Univision honored with NCLR’s Capital Award for Public Service.

At a ceremony at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) honored Univision Communications Inc. with its Capital Award for Public Service for outstanding leadership in the national citizenship and civic engagement campaign, “Ya es Hora” (It’s Time).

“Univision has been an important partner of NCLR with the ‘Ya es Hora’ campaign, mobilizing a million of eligible Latinos to become U.S. citizens and encouraging the civic participation of many more. We applaud Univision for its contributions as it continues to promote naturalization and voter engagement efforts that inspire so many to participate in the democratic process,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR president and CEO.

In its more than 40 years of operation, as part of its public service, Univision Communications has created award-winning programs and initiatives that address the issues and challenges faced by Hispanics, including the Peabody award-winning program “Salud es Vida…¡Entérate!” (Lead a Healthy Life…Get the Facts!) and the national engagement campaign for which it is being honored, “Ya es Hora.” In addition, in 2007 Univision launched a massive multi-platform campaign to educate the country’s Hispanic population on the upcoming congressionally mandated transition from analog to digital television broadcasting (DTV). Univision, as the first broadcaster to implement a comprehensive, multi-platform DTV education campaign, has taken a leadership role in the DTV education efforts to ensure that all Hispanics in the U.S. and Puerto Rico are appropriately informed about this complex and important issue. Univision is also committed to continue to set the bar in the amount of time dedicated to public service announcements, which according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study, is unmatched by English-language broadcast companies or cable networks.

“We are honored to be the first broadcaster to be recognized by NCLR with the public service award,” said Joe Uva, CEO of Univision Communications Inc. “At Univision we pride ourselves on the unique connection we have with our audiences. For so many people, Univision is more than a network; it is an indispensable nexus between Hispanic families and their proud and vibrant culture. This is a direct result of our quality programming as well as our public and community service efforts on issues that are most important to our community, including: education, health, financial literacy, the impending transition to digital television in early 2009, the path to citizenship and the right to vote.”

In addition to the “Ya es Hora” initiative, Univision continues with its extensive coverage of the upcoming caucuses and primaries, national conventions, local and statewide elections, as well as the presidential campaign through its television, radio and online platforms. Univision’s innovative and extensive 2008 election coverage also has included two historic forums, with Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and one debate co-hosted with CNN. These events were broadcast in Spanish, attracted millions of viewers and focused on the issues impacting Hispanics.