NBCUniversal taps Emilio Romano as Telemundo president

This post has been corrected. Please see note at bottom for details.

NBCUniversal has hired Emilio Romano, a long-time media and airline executive, to run its Spanish-language television network Telemundo and cable channel mun2.

He replaces longtime Telemundo president Don Browne, who retired last spring. Browne had been a top manager within Telemundo since NBC acquired the network in 2002. 

Romano, who takes the reins in October, comes aboard at a time when the stakes are high for Telemundo. After Comcast Corp. took over NBCUniversal this year, it singled out the Spanish-language operation as an area that should improve its second-run status to achieve substantial growth.

The media company reached outside its ranks in selecting Romano, who has worked as an airline executive and a manager within the Mexico City-based television behemoth Grupo Televisa. 

Romano served as chief executive of Grupo Mexicana de Aviacion from 2004-2007, and was responsible for the airline’s largest financial restructuring in its 87-year history. NBCUniversal also said he organized the launch of Click Mexicana, the first low-cost carrier in Mexico, and engineered the sale of Mexicana de Aviacion to an investor group.

“His extensive knowledge of Hispanic media combined with a proven track record running large-scale businesses will be a great addition to the Telemundo management team," his new boss, Lauren Zalaznick, chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Digital Networks and Integrated Media, said in a statement.

"We will benefit greatly from his expertise across multiple media platforms -- particularly in the Mexican market -- as we continue to broaden Telemundo’s overall appeal in the vibrant and diverse Hispanic community.”

Telemundo has long struggled trying to appeal to Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants who make up two-thirds of the U.S. Latino population. The network's strength has largely been among Hispanics on the East Coast, whereas Telemundo's rival Univision Communications has been the dominant force reaching the huge population of Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans. 

Univision has an advantage in the U.S. Spanish-language media industry because of its lucrative partnership with Televisa. Since the early 1990s, Univision has depended on the low-cost soap operas called telenovelas that Televisa produces in Mexico to fuel its gigantic prime-time ratings.  Univision is now the fifth largest television network in the U.S., and on some nights beats NBC. 

Telemundo is a much smaller operation. Romano will be in charge of the Telemundo broadcast network and its 14 owned TV stations, including the network's entertainment division and TV studio. He will oversee the network's sales and marketing arm as well as its news and sports divisions. His portfolio includes mun2, the cable channel that targets young bicultural Latinos. 

 "As reflected in the latest U.S. Census and the dramatic increase in both viewership and advertising within the Hispanic community these past few years, this exciting market is well poised for explosive growth," Romano said in the statement.

Early in his career, Romano held various positions within the Mexican Ministry of Finance. A native of Mexico City, he resides in Miami -- where Telemundo is based -- with his wife and two daughters.

Romano worked in the late 1990s as Televisa's director of mergers and acquisitions and later as vice president of international operations with oversight of more than 500  employees.  From 1995 to 1998, he was a member of Univision Communications' board. 

In 2001, he co-founded Border Group LLC, and worked as a consultant to entertainment and media companies.  

[For the Record, 12:30 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Romano served as chief executive of Grupo Mexicana de Aviacion from 2003-2004]

-- Meg James

Photo: Telemundo President Emilio Romano. Credit: NBCUniversal.

NBCUniversal names Beth Roberts to key cable post

One of NBCUniversal's high-powered and well-respected business executives -- Beth Roberts -- has joined Team Hammer.

Roberts on Wednesday was named chief operating officer of Universal Cable Productions, reporting to Bonnie Hammer, chairman of NBCUniversal's Cable Entertainment and Cable Studios unit. Hammer has oversight of several of the media giant's cable channels including USA, Syfy and E!

The company said in a statement that Roberts will spearhead "the strategic and financial growth of Universal Cable Productions," in addition to overseeing business affairs for the cable channels controlled by Hammer.

Universal Cable Productions has been managed by a committee that includes Mark Stern and Jeff Wachtel, who share the title of co-head of original content; and Jerry DiCanio, head of production, and Roberts. Now she will be in charge of the studio's day-to-day operations.

"As a business affairs executive, Beth has always struck a perfect balance between strategic vision and fiscal discipline," Hammer said in the statement.  "That's exactly what we need to take UCP to the next level, so Beth's new role is an ideal expansion of her responsibilities."

Previously, Roberts served as executive vice president of business affairs for NBCUniversal's large cable portfolio.  Comcast, which took over NBCUniversal in late January, divided the cable properties into two groups, one overseen by Hammer, the longtime head of USA Network and Syfy, and the other group managed by Lauren Zalaznick, who has been responsible for Bravo. Zalaznick was given the more eclectic group, which includes Comcast's digital properties like Fandango and Daily Candy, and Spanish-language network Telemundo.

-- Meg James

Photo of Beth Roberts courtesy of NBCUniversal

 

Univision to launch three new television channels

Spanish-language media giant Univision Communications Inc. plans to launch three new cable television channels next year in a bid to tighten its grip on the growing Latino market and diversify its revenues.

Univision is expected to announce Thursday that one of the channels will offer soccer and other sports, one will be devoted to news and information, and a third will showcase the spicy Spanish-language soap operas, or telenovelas, that fuel Univision Network’s prime-time ratings.

The new channels are part of an increasing trend by media companies to increase their investments in Spanish-language TV. Recently released census findings show that Latinos make up the nation's fastest growing population. Univision already controls nearly 70% of the Spanish-language television market.

New York-based Univision is making an extra effort to flex its market muscle. Major broadcasting groups, including Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, Turner Broadcasting this week have been pitching their fall lineups to hundreds of advertisers in New York in an effort to grab slices of the more than $9 billion  “upfront” advertising market.

Univision will unveil its lineup Thursday.

On some nights, Univision -- the nation's fifth largest television network -- glides past fourth-place NBC and other established broadcast networks among younger demographic groups in the ratings. And unlike the major broadcasters, which are struggling to hold onto their audiences in an increasingly fragmented media universe, Univision's prime-time viewership has increased about 8% from last season.

“The recent census findings has been waking up a lot of our competitors, and advertisers, to the power and the organic growth of the Hispanic marketplace,” Randy Falco, Univision's chief operating officer, said in an interview. “We are actually at a tipping point where advertisers cannot ignore this market any longer.”

The 2010 Census revealed that more than 50 million Latinos live in the U.S., making up 16% of the population. From 2000 to 2010, the Hispanic population grew 43%. In contrast, the segment of people who identified themselves as white, grew 1%, according to the census.

“Every 10 years we get what I call the 'wake-up call’ with the results of the census,” said Carmen Baez, president of Latin American and multicultural marketing with advertising behemoth Omnicom Group Inc. “And this time around, the numbers were so staggering that people just can't ignore it.”

Univision's chief competitor, Telemundo, does not want to get left behind. In late January, Comcast Corp. took control of Telemundo owner NBCUniversal and declared that growing Telemundo revenues was a priority. NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke unexpectedly tapped the company's marketing whiz, Lauren Zalaznick, to oversee Telemundo and the company's youth-oriented cable channel mun2.

Zalaznick, a former film producer who helped build the Bravo cable channel into a cultural force,  greeted advertisers who attended Telemundo's programming presentation Tuesday night -- in Spanish. She said she was happy to join the crowd.

“Estoy muy feliz de estar aqui con ustedes,” Zalaznick said before switching to her native tongue. “Two months ago I could not have said one of those words in Spanish. I've learned a lot since then.”

Telemundo, which is based in Miami, dubbed its Latino market awareness campaign “the shift,” acknowledging the change in the complexion of the nation as well as the cultural influence of Latinos.

“It is the shift -- the landscape is shifting right before our very eyes,” Baez said. “But while Hispanics make up 16% of the population, Hispanic media only captures 4% of the advertising dollars spent in the U.S. We need to do a better job.”

For Univision, expanding its share of the advertising pie and its portfolio of Spanish-language channels is a corporate mandate. In 2007, Los Angeles billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio sold Univision to a group of private investors, including another L.A. billionaire, Haim Saban, for nearly $14 billion. The transaction -- at the top of the market -- left Univision burdened with debt. Within a few months, the recession hit and advertising spending plummeted.

With the new cable channels, Univision's goal is to establish a more stable source of revenue -- cable affiliate fees -- to reduce its reliance on advertising. Univision already has two broadcast networks, Univision and TeleFutura; a popular cable channel, Galavision; and a vibrant chain of TV and radio stations.

Univision has dramatically improved its fortunes over the last year, restructuring its debt and resolving a long-running feud with its Mexican programming partner, Grupo Televisa. Televisa produces the popular Mexican telenovelas that have been key to Univision's prime-time success. About 65% of the U.S. Latino population is made up of people of Mexican descent. The new agreement gives Televisa equity in Univision and guarantees Univision its pipeline of soaps.

Univision, in addition to expanding its own in-house production studio, plans to dip into Televisa's vast library to fill the proposed telenovela channel.

“The beauty of the Televisa library is that it is big and deep,” said Cesar Conde, president of the Univision networks. “And we are going to continue to develop our own original programs to complement the Televisa brand.”

Related:

News on Fall television schedules, renewals and cancellations

 -- Meg James

Photo: The exterior of Univision's Los Angeles headquarters. Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press

Don Browne, president of NBCUniversal's Telemundo network, retires

Telemundo President Don Browne is stepping down, clearing the way for his new bosses at NBCUniversal to make sweeping changes to the Spanish-language television operation.

Browne, who turns 68 next month, plans to leave the company June 3 -- the eight anniversary of his arrival at Telemundo after a distinguished career in NBC News. Browne joined NBC in 1979 as NBC News' Miami bureau chief. He eventually became a top executive within NBC News, and later served as general manager of WTVJ, NBC's owned-and-operated station in Miami.

NBCUniversal said it would announce a new Telemundo president "in the coming months."

The architect of Telemundo's entry into the business of original programming, Browne wanted to end the network's reliance on foreign studios for its prime-time shows.  Browne oversaw the construction of a small TV production center in Hialeah, Fla., just outside of Miami. In recent months, the network has grown its ratings on the strength of its original telenovela, "La Reina del Sur."

However, despite investing hundreds of millions of dollars in original programming over the years, the NBCUniversal-owned Spanish-language network has struggled to make headway in the market. It is dwarfed by its more potent rival, Univision Communications Inc., which obtains most of its popular prime-time soap operas, or telenovelas, from its Mexican programming partner, Grupo Televisa.  Univision has a substantial advantage because its telenovelas -- which have already played on TV in Mexico --  are cheaper to acquire and have a track record. Univision schedules the programs that generated big ratings in Mexico and appeal to the large Mexican American population in the U.S.

When Comcast Corp. took control of NBCUniversal in January, Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts and NBCUniversal's new chief, Steve Burke, said they wanted Telemundo to produce stronger ratings and, thus, more revenue for the company.

Browne was assigned a new supervisor, Lauren Zalaznick, who is dramatically different from the suit-and-tie bosses that Browne had before. Instead of giving Browne autonomy to run his business, Zalaznick was determined to get involved, even taking Spanish lessons and spending days immersing herself in Telemundo's operations in South Florida and Los Angeles.

Since 2005, Browne has been responsible for all of Telemundo's business and programming functions, including running Telemundo's 14 owned-and-operated television stations, including KVEA-TV Channel 52 in Los Angeles. He also managed Telemundo's news and sports operations and its youth-oriented cable channel, mun2.

NBCUniversal said Browne was "an early and fervent supporter of NBC's investment in Spanish-language television and played a key role in the company's 2001 acquisition of Telemundo."

"Don Browne has had an outstanding career as a broadcaster and executive, from his years as a bureau chief and executive vice president of NBC News to his tenure most recently at Telemundo," Burke said in a statement Tuesday announcing Browne's retirement.  "We are grateful for what he has accomplished."

-- Meg James

Photo: Don Browne. Credit: Telemundo / NBCUniversal