Line #14 Creator/Univision


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/logo_univision_2019svg.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Todos estamos con Univision.''[[note]]We are all with Univision.[[/note]]]]
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4	[[https://univision.com Univision]] is the oldest and largest Spanish-language television {{network\|s}} in the United States, the fifth most-watched network in the United States when counted among the English-language networks, and perhaps one of the most high-profile, profitable, and longest-lasting symbols of Latino/Hispanic culture within the United States. Its origins trace back to KCOR (now KWEX-DT, Channel 41), the first all-Spanish-language television station airing within the US, which went on the air in 1955 in [[UsefulNotes/OtherCitiesInTexas San Antonio, Texas]]. Failing to turn a profit, KCOR would soon fall under the ownership of one Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, founder of the Mexican network Creator/{{Televisa}}, and Emilio Nicolas Sr., the son-in-law of KCOR's founder Raul Cortez, and producer of some of the station's {{variety show}}s.
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6	!!The SIN/Televisa era (1962-1987)
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8	After acquiring KCOR, Nicolas and Vidaurreta turned the station around. In 1962 they made KCOR, along with affiliates in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles (KMEX-DT, Channel 34) and Paterson, UsefulNotes/NewJersey (WXTV-DT, Channel 41), the nucleus of the new Spanish International Network, the US' first all-Spanish TV network. The unfortunately-acronymically-named SIN expanded into UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}, UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} and across the western US over the next couple of decades, and made it onto cable and satellite systems during TheSeventies in order to gain a national reach. SIN soon became the largest Spanish-language TV network in the US, thanks at least in part to its close relationship with the preexisting Mexican media powerhouse Televisa, which Vidaurreta also owned.
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10	In 1987, Nicolas sold his share of the network, leaving it firmly in the hands of Vidaurreta and Televisa. This prompted the Federal Communications Commission to investigate whether SIN's relationship with Televisa skirted the boundaries of media ownership laws, as many of SIN's competitors were alleging. That same year, Televisa's management's [[ExecutiveMeddling attempted]] to have SIN produce and broadcast a news program with Jacobo Zabludosky out of Miami, which caused half of the Miami staff (many of them [[SeriousBusiness Cuban exiles]]) to walk out in protest of what they saw as [[BerserkButton Zabludosky's soft views on Castro's Cuba]]. The end result was Televisa selling its share of SIN - now renamed to the bilingually-pronounceable, eternally-more-marketable Univision - to an American consortium led by Hallmark Cards, which had previously purchased some of Nicolas' share in the network.
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12	!!The Univision era (1987-present)
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14	The ink was barely dry off the deal when Univision created three of its most defining programs: the morning show ''Mundo Latino'' (''Latino World''), Chilean TV personality Don Francisco's frantic, [[LongRunners long-running]] VarietyShow ''Sábado Gigante'' (''Big Saturday''), and the women's TV news magazine ''TV Mujer'' (''Woman TV''). Starting in 1993, under the stewardship of new owner Jerry Perenchio, its designs grew to a national scale, and it expanded and revamped its once-moribund news operations. KMEX-34, the Los Angeles O&O station that provided two-fifths of the network's revenue at the time, made history by becoming the first Spanish-language TV station to outperform the city's English-language affliates. Such instances would become less anomalous as time went by -- it overtook the major-film-studio-backed Creator/{{UPN}} and Creator/TheWB ''nationally'' in the early 2000s, becoming the fifth-largest network overall, and in September 2010, it won the entire week on the strength of a popular [[SoapOpera telenovela's]] finale and a UsefulNotes/PrimeTime Mexico/Ecuador soccer match. The fact that the English networks were still burning off their summer programming also helped.
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16	In 2008, Univision created a Saturday morning block, Planeta U, which airs (Spanish-dubbed) programs like ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'', ''WesternAnimation/GoDiegoGo'', ''WesternAnimation/JakersTheAdventuresOfPiggleyWinks'', and ''Series/BeakmansWorld''. In past years, the network has also aired many Spanish-dubbed anime on Saturday mornings, such as ''Anime/FutureBoyConan'', ''Anime/TimeBokan'', ''[[Literature/SansFamille Remi]]'', ''Manga/PrincessKnight'', and ''Anime/TenchiUniverse''.
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18	Univision still gets much of its programming, including most of its telenovelas, from Creator/{{Televisa}}, though in the past several years, relations between the two networks have been strained due to what Televisa sees as [[{{Bowdlerise}} unnecessary censorship]] of its shows by Univision. Much of this has to do with the fact that, in addition to Spanish obscenities, Univision also filters out words that have no negative connotations in [[UsefulNotes/SpanishLanguage Spanish]] [[InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike but may be considered obscene in English and other languages]], or by other Latin American nations (for instance, what might be a comparatively-mild expletive in Mexico not worthy for bleeping could easily be offensive to someone with heritage in Venezuela or Honduras). In 2021, Univision launched [=PrendeTV=] a Spanish-language ad-supported streaming service.
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20	In 2022, Univision acquired Televisa's content assets to form {{Creator/TelevisaUnivision}}. The combined company united Televisa's media assets with Univision's television networks and radio stations. That same year, it converted its [=PrendeTV=] service into [=ViX=].
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22	!!Sister networks
23	* In 2000, Univision bid for the broadcast stations of Creator/USANetwork, a chain of stations which formerly aired nothing but the Home Shopping Network but by then were airing a local form of UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}}'s Creator/{{Citytv}}, though their 50-69 channel positions and surrounding programming provided a drain on USA itself. Creator/{{Disney}} was expected to win the stations when they were put up for sale, but Univision's bid was better. Though a few stations in markets where Univision didn't have an affiliate converted to the main network, the rest, along with other affiliates which came on, formed into a second Univision network known as '''Telefutura''', which came into existence as a vault network for Univision's most enduring novelas, and for a way for Univision to snap up Spanish-dubbed Hollywood film rights usually grabbed by Telemundo during their Sony-owned AudienceAlienatingEra, along with airing more sports that might not rate well on the main network but do good enough for the diehards. It was rebranded as '''[=UniMas=]''' ("mas" means "more") in 2013, and pretty much matches Telemundo in the ratings.
24	* '''Galavision''' is another vault-and-sports cable-only network, along with carrying some of the other programming on Televisa networks that doesn't fit on Univision. Not to be confused with the Televisa over-the-air [[SimilarlyNamedWorks network of the same name]] which is Mexico-exclusive.
25	* '''Univision tlnovelas''', a cable network and a version of Televisa's Tlnovelas channel for the US market launched in 2012 to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin air old telenovelas]], along with some older shows which never aired north of the border.
26	* '''TUDN''', another 2012-launched cable network which serves as Univision's attempt to compete with Creator/{{ESPN}} and Fox Deportes, and has already done very well thanks to their focus on the Mexican Premier League and other Latin American sports rights neglected by Fox and ESPN (which along with Al Jazeera's [=BeiN=] Sports, all focus more on Euro-Asian football than Latin America), or bungled by [=GolTV=].
27	* '''Fusion''', an English-language effort (formerly co-managed with [[Creator/AmericanBroadcastingCompany ABC]]) which doesn't have the usual 'breaking news and pundit fight' format of the regular news networks, but serves to bring information in a compelling format to younger viewers regardless of race or language, along with original news programming. Univision anchor Jorge Ramos has his own show on the network. Rather than CNN or Fox News, Fusion probably competed more with the defunct Pivot, as their focus is more on commentary, documentary, and even comedic programming than reporting or debates.
28	** The '''Fusion Media Group''' was formed after ABC abandoned Fusion. After a lawsuit by Wrestling/HulkHogan that all but destroyed the company, Univision acquired most of the '''Gawker Media''' blogs (including sites such as ''Kotaku'', ''Gizmodo'', ''Deadspin'', etc., but ''not'' its namesake) to increase its English-language footprint, aligning them within FMG as the '''Gizmodo Media Group'''. FMG also houses Univision's stake in ''Website/TheOnion'' and its entertainment site ''The A.V. Club'', as well as online African-American magazine ''The Root''. All of these websites were also switched to the same format and platform formerly used by Gawker. Fusion TV's editorial efforts were later spun out from the channel and into this division under the new title ''Splinter''. However, in 2019 Gawker Media's sites were acquired by private equity firms and was renamed to ''G/O Media''.
29	* '''Creator/ElReyNetwork''', a joint venture between Creator/RobertRodriguez, Univision, and Cox Communications (Collectively known as "El Netwarko Groupo") focusing on grindhouse-style content. It is best known for original series such as ''Series/FromDuskTillDawn'' and ''Wrestling/LuchaUnderground''. The network has been likened to a Hispanic-targeting Creator/SpikeTV, back when it was fixated on action shows and movies. In 2020, the network was shuttered.

Context Creator / Univision