TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

company headquartered in Miami and

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

that owns American

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

broadcast network A terrestrial network (or broadcast network in the United States) is a group of radio stations, television stations, or other electronic media outlets, that form an agreement to air, or broadcast, content from a centralized source. For example, ...

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, 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 L ...

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 Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...

. 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.

History

Univision Communications Inc. was founded in , 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 San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, and Mexican radio-TV magnate Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, head of Telesistema Mexicano (now

Televisa 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. In April ...

). They consolidated the operations of some independent Latino stations into a network. In 1987, Nicolas sold his part of the company to

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...

, 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

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n broadcaster Venevision) for $550 million, in order to refocus its television operation efforts on

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

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 Galavisión is an American Spanish-language pay television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network is unrelated to the earlier Mexican channel of the same name, though both broadcast Televisa-produced programming. As of February 20 ...

, which the Azcárraga-run Grupo Televisa owned at the time. 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. From September 1996 to April 2007, Univision Communications Inc. traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

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. Others joined Univision. In 2003, Univision completed the acquisition of Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation to form Univision Audio Network. Prior to 2007, its headquarters was in the

Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles, Cent ...

neighborhood of Los Angeles. 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. In May 2008, Univision Music Group was sold to

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

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. Univision On Demand also debuted in 2009, through distribution partners. That same year Univision also created Univision Studios, a new production arm focused on producing and co-producing content for the company's platforms. Randy Falco became Univision's CEO in 2011. Under Falco, the company began to expand its platforms, including launching new cable networks such as

Univision Deportes Network TUDN (pronounced tu-de-ene; formerly called Univision Deportes Network) is a Mexican 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 T ...

and Univision Tlnovelas, as well as English-language properties targeting Hispanic audiences such as Flama (a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel featuring content aimed toward Hispanic young adults), and Fusion, a news channel operated as a joint venture with

Disney–ABC Television Group Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly ABC Group, Disney–ABC Television Group and the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television, is a division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company that ove ...

. On January 7, 2013, TeleFutura rebranded as

UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. ...

. In May 2013, Univision announced an investment in

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

's new English-language cable channel El Rey Network. 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. Also in 2014, UCI expanded its partnership with

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

, building on its launch as the first Spanish-language offering on Hulu in 2012. On August 16, 2016, Univision Communications purchased

Gawker Media Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American internet media company and Link farm#Blog network, blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was based in New York City. Incorpor ...

for $135 million. The sale included six Gawker blogs –

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

, Jalopnik,

Lifehacker ''Lifehacker'' is a weblog about life hacks and software that launched on 31 January 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is owned by Ziff Davis. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including Microsoft Windows, M ...

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...

(and its sub-site

io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...

), Deadspin, and

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

– but not the flagship Gawker site, which shut down in late August. On September 21, 2016, the Gawker Media assets acquisition was completed and said assets were moved to

Gizmodo Media Group Gizmodo Media Group was an online media company and blog network formerly operated by Univision Communications (now TelevisaUnivision) in its Fusion Media Group division. The company was created from assets acquired from Gawker Media during its ...

. On May 30, 2018, Vincent Sadusky, formerly of Telemundo and the local station groups

LIN Media LIN Media was an American holding company founded in 1994 that operated 43 television stations. All except one were affiliates of the six major U.S. television networks. One of the remaining stations was a low-powered weather station in In ...

and Media General, was appointed the new CEO of Univision, replacing outgoing Randy Falco. 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. Logo Univision 2019

On July 20, 2019, Univision rebranded its

cable channel as TUDN, as part of a collaboration with its content partner Televisa. 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. 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. As part of the transaction, Televisa kept the company's telecommunication and multichannel television service assets, as well as

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which va ...

s for stations that air Televisa's four Mexican networks; the Mexican news operations were spun off into Tritón Comunicaciones. The merger was approved by Mexican

Federal Telecommunications Institute The Federal Telecommunications Institute (Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones''; abbreviated as IFT and incorrectly referred to as IFETEL, Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Snaul jtsob a’telelil Sk’asesojibal k’o ...

(IFT) on September 15, 2021, and later by the U.S.

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) on January 24, 2022, with the transaction completed on January 31 the same year. 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. 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. That same month, TelevisaUnivision acquired the rights to the

Latin American Music Awards The Latin American Music Awards (Latin AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by TelevisaUnivision. It is the Spanish-language counterpart of the American Music Awards (AMAs). As with AMAs, the Latin AMAs are determined by a poll ...

from

Dick Clark Productions Dick Clark Productions, LLC (DCP, stylized in lowercase as dick clark productions or dcp) is an American multinational television production company founded by radio and TV host Dick Clark. The studio primarily produces Awards ceremony, award sh ...

. On September 27, 2023, TelevisaUnivision partnered with the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

, 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 California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. 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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

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". On December 2, 2024, TelevisaUnivision CEO Daniel Alegre announced that, as part of a major restructuring plan, it would be laying off a “mid to high single digit percentage” of its workforce (between 5-9%, or 120 people, of its 14,000 staff), both in the US and Mexico “with the goal of reforming our position for 2025 and beyond.” The company is facing challenges like cord-cutting and an unsettled ad market. This coincided with the introduction of a revamped leadership team and the creation of a “Global Content Organization”.

Properties

TelevisaUnivision's portfolio of properties consists of broadcast, cable, and digital networks, as well as consumer products and brand licensing.

Television

TelevisaUnivision provides programming throughout

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

through four networks, and in the United States via

and

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. The six terrestrial networks are: 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 XHTV-TDT (channel 4) is a Mexican television station, serving Mexico City as the flagship relay of the N+ Foro channel. The station is owned-and-operated by locally based Grupo Televisa alongside XEW-TDT, XHGC-TDT and XEQ-TDT carrying Las Estrel ...

, but some of Foro's programming can be found on most Televisa Regional television stations.

Programming

Cable

TelevisaUnivision also operates a subsidiary called Televisa Networks (often recognized within the entertainment industry by its previous moniker, Visat). 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 Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. 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: * Adrenalina Sports Network – channel focused on the UFC (exclusive distribution across Latin America) * Bandamax – a Banda, Norteño and Regional Mexican music station * BitMe – its broadcasting started after the closure of its predecessor channel Tiin. It focuses on video games and anime, it has an agreement with

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

as well as with Sentai Filmworks to distribute their anime. * De Película (HD) – Mexican film channel * Distrito Comedia – Focuses on Televisa produced sitcoms and comedy shows from the 1970s to the present. Before 1 October 2012, it was known as Clásico TV – and focused on showing popular TV shows from the past century, such as sitcoms and children shows * Golden and Golden Edge (HD) – film channel, showcasing Hollywood blockbusters and other films * Golden Premier – film channel, showcasing films premiered after 2011 * Las Estrellas Internacional (HD) – international version of the Mexican network, available only outside Mexico (particularly Europe, Australia, and New Zealand) * TeleHit (HD) – music channel that regularly airs pop music videos and adult comedy shows * Telehit Música – a Spanish language music videos station focused on tropical music (salsa, bachata, reggaeton, etc.) *

TUDN TUDN (pronounced tu-de-ene; formerly called Univision Deportes Network) is a Mexican 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 Tel ...

(HD) – sports channel that is often distributed in premium cable services. Shows European soccer leagues (France and Spain) and tournaments of sports not so popular in Mexico. (available only in Mexico, Central America, and Dominican Republic) * TLN (TLNetwork) – shows telenovelas and TV series in Portuguese. (available only in Angola, Brazil, Portugal and Mozambique) * Tlnovelas (HD) – a network devoted to classic

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

s (soap operas) * Unicable – features programming by

and original productions * Univision Latin America – features programming from Televisa and Univision Aside from Televisa Networks, TelevisaUnivision also operates US-based cable channels: * Univision Tlnovelas (Telenovelas) * Galavision Network * De Película Clásico – Mexican film channel focused in old films

Radio

* Uforia Audio Network (35 local radio stations)

Digital properties

* Se Habla USA * Univision.com and Univision app * Uforia Música app * TUDN app * Noticias Univision App * N+ App * Univision/Univision Now App * ViX (formerly PrendeTV) * Pantaya streaming service (Defunct; merged with ViX)

Consumer brands, products, and other services

* Univision Contigo: Univision's social impact / community empowerment brand * Univision Farmacia * Univision Mastercard prepaid card * Simplemente Delicioso * Telenovelas * TUDN * Despierta América * Nuestra Belleza Latina * Nmás

Other properties

Entravision Communications Entravision Communications Corporation is an American media company based in Santa Monica, California. Entravision primarily caters to the Spanish language in the United States, Spanish-speaking Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic community ...

(10%)

Former assets

Divested

* El Rey Network *

* Univision Music Group

Dormant or shuttered

* Fusion Media Group ** Fusion TV * Telenovela Channel – an English-dubbed

channel in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

; network owned b
Beginnings at Twenty Plus, Inc.
with the partnership of Televisa. The channel operates 24/7

TelevisaUnivision-owned television stations in the United States

Awards

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. 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. 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 ''Time'' 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly ...

, the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Univision's former president and CEO, Randy Falco, has been recognized by

National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...

(NATAS) with Board of Trustees' Award and by Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), with a Champion Award. Univision is also the recipient of ReadyNation's 2015 Business Champion for Children Award. 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. 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 The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

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.'

References

External links

Univision
– official website
TelevisaUnivision
– corporate website {{Authority control Televisa subsidiaries Mass media companies of the United States Spanish-language broadcasting in the United States Cable network groups in the United States Owned-and-operated television stations in the United States Companies based in Miami American companies established in 1962 Entertainment companies established in 1962 Mass media companies established in 1962 1962 establishments in California Madison Dearborn Partners companies TPG Capital companies Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange 1996 initial public offerings 2007 mergers and acquisitions 2022 mergers and acquisitions American subsidiaries of foreign companies