NEW YORK & MEXICO CITY – JANUARY 17, 2017 – Univision Holdings, Inc. (“Univision”) and Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. (“Televisa”; NYSE:TV; BMV: TLEVISA CPO) today announced a strengthened and expanded relationship between the two companies by unifying both of their content development and production efforts.
Both companies will benefit from a single, integrated focus on the Hispanic audience in the United States and the domestic Mexican audience, as well as from potential cost synergies from aligned content initiatives. The News and all other operations of both companies will remain independent, and the current terms and conditions of the existing programming license agreement between Univision and Televisa remain unchanged.
As part of this initiative, Isaac Lee, who currently serves as the Chief News, Entertainment & Digital Officer for Univision and Chief Executive Officer for Fusion, will assume the role of Chief Content Officer of both Univision and Televisa, effective immediately. His new role unifies the leadership and strategic direction of the production of content for consumers in the United States and Mexico.
The new structure will enhance Univision’s and Televisa’s ability to serve a combined audience of approximately 175 million viewers in the United States and Mexico, with an aggregate purchasing power of close to $2 trillion dollars. This announcement reflects both companies’ continued commitment to serve the growing U.S. Latino community, while enabling them to compete more effectively in their respective markets in an environment where the viewing habits of consumers are evolving rapidly and where competition is increasing, both from new content offerings and from traditional and emerging platforms.
In his respective role at each company, Lee will continue to directly report to Randy Falco, President and CEO of Univision and will also now report to Emilio Azcárraga Jean, President of Televisa.
Falco said: “I look at Isaac Lee as the ideal leader of our joint content efforts. With his creative mind and keen understanding of the rapidly changing tastes of young audiences, Univision and Televisa are best positioned to continue to evolve our aligned content offerings.”
Azcárraga added: “By unifying our production of content for distribution on multiple platforms in Mexico and the United States, we will take advantage of the unique opportunity that Televisa and Univision have to compete more effectively in an increasingly complex and fragmented industry. I welcome Isaac, whom I trust will maximize the value and success of our content, which we have been producing for over 60 years.”
Lee has been leading journalistic teams for nearly 20 years at prominent publications serving Spanish-speaking audiences in the U.S. and Latin America and is widely recognized for his creativity, innovation and commitment to excellence. He joined Univision in December 2010 as President of News, and most recently held the position of Chief News, Entertainment & Digital Officer where he spearheaded the Company’s digital expansion and the creation of the Fusion Media Group, including the acquisition of the Gizmodo Media Group, and a strategic investment in The Onion Inc.
In addition, Televisa announced that José Bastón Patiño will assume the role of President of Televisa International, reporting directly to Azcárraga. Bastón will be responsible for the expansion of Televisa beyond Mexico and the United States, and will remain a member of the board of directors of Televisa.
“Pepe will lead the initiative to expand our content franchise globally. We already reach over 70 countries around the world, but there is an opportunity to strengthen our presence in many markets and improve our prospects internationally.” Azcárraga said. “I am sure Pepe will have great success in this important endeavor.”
CONTACT: Rosemary Mercedes 212-455-5335 rmercedes@univision.net @UCIPRTeam
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