Univision Steps Up Original Productions

NEW YORK: Leading U.S. Hispanic broadcaster Univision has announced the launch of a new production division, Univision Studios, which will be led by Luis Fernandez, who recently resigned as president of Spanish pubcaster RTVE.

Based in Miami, Univision Studios will produce and co-produce telenovelas, reality shows, drama series, entertainment specials and other programming formats for Univision, TeleFutura and Galavision, as well as for Univision.com and Univision Movil. The move expands the broadcaster’s production capabilities, which currently stands at about 4,000 hours a year across the game show, news and variety categories. Its novela output has been heavily reliant on programming supply partner Televisa; Univision’s main competitor, Telemundo, meanwhile, has been driving its viewership gains with its own originally produced novelas for the U.S. market.

Fernandez will run the unit as president, reporting to Cesar Conde, the president of Univision Networks. He joins Univision after serving as president of Spanish pubcaster RTVE. Previously, he ran Promofilm U.S., and exec-produced shows such as Al Filo de la Ley (At The Edge of the Law), the first fiction series to air on Univision in prime time in 2005, and the feature film Un Dia Sin Mexicanos (A Day Without a Mexican), co-produced with Televisa. He is also a former general manager of Plural Entertainment, the television and film production arm of Grupo Prisa.

"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, the president and CEO of 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."

Conde added, "We are thrilled to have been able to attract such a talent as Luis Fernandez, who is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished production executives of Spanish-language media in the U.S. and across the globe. Luis’s 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 U.S."