Major exec shakeup for Univision ahead of Televisa merger

Wade Davis

US-based Spanish-language broadcast group Univision has announced a new corporate leadership team.

The executive shakeup comes after Univision announced a merger with Televisa earlier this year. Anticipating a H2 2021 close, Univision said that the redesigned corporate leadership structure will allow it to “execute the vision for the future” of the combined company. 

The biggest change is the appointment of Carlos Ferreiro as chief financial officer for Univision. Ferreiro, the current CFO of Televisa for 20 years, will succeed Univision’s existing CFO Peter Lori on October 1. 

Other changes include the appointment of Pilar Ramos as general counsel and corporate secretary for Univision, Jose Tomas as chief administrative officer, Flavia Vigio as EVP of communications and Jessica Rodriguez as chief brand and impact officer. 

There are also a number of content-related changes at the company including the promotion of Juan Carlos Rodriguez to president of sports enterprises, new news chief Leopoldo Gomez, and the appointment of former Telemondo exec Luis Silberwasser as president of Univision Television Networks Group.

Of the shakup, Univision CEO Wade Davis said: “I am delighted to share the evolution of our corporate leadership structure and to introduce the new, world-class executives that have joined to help drive the execution of our vision. We are incredibly fortunate to have a deep bench of talent at both Televisa and Univision to draw from. 

“Furthermore, the size of the market opportunity and our positioning to become the global leader in Spanish-language media has allowed us to attract new and diverse executives from some of the largest and most successful companies in the world. We have the right strategy, and following the closing of the Televisa-Univision merger, we will have the assets and market-leading position for this team to execute and capture the opportunity in front of us to be the largest and most compelling Spanish-language media company across all platforms.”

The restructure comes after Univision announced its plans to launch a global streaming service in 2022. The streamer will replace the company’s existing PrendeTV, VIX and Univision NOW services, which will be unified under one brand and be made up of more than 40,000 hours of content.