sin Limites'' | ''Destilando Amor'' | ''Cristina'' | ||||
| Tuesday | ''S.O.S. Sexo y Otros Secretos'' | |||||||
| Wednesday | ''Don Francisco Presenta'' | |||||||
| Thursday | ''Aqui Y Ahora'' | |||||||
| Friday | ''La Familia Peluche'' | ''Una Familia de Diez'' | ||||||
| Saturday | '' | ''Sábado Gigante'' | ||||||
Shows
Univision's shows include:
★ ''Noticiero Univision'' (Univisión News)
★ ''Cristina'' (talk show hosted by Cristina Saralegui)
★ Don Francisco's ''Sábado Gigante'' (Giant Saturday)
★ ''Despierta América'' (Wake Up America) (morning show)
★ ''El Gordo y La Flaca'' (The Fat Man and the Skinny Girl) (variety/gossip show)
★ ''Primer Impacto'' (First Impact) (newsmagazine)
★ ''Republica Deportiva'' (Sports Republic) (sports show hosted by Fernando Fiore)
Various prime-time telenovelas and specialty shows from Mexico also air. They are edited to fit U.S. as well as Univision broadcast standards. (see below)
Telenovelas and Other Shows
Univision has contracts with Venezuela's Venevisión and Mexico's Televisa to showcase some of their novelas and other shows. They are listed by the year in which they first went on the air in their respective countries. On July 6, 2006, Univision and Televisa reached an exclusive program licensing agreement in which the network and its sisters, Telefutura and Galavisión would lose all rights to all programs produced by or for Televisa after 2017, unless a new agreement is reached before then. [4] Meanwhile, at this time little is known about Univision's agreement with Venevisión. Also, on May 14, 2007, Univision signed a deal with Walt Disney and ABC to produce programs for the network. Programs include a Spanish version of ABC's ''Desperate Housewives''. [5]
Current Daytime Telenovelas
| 'Eastern / Pacific' | 'Central / Mountain' | 'Title (English Translation)' | 'Distributor(s) (Country, Year)' | 'Cast' | 'First Premiered' | 'Projected / Scheduled Finale' |
| 1:00 PM | 12:00 PM | Tropico (Tropic) | Venevision (Venezuela / Dominican Republic, 2007) | Scarlet Ortiz Victor Gonzalez Mia Taveras Jose Luis Rodriguez | June 2007 | September 14, 2007 |
| 2:00 PM | 1:00 PM | Acorralada (Trapped) | Venevision (Venezuela / USA, 2007) | Alejandra Lazcano David Zepeda Maritza Rodriguez Jorge Luis Pila | January 2007 | October 2007 |
| 3:00 PM | 2:00 PM | Codigo Postal (Postal Code) | Televisa (Mexico, 2006) | Jeri Sandoval Africa Zavala Jose Ron Jessica Coch | April 2007 | January 2008 |
Current Primetime Telenovelas
| 'Eastern / Pacific' | 'Central / Mountain' | 'Title (English Translation)' | 'Distributor(s) (Country, Year)' | 'Cast' | 'First Premiered' | 'Projected / Scheduled Finale' |
| 7:00 PM | 6:00 PM | Yo Amo a Juan Querendon (I Love Juan Querendon) | Televisa (Mexico, 2007) | Mayrin Villanueva Eduardo Santamarina Florencia de Saracho Alexis Ayala | June 2007 | 2008 |
| 8:00 PM | 7:00 PM | Amar Sin Limites (Love Without Limits) | Televisa (Mexico, 2006) | Karyme Lozano Valentino Lanus Monika Sanchez Rene Strickler | July 2007 | January 2008 |
| 9:00 PM | 8:00 PM | Destilando Amor (Distilling Of Love) | Televisa (Mexico, 2007) | Angelica Rivera Eduardo Yañez Martha Julia Sergio Sendel | March 2007 | November 2007 |
Late Night Recurring Titles
| 'Eastern / Pacific' | 'Central / Mountain' | 'Title (English Translation)' | 'Distributor(s) (Country, Year)' | 'Cast' | 'First Premiered' | 'Projected / Scheduled Finale' |
| 1:00 AM | 12:00 AM | Salome (Salome) | Televisa (Mexico, 2001) | Edith Gonzalez Guy Ecker Monika Sanchez Sebastian Ligarde | August 2007 | February 2008 |
Saturday Morning
| 'Eastern / Pacific' | 'Central / Mountain' | 'Title (English Translation)' | 'Distributor(s) (Country, Year)' | 'Cast' | 'First Premiered' | 'Projected / Scheduled Finale' |
| 12:00 PM | 11:00 AM | Besos Robados (Stolen Kisses) | Venevision (Venezuela / Peru, 2004) | Stephanie Cayo Juan Carlos Garcia Veronica Schneider Julian Legaspi | August 2007 | 2008 |
Upcoming Telenovelas
Upcoming Shows/Series
| 'Title (English Translation)' | 'Distributor(s) (Country, Year)' | 'Cast' | 'Projected / Scheduled Debut' | 'Day/Hour' |
| Como Ama Una Mujer (TV series) | Univision (Usa,2007) | Jennifer Lopez | 2007-2008 (P) | Weekly at 10pm |
| Amas De Casas Desesperadas | Univision (Usa, 2007) | Gabriela Vergara Scarlett Ortiz Ana Serradilla Lorna Paz Julieta Rossen Ricardo Dalmacci Diego Bertie | 2007-2008 (P) | Weekly at 10pm |
| El Pantera | Televisa (Mexico, 2007) | Luis Roberto Guzman Iran Castillo Alicia Machado | 2007-2008 (P) | Weekly at 10pm |
| 13 Miedos | Televisa (Mexico, 2007) | Sara Maldonado Alejandra Barros | 2007-2008 (P) | Weekly at 10pm |
| Y Ahora Que Hago? | Televisa (Mexico, 2007) | Adal Ramones | 2007-2008 (P) | Weekly at 10pm |
| | Televisa (Mexico, 2007) | Anahi Alfonso Herrera Dulce Maria Christopher Uckermann Christian Chavez Mayte Perroni | 2007-2008 (P) | Saturdays at 7pm |
| Los 5 Magnificos | Televisa (Mexico, 2007) | Liz Vega Eugenio Siller Arturo Carmona Lidia Avila El Perro Aguayo Adrian Uribe Niurka | 2007-2008 | Sundays at 8pm |
Annual Award Ceremonies
★ ''Premios Furia Musical'' (Musical Fury Awards)
★ ''Premio Lo Nuestro'' (Our Awards) (for Latin music)
★ ''Latin Grammy Awards''
★ ''Premios Juventud'' (Youth Awards)
★ ''Premios TV y Novelas'' (TV and Novelas Awards, conducted by ''TV y Novelas'' Magazine)
Other Properties
In addition to the Univision network, Univision Communications owns several other properties. They include:
★ The Galavisión cable television network.
★ The TeleFutura broadcast television network.
★ 21 full-power and 9 low-power television stations that air Univision programming.
★ 22 full-power and 15 low-power television stations that air TeleFutura programming.
★ 1 English-language television station, MyNetworkTV affiliate KUVI-TV, Bakersfield, California.
★ 1 Spanish-language Independent station, WSTE in Ponce, Puerto Rico -- operated under a Local Marketing Agreement.
★ Univision Radio: a group of 47 radio stations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
★ The Univision and Fonovisa record labels, as well as 50% of the Disa record label.
★ Univision.com (also known as ''Univision Online''), an official website that launched in 2000.
See also
★ Univision Communications, Inc.
★ Selena ¡VIVE!
★ List of Univision affiliates
★ List of United States television networks
★ Televisa
References
1. Univision sale approved, Abercrombie & Fitch to replace it on the S&P 500, accessed March 29, 2007.
2. Univision's new ownership takes over - Los Angeles Times
3. 'La Fea' Makes Ratings History for Univision
4. Univision to continue with Televisa programs through 2017
5. Disney-ABC International Television Latin America and Univision Sign Unprecedented Strategic Production Agreement
External links and sources
★ Official Site (in Spanish)
★ Corporate Site (in English)
★ Spanish International Network Historical site (in English)
★ Univision, from the Museum of Broadcast Communications website
★ Univision Blows Competition Away with Explosive February Sweep Results, a March 2005 press release
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