Univision

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:06pm on Friday, January 23rd, 2009

On January 23, 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported that Univision and Televisa have settled their differences:

"After years of bad blood and nearly three weeks of court testimony, Mexico's entertainment giant Grupo Televisa and the dominant Spanish-language TV company in the U.S., Univision Communications Inc., abruptly ended their four-year legal battle Thursday.

The settlement averted a potentially disastrous outcome for Univision, which could have lost its pipeline of Televisa's popular soap operas, called telenovelas, that drive Univision's enormous ratings. In turn, Univision agreed to pay Televisa tens of millions of dollars more in royalties.

The agreement came just minutes before Grupo Televisa Chairman Emilio Azcarraga Jean, Mexico's billionaire media scion, was scheduled to take the stand in an effort to sever his company's long ties to Univision. Televisa had alleged that Univision had withheld $122 million in royalties that Televisa was rightfully due.

The new deal will enable Univision to continue as the leading Spanish-language media company in the United States. Univision commands about 75% of the Latino audience, and its Los Angeles television outlet, KMEX-TV Channel 34, ranks as the nation's No. 1 station, beating established ABC, NBC and CBS stations."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 12:31pm on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

On January 6, 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that Univision and Grupo Televisa are starring in their own court drama:

"A Spanish-language TV drama opened here on Tuesday -- not a "telenovela" soap opera, but rather a corporate fight that could reshape the Hispanic media landscape in the U.S.

In a dispute that has been simmering since 2005, Grupo Televisa SA, the Mexican conglomerate, is seeking to sever a 25-year programming agreement with Univision Communications Inc. Televisa supplies Univision with saucy telenovelas and other popular programming. Losing those programs could threaten Univision's place as the top Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S.

The case has landed in U.S. district in Los Angeles at a time when Univision is grappling with a mountain of debt related to its 2006 acquisition by several investment groups.

"This is definitely a watershed moment for Spanish-language broadcasting," says Jose Cancela, a former Univision executive and marketing consultant. "Content is king, and it's no longer clear who will own the best content in Spanish-language television."
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Televisa -- which is alleging material breach of contract related to royalty payments -- wants to take its programming elsewhere. Univision says it has paid Televisa more than $1 billion in royalties since 1992 and that Televisa could earn an additional $2 billion before the contract expires in 2017."