The TelevisaUnivision CEO has announced plans to restructure the executive team of the Spanish-language media giant, including job cuts. This initiative is part of a broader strategy aimed at fortifying the company’s position for 2025 and the succeeding years.
Daniel Alegre, who assumed the role of CEO in September, communicated his intentions to the employees through a memo on Monday. He expressed a desire to dismantle barriers between various media forms and forge closer ties with clients. Alegre emphasized that the market demands are changing and it’s crucial for the company to adapt and offer unique solutions to their partners.
In light of this, Alegre unveiled plans to restructure some teams. He appointed José Luis Fabila to spearhead all content-related endeavors and establish a new global organization focused on this mission. Alegre expressed confidence that Fabila would align the company’s content investments with its reach, engagement, and monetization objectives, ensuring efficient distribution across all platforms worldwide with an effective windowing strategy. He viewed this as a thrilling chance to enhance the company’s content delivery to its global audiences.
Jesús Lara, the U.S. local head, will exit TelevisaUnivision, while both local and national U.S ad sales will be consolidated under Donna Speciale. Ignacio Meyer will expand his responsibilities to include U.S. audio and local programming. Furthermore, Rafael Urbina, currently the COO of ViX, the Company’s streaming service, will supervise all digital and streaming operations.
The restructuring represents Alegre’s most significant move since he took over the reins. He succeeded Wade Davis, the former CFO of Viacom, who departed to lead the buyout of Univision, then burdened with debt, from Haim Saban and other investors in late 2020. Davis subsequently guided Univision into a merger with its most vital partner and program provider, Grupo Televisa, based in Mexico, in 2022.
As part of the restructuring, TelevisaUnivision is expected to reduce its workforce by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage, as per a source privy to the situation.
In an October call with investors, Alegre hinted at his intention to dismantle the existing barriers within the corporation, formed from the merger of Univision TV network in the U.S. and Televisa’s content-production business in Mexico. He acknowledged that the different operations, with a history spanning over six decades, have ingrained ways of operating. However, he saw a unique opportunity to transform two regional companies into one global entity. He also suggested the need for the company to evolve from a business with isolated linear and streaming units into a content-first, platform-agnostic company.
Credit: variety.com
