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Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision said it had to rely on trimming expenses to boost second-quarter profit as the company faces a decline in overall ad revenue as well as monies from subscriptions and licensing.

The owner of the Univision broadcast network said net income increased handily as it worked to cut operating costs and general and administrative expenses. Since CEO Daniel Alegre joined last year, TelevisaUnivision has been working to streamline operations that had previously been siloed by geographic. They company owns media assets in both the United States and Mexico.

Net income increased to $96.2 million in the second quarter, compared to $14.1 million in the year-earlier period. Revenue was off 4%, to $1.21 billion.

“This quarter reflects meaningful progress across our business, driven by a reimagined content strategy that’s beginning to show strategic payoff,” said Daniel Alegre, in a prepared statement. “By taking a holistic view of our investments—across premium scripted,...

Debt-laden Hispanic media giant TelevisaUnivision said it expects to report a drop in revenue for the second quarter due in part to “softness” in its U.S. advertising operation.

The company issued a press release Monday forecasting its quarterly financial results, which will be formally released in the coming weeks. Along with the numbers, TelevisaUnivision said it is in “active discussions” with commercial bank lenders to refinance a loan coming due in 2027 as well as to extend a revolving credit facility set to mature in 2027.

With cash on the balance sheet projected to be $580 million to $585 million at the end of the quarter, the company’s ratio of net debt to adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization [Oibda] of between 5.5 and 5.6 times. That’s high even by media industry standards.

Along with significant across-the-board cutbacks at the company, advertising and marketing chief Donna Speciale, announced her exit last month.

Total...

Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision will part ways with its veteran ad-sales chief, Donna Speciale, even as the company is in the midst of negotiating with advertisers for millions of dollars as part of the industry’s annual “upfront” market when U.S. media companies hope to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory ahead of their next cycle of programming.

Just weeks ago, Speciale was at the head of that effort, making a bid to woo sponsors at a lower Manhattan party space while playing up new concepts such as a new series of short-form streaming “microdramas” and a new music concert slated to originate from three different cities.

Speciale, a Madison Avenue mainstay who has served in senior roles for French advertising conglomerate Publicis Groupe and the former WarnerMedia, is expected to stay with TelevisaUnivision during a transition period. She will be succeeded by by Tim Natividad, an executive who...

Zombie fiction is truly terrifying because it's pretty difficult to stop the undead, and their tendency to either crave flesh (or brains) or bite new victims out of rage means they bring a nasty existential threat, too. No one wants to become a zombie, and the potential to turn makes death by zombie even worse than simply being eaten alive. The success of shows like AMC's "The Walking Dead" has led people to wonder: could zombies ever really exist? There are different kinds of zombies, like the fungal-infected monsters on "The Last of Us" and the Rage Virus-infected of the "28 Days Later" franchise, but what about the actual walking dead? Could corpses ever continue to act, even as they decomposed?

The "walkers" of "The Walking Dead" are deadly because they not only infect others with their bites, but they are tough to defeat, requiring significant damage to the brain to take them down.

Vix, a streaming service owned by Televisa-Univision, offers Spanish-language movies and TV content. (Graphic by The Desk)

Televisa-Univision reported a challenging first quarter of 2025 as declines in advertising and slower growth in its streaming platform ViX dragged down overall performance. The results highlight the ongoing headwinds for Spanish-language media in an increasingly fragmented and competitive marketplace.

Total revenue for the quarter fell to $1.02 billion, a year-over-year decline of 10 percent. Adjusted Ebitda also slipped 16 percent to $390 million, while operating income dropped 17 percent to $277 million.

The company attributed the revenue drop primarily to a softening advertising market across both the U.S. and Mexico. In the U.S., advertising revenue declined by 13 percent. The Mexican ad market saw an even steeper fall of 18 percent, reflecting both macroeconomic pressures and a challenging year-over-year comparison driven by election-related spending in early 2024.

Streaming platform Vix, long viewed as a growth engine for the company, showed...

One thing President Trump can’t tariff into oblivion is your favorite Spanish-language content produced in Mexico and imported for U.S. audiences.

On a Thursday morning conference call tied to company earnings, TelevisaUnivision CEO Daniel Alegre said he’s not sweating those Trump tariffs “as currently proposed.” At least not from a programming standpoint.

“Tariffs as currently proposed are probably not going to impact us from a standpoint of producing content in Mexico and sharing it into the United States, because it’s not considered a physical good,” Alegre said. “So, it’s outside of the potential tariff impact. Obviously, if the tariff situation globally impacts the economies of both the United States and Mexico, we would be exposed.”

That may be an understatement, to say the least, if that happens. For now, TelevisaUnivision is not screwed. As a matter of fact, it’s making money: TelevisaUnivision swung from...

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision said its first quarter swung to a profit as the company reduced expenses and saw its streaming business gain traction, even as key areas of revenue experienced declines.

The owner of the Univision TV network in the U.S. said net income came to $11.7 million, compared with a loss of $52 million in the year-earlier period. The company cut back expenses while increasing cash flow, which helped it stave off the effects of a 13% decline in advertising revenue across its businesses in the U.S. and Mexico as well as a tumble of 7% in subscription and licensing fees.

One of the challenges TelevisaUnivision faced this period was the absence of last year’s Spanish-language Super Bowl broadcast, which helped snare new advertising and viewership.

“We delivered strong operational execution in the first quarter,” said Daniel Alegre, CEO of TelevisaUnivision, in a prepared statement. “As we continue to...

To celebrate the release of The Serpent and The Rainbow available 3rd March on Blu-Ray, we are giving away 2 Blu-Ray copies of the film!

Directed by Wes Craven The Serpent and The Rainbow is based on the book and true life experiences of ethnobotanist Wade Davis. Filmed on location in Haiti, it’s a frightening excursion into black magic and the supernatural. As part of The Fabulous 80’s series this Blu-ray includes a bonus double-sided fold-out poster of all new artwork created by Rich Davies.

Wade Davis was named by the National Geographic Society as one of the Explorers for the Millennium. His research has been the subject of more than 900 media reports and interviews in Europe, North & South America and the Far East. He has inspired numerous documentary films as well as three episodes of the television series The X-Files.

A terrifying story of one man’s nightmarish journey...

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision narrowed its losses in the fourth-quarter despite a $900 million non-cash impairment charge and declines in revenue at its Mexican operations after the company worked to streamline the merger that placed the Univision television network and the Televisa TV operations under the same corporate umbrella.

TelevisaUnivision said revenue in the fourth quarter fell 1% to $1.3 billion, with cash from advertising and distribution falling in Mexico, while growing in the U.S. The company said operating expenses were “essentially flat” at $892 million.

The company’s fourth quarter loss came to $809.7 million, compared with $912.1 million in the year-earlier period. TelevisaUnivision said it took at non-cash impairment charge of around $900 million in the fourth quarter “related to the write-down of television broadcast licenses, multi-system operator relationships, affiliate relationships and trade names.”

“With our newly unified organizational structure, we are fully harnessing the strengths of Univision in the U.S. and Televisa...

Hispanic media giant TelevisaUnivision posted relatively flat results in the fourth quarter compared with the same period in 2023.

Revenue for the Mexico-u.S. firm in the frame ended December 31 slipped 1% to $1.3 billion. U.S. revenue inched up 2% to $835.5 million despite the presidential election, with U.S. ad revenue climbing 2% to $476 million. About $70 million in political ad spending was recorded during the October-to-December span, the company estimated – a modest amount compared with the haul for some industry peers, but still a sizable boost.

Foreign currency fluctuations hurt the company’s Mexico results during the quarter. Factoring out those headwinds, the unit posted double-digit gains.

Operating income before depreciation and amortization, the metric cited as a key measure of profitability by the privately held company, inched up 3% to $451.9 million.

Subscription and licensing revenue increased 3% to $466 million. The U.S. grew 5% to $347 million while Mexico declined 3% to $119 million.

Daniel Alegre, a veteran of...

The CEO of Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision said he would restructure his executive team and cut jobs in a move he said was “aimed at strengthening our position for 2025 and beyond.”

In a memo to employees sent Monday, Daniel Alegre, who was named CEO in September, indicated he wanted to tear down some walls between different kinds of media, and move to work more closely with clients. ” Our partners’ needs are evolving, and we must serve them in ways no one else can in the market,” Alegre said.

As a result, Alegre said he planned to reorganize some teams. José Luis Fabila was named to lead all content efforts and create a new global organization devoted to the purpose. “José Luis will ensure that our content investments align with our company’s reach, engagement, and monetization goals, and are distributed efficiently across all platforms worldwide with the right windowing strategy,” said Alegre.

TelevisaUnivision will undergo a sweeping reorganization this week under new CEO Daniel Alegre, as the Spanish-language media giant seeks to turn around its business in a challenging media environment.

According to a memo from Alegre to staff Monday morning, the changes will include layoffs across the company, which a source says should impact mid to high single digit percentage of employees.

“I understand that this will be a challenging week, but I ask for your focus and resilience as we take these important steps toward a stronger and more connected future,” Alegre wrote. “Together, we are building a company positioned for sustained growth, innovation, and leadership.”

The CEO, who succeeded Wade Davis in September, also announced his senior leadership team, which will centralize the structures for a number of key business units.

The biggest departure in the changes is Jesús Lara, TelevisaUnivision’s head of U.S. local.

Followijng his exit,...

Pierluigi Gazzolo, who spearheaded the launch of TelevisaUnivision streaming flagship Vix, will step down from his top streaming role at the Spanish-language media giant at the end of the year.

The move was announced to staffers internally Thursday by recently arrived CEO Daniel Alegre, a knowledgeable source told Deadline. Gazzolo will stay on as Vix CEO through December, co-ordinating the transition with Vix COO Rafael Urbina and other senior execs.

Alegre took over for Wade Davis as CEO last month, with the company putting up sluggish financial results and struggling to reduce its debt load. Vix has been a bright spot, becoming profitable faster than the streaming outlets launched by traditional media peers in recent years. TelevisaUnivision said last May that the platform had surpassed 50 million monthly active users, up 70% over the prior year.

After launching Vix and Vix+ in 2022 as a two-pronged entry into streaming, the company later streamlined...

Pierluigi Gazzolo, CEO of ViX, is to step down at the end of the year at TelevisaUnivision after the Spanish language streamer reached first-time profitability.

His departure was announced on Thursday by Daniel Alegre, the recently appointed CEO of TelevisaUnivision. Gazzolo, who joined the Spanish language media giant in 2021, is also set to leave after ViX became profitable for the first time as part of the company’s third quarter earnings revealed earlier this week.

“As we evolve to the next phase of growth for the platform, and after talking at length with Pierluigi Gazzolo, I have news to share that he has made the personal decision to step down from his role as CEO of ViX at the end of this year,” Alegre said in an internal memo to TelevisaUnivision employees obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Alegre, the former president and COO of Activision Blizzard and CEO of Yuga Labs,...

CEO Daniel Alegre, at the helm of TelevisaUnivision for three weeks, said the political influence of U.S. Hispanic voters has never been more evident than in the current Presidential cycle, “where our audience will play a decisive role in the outcome of this election in the United States.” It was his first quarterly earnings call for the giant Spanish-language producer, broadcaster and parent of Vix streaming platform created from the merger of Univision and Mexico’s Television.

Former CEO and investor Wade Davis, an executive at the company formerly called Viacom (now Paramount Global) for 15 years through 2019, put the merger together. He kicked off the Wall Street convo after financials reported this morning, saying there’s no one better than Alegre, formerly of Activision Blizzard, Google and Bertelsman “to drive this next phase of our journey.”

“There’s huge value to be unlocked in this next phase, but this opportunity comes with unique challenges.

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported a 6 percent U.S. revenue gain to $852.4 million for the third quarter of 2024 as a 5 percent U.S. advertising revenue gain was driven by what it described as a third-quarter company record in political ad revenue.

The company said that its streaming business, which had ended 2023 with more than 7 million subscribers, “achieved profitability after just two full years in the marketplace” after previously saying it would turn profitable in the back half of 2024.

Wade Davis, vice chairman of the board of TelevisaUnivision, told analysts during a late morning analyst call the first-time profitability for the streaming division during the latest financial quarter was the “last critical milestone” for the multi-year turnaround at the company.

TelevisaUnivision didn’t immediately disclose full details, but said that third-quarter subscription and licensing revenue increased 1 percent to $477.5 million, including 6 percent growth in the U.S. and a decline of 12 percent in Mexico.

When 28 Days Later hit theaters in 2002, it instantly became a favorite among horror fans, who were enthralled with the film's fast-paced action and zombies that attacked with break-neck speed. With its themes of infection and subversive political commentary, 28 Days Later has received praise from critics and fans alike as a film that shifted the paradigm and brought the zombie film back to life. However, long before 28 Days Later, Nightmare City, released in 1980 and directed by Umberto Lenzi, amped up the speed and savagery of the zombie film while also establishing a commentary on the escalation of the nuclear arms race.

The films of Umberto Lenzi exist in multiple subgenres. In Cannibal Ferox and Eaten Alive!, Lenzi took the savagery and brutality of the Amazon cannibal film to new heights, a subgenre he had helped start with Man from Deep River in 1972. His giallo films, Seven Bloodstained Orchids,...

Ignacio “Nacho” Meyer, president of the U.S. television networks group at Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision, told a TV industry gathering in Madrid, Spain on Thursday about the challenges and especially the opportunities for the company and its media and entertainment peers.

“Media companies are like huge cargo ships,” he said during a keynote session at the Iberseries & Platino Industria conference and market, which focuses on Spanish- and Portuguese-language content, according to the English translation of his comments in Spanish. “We have different assets that allow us to be agile.”

Meyer’s keynote kicked off the third day of the event, the so-called U.S. Day, focused on U.S. Hispanic content. “Hispanic is mainstream. It is not a niche anymore,” he said.

How does he think about the future? “We have a global vision,” the exec said. “And for our company that is kind of new.” The launch of streaming service ViX,...

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision has appointed a new chief executive officer as the company navigates changes in the media landscape. Daniel Alegre, formerly the president and chief operating officer of video game company Activision Blizzard, will replace Wade Davis as CEO effective September 19. Davis will remain on as vice chairman of the board of directors.

The change was unexpected, coming late Wednesday, and signals TelevisaUnivision’s focus on adapting to new technologies. Alegre brings over 30 years of experience leading technology and entertainment businesses. He spent 16 years at internet giant Google and oversaw global operations in the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America at Activision Blizzard.

“I am excited to lead TelevisaUnivision during this time of transformation in media,” Alegre said. He acknowledged the importance of serving Spanish-speaking audiences in the U.S. and Mexico. Davis helped form TelevisaUnivision through the merger of Univision and Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa in 2022. Under his lead,...

TelevisaUnivision is going to have a new boss in the morning.

In a move that surprised some and seemed only a matter of time to others, Wade Davis is out as CEO and Daniel Alegre is taking over the Spanish-language media empire. The announcement of the ex-Activision Blizzard president and COO as the new top dog came late Wednesday, mere hours after a New York Times article that posited the former Viacom CFO was in his last days running the joint.

Davis led a group of investors that created the company in 2022 by merging Univision and the entertainment arm of Mexico’s Grupo Televisa. But nearly four years after coming on board to lead Univision, Davis’s departure has been in the cards for a while with a variety of succession plans in the works, the company says and sources confirm. And the process seems to have accelerated in recent weeks.

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision has made a big change to leadership, naming Daniel Alegre at its new CEO. Alegre will assume the role effective tomorrow, Sep. 19.

Alegre is replacing Wade Davis, the former Viacom CFO who oversaw the merger between Univision and Mexico-based media conglomerate Grupo Televisa in 2022. Davis will continue on at the company as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, and remain part of the company’s executive committee.

“As we look to grow our unparalleled market position and the recent investments in our linear and streaming platforms as well as our news and sports products, Daniel is the right leader at the right time to take the helm. His unique global operational experience working in the U.S., Mexico and Latin America across technology, digital platforms and entertainment honed over three decades is exactly what TelevisaUnivision needs to drive our next phase,” the company said in...

Daniel Alegre. (Courtesy image)

Spanish media giant Televisa-Univision says it has appointed Daniel Alegre to the role of chief executive officer, effective immediately.

Alegre succeeds Wade Davis, who will become Televisa-Univision’s Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, the company said in a late night statement e-mailed to reporters.

Alegre was most recently the CEO of Yuga Labs, which developed the “Bored Ape” non-fungible token (Nft) that gained popularity during the coronavirus health pandemic three years ago. He also held roles at gaming company Activision Blizzard and Google during his three-decade career in media and technology.

“On behalf of the Board, I’m excited to welcome Daniel to Televisa-Univision as we embark on the next phase of our strategic journey focused on further integration and optimization,” Alfonso de Angoitia, the Executive Chairman of Televisa-Univision, said in a statement. “It’s been a very dynamic media environment, and we are...

TelevisaUnivision is getting a new CEO.

The Spanish-language media giant says that Wade Davis is stepping aside as chief executive of the company, shifting to a new role as vice chairman of the board. Daniel Alegre, the former president and COO of Activision Blizzard and CEO of Yuga Labs, will become CEO effective Thursday Sept. 19.

Davis helped to orchestrate the $4.8 billion merger that created TelevisaUnivision two years ago. It was not clear why the company made the sudden change, though the company said that it was “part of the Board of Directors’ long-term succession planning process.”

The company has put substantial investment into both streaming and linear TV, with the company’s ViX streaming service nearing a profit, executives have said.

“On behalf of the Board, I’m excited to welcome Daniel to TelevisaUnivision as we embark on the next phase of our strategic journey focused on further integration and optimization,...

Jorge Ramos, a news anchor who is perhaps the best-known Spanish-language TV journalist in the United States and who has grilled top politicians and covered top world events on the ground over the course of a multi-decade career, will leave his home base at Univision at the end of 2024.

The anchor hinted at new plans to come. “This is not a farewell. I will continue anchoring ‘Noticiero Univision’ until December, and afterwards I will share my professional plan,” Ramos said in a statement Monday. “I am deeply grateful for these four decades at Univision and very proud to be part of a team that has established strong leadership over the years.”

Noticias Univision, the news division of the Spanish-language network that is part of TelevisaUnivision. said that both the anchor and the company “have mutually agreed not to renew their soon-to-expire contract agreement.” Ramos will continue in his current roles until after the 2024 presidential election.

Carlos Ferreiro is set to exit TelevisaUnivision as CFO for health reasons, the Spanish-language media giant said on Wednesday.

Juan Pablo Newman, chief growth officer of TelevisaUnivision Mexico, has been named interim CFO, starting Sept 1, 2024. TelevisaUnivision said Ferreiro will remain with the company in an advisory role during the CFO transition.

Ferreiro joined the media company as CFO in Oct. 2021, overseeing financial affairs and the balance sheet at Spanish-language content giant. TelevisaUnivision owns the Univision broadcast network, as well as the ViX streaming platform, among other offerings.

The company was created two years ago with the merger of Univision and Mexico’s Televisa. “It has been the highlight of my career to have served as the first CFO of TelevisaUnivision as we have accomplished so much and built a world-class organization that is equipped to compete in the global media landscape,” said Ferreiro in a statement on Wednesday.

Before joining TelevisaUnivision,...

TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis says advertisers “feel like they have more options” due to the influx of ad-supported streaming outlets of late.

As a result, it is “taking a little longer” for his sales team to conclude the upfront process, Davis added, he doesn’t see that delay having a material downside given strong trends in pricing in the scatter market. Unlike upfront inventory, scatter ads are bought much closer to the airdate of programming, offering advertisers more flexibility but generally at a higher cost.

The exec’s remarks came during TelevisaUnivision’s second-quarter earnings call. The privately held Hispanic media company earlier Tuesday reported a 2% uptick in advertising revenue in the U.S. to $462.4 million during the quarter. The ad performance paced a 3% rise in total company revenue to a shade less than $1.3 billion, but adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (Oibda) fell 3% to $362 million.

“The influx of...

(Image courtesy T-Mobile and Televisa-Univision, Graphic by The Desk)

Sales of traditional advertising inventory in Mexico and connected TV inventory in the United States helped boost Spanish-language media giant Televisa-Univision’s overall revenue during the second quarter (Q2) of 2024, the company revealed on Tuesday.

Overall advertising revenue grew to $785 million during Q2, representing a 6 percent year-over increase. In the U.S., ad revenue jumped 2 percent ($462 million) thanks to higher inventory sales against the streaming service Vix, while linear channel ad sales helped increase that segment by 13 percent ($323 million) in Mexico.

“Global ad sales momentum accelerated, driven by a strong marketplace in Mexico and success in the U.S. in attracting new advertisers to our platform,” Televisa-Univision CEO Wade Davis said in a statement that accompanied the earnings release on Tuesday. “We are looking forward to the second half of the year where the benefits from (streaming’s) turn to profitability,...

An increase in ad sales in both the U.S. and Mexico helped boost the bottom line for the second quarter at Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision.

The company said overall ad revenue grew 6%, to $785 million, reflecting 2% growth in the U.S. thanks to a rise in sponsorship for the company’s streaming properties and a 13% increase in Mexico, largely for linear media. Revenue increased 3% to $1.3 billion.

“Global ad sales momentum accelerated, driven by a strong marketplace in Mexico and success in the U.S. in attracting new advertisers to our platform,” said Wade Davis, TelevisaUnivision’s CEO. “We are looking forward to the second half of the year where the benefits from Dtc’s turn to profitability, the U.S. presidential election cycle, and execution across the rest of our business, should yield a great next couple

of quarters.”

Net income in the quarter came to $14.1 million, up from $1.8 million a...

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported higher U.S. revenue of $799 million in the second quarter of 2024 as a 2 percent advertising revenue gain outweighed a 1 percent drop in subscription and licensing revenue, as well as “other” revenue.

The company also reemphasized that its streaming business, which had ended 2023 with more than 7 million subscribers, would indeed turn profitable in the back half of 2024. And it predicted a “great” second half, or H2, of 2024 on that and the U.S. presidential election, which management discussed on its earnings conference call.

TelevisaUnivision’s total revenue in the second quarter grew 3 percent to $1.3 billion, driven by an 8 percent gain in Mexico and a 1 percent increase in the U.S. Operating expenses rose 6 percent to $896 million, weighing on the bottom line. The increase was “driven by continued investments in ViX, investments in the expansion of our third-party advertising sales business in Mexico, and higher sports-related costs with two major soccer tournaments,...

Zombies have become a pretty major part of the horror genre. The first zombie movie, "White Zombie," was released all the way back in 1932, but they first really took a bite out of our subconscious with George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" in 1968. Since then, their popularity has exploded, with more zombie movies, TV shows, and books than you could shake a stick at. But where did the idea of zombies really come from?

It turns out that zombies have their origins in Haitian Vodou (more commonly known as voodoo). Unlike its cousin hoodoo, practiced in New Orleans as a kind of mixture of folk medicine and superstition, Vodou is a complex diaspora faith borne of West African religions. In Vodou, a zombi is someone put under the control of another through the use of psychedelic plants, a nightmarish concept documented in anthropological texts like "Tell My Horse...

TelevisaUnivision, the Spanish-language media giant, took a different approach to its upfront this year, turning the west side’s Hk Hall into what the company called “Casa Cultura,” a venue that celebrates Latin and Hispanic culture, through food, music, entertainment and more.

The company, led by CEO Wade Davis, leaned on that message in a brief afternoon presentation to advertisers and media buyers (later that evening, the company brought in music star Becky G to lead a performance).

“I wanted to really have our marketers and audience feel it, versus me just kind of standing on stage and showing a video of stuff that we usually do,” TelevisaUnivision ad sales chief Donna Speciale told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview. “I feel like the interaction between the sports, the music, news or political, what’s going on in our newsrooms, Vix, streaming, the explosion of a streaming, all of that...

The Spanish-language streamer could stand out as one of the few services to show a profit if TelevisaUnivision’s CEO’s prediction comes to pass.

TelevisaUnivision is no different from any other broadcaster when it comes to facing the pressures of the industry today. The company owns and operates the Spanish-language Univision channel as well as the streaming platform ViX, and like many other providers, it faces pressure to show improving financial results from its streamers while its linear TV channels see their audience decline thanks to cord-cutting. The company showed a loss in its first quarter of 2024, but CEO Wade Davis also let slip that the company’s direct-to-consumer (Dtc) segment, of which ViX is the crown jewel, could show a profit by the second half of this year.

Key Facts: TelevisaUnivision showed a $52 million loss as it invested more into its Dtc segment. ViX saw its hours streamed...

TelevisaUnivision reported a 7% year-over-year increase in revenue due to direct-to-consumer proceeds and linear networks in Mexico, but flat domestic ad revenue dragged down overall results.

Total ad revenue increased 7% to $648 million. In the U.S., though, ad revenue was flat with the prior year, with the company saying that growth in streaming was offset by “some softness” in its linear networks.

Subscription and licensing revenue increased 9% to $473 million, but in the U.S. it was flat at $327 million. Growth in both the U.S. and Mexico was driven by ViX’s premium tier, but linear TV continued to experience subscriber losses.

Univision and the media holdings of Mexico’s Grupo Televisa closed their $4.8 billion merger in January 2022. TelevisaUnivision is privately held.

“The U.S. and Mexico corridor, which is at the center of our massive global opportunity, continues to show remarkable strength with our Mexico business posting an exceptionally strong quarter,...

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported virtually unchanged U.S. revenue of $739.9 million in the first quarter of 2024, as a 4 percent drop in “other” revenue was offset by subscription and licensing revenue, as well as advertising revenue that rose minimally. It also touted that its streaming business, which had ended 2023 with more than 7 million subscribers, would turn profitable by the back half of 2024.

TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis on a late morning analyst call predicted his company’s ViX streaming platforms would reach profitability in the second half of this year. “The only other company that has achieved this in the industry is Netflix,” he said.

Growth in streaming was “offset by some softness in linear networks,” the company said about its $399.4 million in U.S. ad revenue for the latest period. In Mexico, quarterly advertising revenue jumped 19 percent to $249 million, “driven by private sector growth from both new and existing clients across linear and direct-to-consumer,...

In 1982, anthropologist Wade Davis traveled to Haiti on a mission: to investigate documented cases of zombiism, specifically cases of people who had been declared dead but who then miraculously came back to life. Davis immersed himself in the very real world of Haitian voodoo, witnessing an array of unbelievable rituals and fascinating rites, prompting him to write the book The Serpent and the Rainbow, which would go on to become a bestseller. Referred to in certain circles as a sort of real life Indiana Jones, Davis’ profile rose and, of course, Hollywood came calling, hoping his tales of voodoo and mystery might translate into a spectacular big screen adventure. Davis was wary of Hollywood and worried the adaptation of his book would bastardize his accounts, but hoped if the right people were involved, his story would be given a respectable treatment. As is often the case in the City of Angels,...

(Image courtesy T-Mobile and Televisa-Univision, Graphic by The Desk)

Televisa-Univision’s streaming service Vix grew its premium subscriber base to 7 million by the end of last year, the company revealed on Thursday.

The data point was announced as part of Televisa-Univision’s fourth quarter (Q4) and full-year earnings report for 2023, which saw a continued stregthening of its cross-border streaming business as more Spanish-language consumers cut the cable and satellite cord.

Vix launched three years ago as Prende TV, and was rebranded following the merger of various broadcast and digital assets owned by the former incarnations of Univision and Grupo Televisa.

The company said the number of monthly active users on a free, ad-supported version of Vix continued to grow during Q4, though it did not provide specific numbers to that effect. Last fall, executives said the ad-inclusive Vix streamer had around 40 million monthly active users.

Subscription revenues from Vix and...

Super Bowl Lviii broke viewership records across the board last Sunday, including in one small-but-growing segment: Spanish-language audiences.

Speaking to Wall Street analysts during TelevisaUnivision’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Wade Davis said the game was “overwhelmingly successful” and offers “a lot of upside” for the future.

The company had exclusive Spanish-language streaming rights in both the U.S. and Mexico, plus the broadcast exclusive in the U.S. on Univision under a licensing agreement with Paramount’s CBS Sports. The debut Super Bowl on the 62-year-old broadcast network, which succeeded past Super Bowls on cable’s ESPN Deportes, averaged 2.3 million viewers and peaked at 2.6 million. That’s the biggest tune-in since the game started being carried in Spanish in the U.S. in 2014 and a notch above Telemundo’s prior record a year ago, with 1.9 million viewers.

Davis said more than 70% of viewers who watched the Super Bowl on...

Hispanic media giant TelevisaUnivision’s total revenue slid 7% year-over-year to hit $820.7 million in the fourth quarter, hampered by a slowdown in U.S. advertising.

Revenue from U.S. advertising fell 5% to $467.2 million. Without mid-term U.S. political ad spending, World Cup broadcasts and radio station divestitures in the year-ago quarter, ad sales would have risen 4% in the 2023 quarter, the company said.

Privately-held TelevisaUnivision reports its bottom-line results as adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization, or Oibda. In the fourth quarter, Oibda fell 7% to $468.1 million.

The company blamed the downturn in profits on the absence of World Cup sublicensing and U.S. political revenue, noting that operating expenses in the quarter decreased 6%. There also was a $1 billion non-cash impairment loss due to goodwill and on the company’s FCC licenses. The loss was “driven by the impact of general market conditions, including comparable market valuations and the rising interest rate environment,...

Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision said it narrowed its fourth quarter loss from the year-earlier period as increases in ad revenue in Mexico helped buoy the company despite a downturn in the same category in the U.S. and its continued investment in streaming.

The company, which operates the Univision broadcast network in the U.S., said revenue in the quarter was off 7%, as gains in advertising were offset be declines in revenues from subscription and licensing. Revenue came to nearly $1.36 billion in the quarter, compared with nearly $1.46 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

The company’s net loss narrowed to $918.8 million from nearly $1.57 billion.

TelevisaUnivision said its streaming outlet, ViX, ended the year with more than 7 million subscribers, and indicated its streaming business had generated more than $700 million in revenue in 2023. A new distribution agreement with the large cable operator Charter will include an ad-supported version of ViX and Charter will distribute...

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported a 15 percent U.S. revenue drop to $820.7 million in the fourth quarter, led by a 28 percent decrease in subscription and licensing revenue and a 5 percent decline in advertising revenue, partially offset by a 117 percent jump in “other” revenue. Excluding political and advocacy advertising and the impact of divested radio stations though, U.S. advertising revenue increased 4 percent.

In Mexico, quarterly advertising revenue grew 10 percent, driving the company’s total ad revenue for the latest period up 1 percent. Despite overall Mexican revenue rising 9 percent, however, total company revenue in the fourth quarter ended down 7 percent at $1.36 billion.

For the full year 2023, consolidated revenue grew 5 percent, or 9 percent when adjusting for World Cup

sublicensing revenue and U.S. midterm political spend in 2022, to $4.9 billion. Advertising revenue for the year increased 6 percent, driven by 18 percent growth in Mexico. In the U.S., advertising revenue declined 1 percent, but rose...

TelevisaUnivision powered to its highest third-quarter revenue total in the U.S. to date, up 5% year-over-year, as overall global revenue increased 11% to $1.28 billion.

The Spanish-language media company also touted growth of streaming service ViX to more than 40 million monthly active users and said the direct-to-consumer segment was on track to become profitable in mid-2024.

Q3 advertising revenue was up 11%, to $777 million, which TelevisaUnivision attributed to record-setting sales for the Concacaf Gold Cup soccer tournament and 20th anniversary of tentpole music awards show Premios Juventud, which aired July 20 from Puerto Rico. In the U.S., however, ad sales declined 1% year-over-year.

Subscription and licensing revenue jumped 18%, to $473 million. Growth in both the U.S. and Mexico was driven by ViX’s premium tier, pricing growth on linear subscribers and increased content licensing revenue driven by demand for ViX premium content. (The company does not break out the number of ViX premium subscriptions.

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported 5 percent U.S. revenue growth to $806 million in the third quarter, led by an 11 percent increase in subscription and licensing revenue, a 77 percent jump in “other” revenue, offset by a 1 percent drop in advertising revenue.

However, when excluding political and advocacy spend, which adjusts for last year’s mid-term elections, U.S. ad revenue rose driven by “record-setting demand for sports and tentpoles.” The company also emphasized that this “reflects continued outperformance relative to the broader market and was driven by strength in national advertising, offset by weaker performance in local advertising” amid a generally soft market.

In Mexico, advertising revenue grew 21 percent, powered by private sector growth from new and existing clients, driving the company’s total ad revenue for the latest period up 7 percent.

TelevisaUnivision’s total third-quarter revenue jumped 11 percent to $1.3 billion, “fueled by double-digit growth in Mexico ad sales and substantial...

Exclusive: The upcoming documentary Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplains Journey has received the rare honor of a screening at the Vatican.

The film written and directed by Rich Hull and Justin D. Roberts – a former combat chaplain himself – is produced by Paulist Productions and the U.S. Army Chaplains Corps, marking the first ever co-production between Hollywood and the chaplains corps. Built around the story of Emil Kapaun, a combat chaplain who died as a prisoner of war in North Korea in 1953, the documentary examines the ultimate sacrifice made by hundreds of U.S. military combat chaplains.

Capt. Emil Kapaun (right) helps another soldier carry an exhausted soldier off the battlefield early in the Korean War.

“In 2021, when the remains of former Pow/Mia Army combat chaplain Emil Kapaun, possibly the Vatican’s next saint, are identified after 70 years, much of the nation is captivated by their journey home,” notes a description of the film.

As the demand for Spanish-language content continues to increase across the country, TelevisaUnivision’s ViX streaming service is rising to meet the growing appetite. With both free and subscription options, the platform — which just launched last year — is already helping drive viewers and revenue to its parent company, painting a far rosier picture than many of its larger, primarily English-language competitors.

7-Day Free Trial $0+ / month ViX via amazon.com

On Thursday, TelevisaUnivision shared its second quarter 2023 earnings report, and while the company did not provide an update on the total monthly active users for its dual-approach streaming service, the rest of the reported results seem to be promising for the streamer. In February, it was announced that the platform had eclipsed 25 million monthly active users, and the company followed up in May to report that the total had risen to over 30 million, showing a promising trajectory.

On the financial side, TelevisaUnivision...

TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis said the dual strikes crippling Hollywood have “zero impact” on his company’s operations due to the Hispanic media giant’s programming supply chain.

“The first thing I would say is that I’m sad to see the conflict,” Davis said on the privately held company’s second quarter earnings call. “We hope that this gets resolved favorably and quickly for all the parties involved. That said, it has zero impact on us. Nearly 100% of our production is outside the U.S. Nearly 100% of our content is original and produced by our content engine, which is vertically integrated. In Q2 alone, we produced 24,000 hours of content across original entertainment, news and sports. And the only real unionization we have in our infrastructure is the unionization of the physical production labor.”

Prior to leading the acquisition of Univision and spearheading its $4.8 billion merger with the entertainment division...

TelevisaUnivision is speaking a different language in TV’s weakened upfront market.

Where most media companies and media buyers expect the overall volume of ad commitments to decline owing to a tough economy and a Hollywood work stoppage, the Spanish broadcaster is anticipating gains and even rate hikes.

“We expect to fare better than the market on pricing” said TelevisaUnivsion CEO Wade Davis during a call with investors Thursday, a reference to measures known as CPMs, or the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers. In many cases, according to media buyers and other executives, advertisers have called for “rollbacks” of as much as 5%,’ with sports the only category notching true positive gains.

Davis said the company expected its volume of commitments to be “up mid to single digits” as Univision took share from its English-language rivals.

In 2022, the company expected to see a double-digit-percentage increase in volume, with CPMs, or the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers,...

Weeks after multiple top diversity executives departed their posts, a group of California lawmakers put pressure on the Hollywood companies that reap a combined $1.65 billion in tax credits from the state. “One executive removal could be a fluke. But four more?” said Sen. Lola Smallwood at a July 13 press conference from the California Legislative Black Caucus. “This is a troubling pattern.”

It’s a sentiment many in the Dei sphere share.

Amid ongoing merger-induced reorganizations and layoffs, the long tail of Covid economy, two union strikes and general cost-cutting, The Hollywood Reporter talked to a dozen individuals working in and adjacent to the Dei space who express worry that the recent high-level departures could signal a larger unraveling of endeavors Hollywood companies trumpeted in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

Of the Hollywood companies that once touted their diversity initiatives but now find themselves with lean departments or without leaders,...

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported 6 percent U.S. revenue growth to $794 million for the second quarter, led by a 10 percent gain in subscription and licensing revenue and a 1 percent increase in advertising revenue.

The subscription and licensing increase was “driven by the success of (streamer) ViX’s premium tier along with pricing growth on linear subscribers, partially offset by linear subscriber declines,” the company said. Advertising in the U.S. climbed slightly, outperforming the broader market, according to experts. This reflected “strength in national advertising and momentum in streaming where the company continues to see demand from advertisers and increased pricing as the company leverages its new ad formats,” TelevisaUnivision said.

In Mexico, quarterly advertising revenue jumped 29 percent, or 14 percent excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange impacts, “driven by growth across all sectors in both linear and streaming,” TelevisaUnivision emphasized. Mexican subscription and licensing revenue rose 27 percent, or 16 percent excluding the foreign currency impact,...

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After the sudden exits of top diversity and inclusion executives at Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Netflix and the Motion Picture Academy in the past month — all of them Black women — alarm bells have been raised for many who care about Hollywood’s commitment to gender and racial equity.

While the circumstances of each executive may differ, more than a half dozen interviews by TheWrap across the Dei community suggest that Hollywood’s institutions have thus far failed to make inclusion part of the industry’s DNA, that Dei executives feel isolated and exhausted, saying they were “set up to fail” or citing a lack of sufficient resources. Others said that downgrading Dei executives from reporting to CEOs sent a message of diminished commitment.

“We need to be at a point where we are operationalizing inclusion,...

The top news executive at Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision is stepping down.

Leopoldo Gómez, who has led the company’s news operations for the last two years, will “pursue other interests,” the company says. His interim replacement will be executive VP of news Maria Martinez-Guzman, a 25 year veteran of Univision.

“Leopoldo has had an immense impact on our News division in the last two years,” TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis said in a statement. “We have benefited from his expertise and in-depth knowledge of the news making process. We are saddened to see him go but understand his decision.”

Before Univision Noticias, Gómez worked for 23 years at Televisa, including as VP of news.

At TelevisaUnivision he oversaw the launch of the streaming service Noticias Univision 24/7, a Spanish-language counterpart to the streaming news services launched by NBC, CBS and ABC; and set the foundation for coverage of the 2024 election.

One piece of...