In a move to lessen its dependence on Televisa programming from Mexico, Univision Communications announced the creation of Univision Studios. Veteran production executive Luis Fernández is joining the company as President of Univision Studios.
“This marks the next phase in the evolution of Univision Communications and a monumental step forward in the continuous transformation of the Spanish-language media landscape in the United States,” the company declared. Univision Studios will be based in Miami, Florida and Fernández will report to Univision Networks President, Cesar Conde.
Univision said the new studio production and co-production operation will build on the 4,000 hours of original programming that the company already produces across multiple genres annually. The new division will produce and co-produce telenovelas, reality shows, dramatic series, entertainment specials and other programming formats for all of the company’s platforms including its three television networks – Univision, TeleFutura and Galavisión – as well as Univision.com and Univision Móvil.
“The creation of Univision Studios is a transformational step in the development and growth of our company and an important, natural extension of our business,” said Joe Uva, President and CEO, Univision Communications. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to expand our offering of quality Spanish-language programming to our loyal audiences not only through our existing programming partners but by building on our established multi-genre production track record to create more original productions and co-productions,” he added.
“We are thrilled to have been able to attract such a talent as Luis Fernández, who is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished production executives of Spanish-language media in the US and across the globe. Luis’ proven track record combined with his impeccable reputation and strong industry relationships will be instrumental as we take this next step to expand our abilities to deliver the best programming to our audiences. With his impressive credentials and Univision’s unique understanding of and deep connection to Hispanic audiences, our new studio division will make Univision an even more significant force in the development of Spanish-language content in the US,” said Conde.
Fernández joins Univision from Corporación Radio Televisión Española (RTVE), the largest and leading broadcasting company in Spain. The government-owned broadcastetr is supported by both tax revenues and advertising. As President of Corporación RTVE and member of its Board of Directors, Fernández took TVE-1 from third place to being the most watched channel in Spain. He was named RTVE president in January 2007 by a unanimous vote of the Parliament of Spain and Univision’s announcement declared that he is widely considered the most successful company president in RTVE’s long history. Prior to RTVE, the native Spaniard served as Managing Director of Promofilm US, a production company with offices and studios in Miami and Los Angeles. He was executive producer for “Al Filo de la Ley” (At The Edge of the Law), the first fiction series to air on Univision in primetime in 2005. He also was executive producer of several feature films, among them “Un Día Sin Mexicanos” (A Day Without a Mexican), co-produced with Televisa and which broke box-office records in Mexico. He also served as general manager of Plural Entertainment, the television and film production arm of Grupo Prisa, based in the United States and has held managing positions in Spain’s principal communications groups including Prisa, Telecinco, COPE, and Imagina.
“I could not have asked for a better opportunity than to work alongside Cesar Conde and his team to develop Univision’s first in-house production studio. With its unmatched reputation among the most talented actors in the Spanish-speaking world, its strong relationships with the world’s leading producers of Spanish-language programming and unique relationship with its audience, Univision is a natural player to enter and succeed in developing innovative Spanish-language content,” Fernández said of his new position.
RBR-TVBR observation: This is an obvious progression for Univision as more and more of its Spanish speaking audience is US-born, rather than immigrants from Latin America. In his appearance Monday at the UBS 37th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, Walter Ulloa, CEO of Entravision, which owns Univision’s largest affiliate group, said he believed that the having programming produced in the US will be relevant to the audience. “If it generates strong ratings, certainly that will be a great, great outcome for all of us,” he noted.
