Annual Hispanic Television Awards Class of 2024 recognizing Sean Cunningham, Isabel Rafferty Zavala, and Michael Roca for Leadership in Hispanic Television and Chiqui Cartagena and Javier Saralegui as Pioneers of Hispanic TV

 

Three of the award recipients will be recognized with the Award for Leadership in Hispanic Television.

One of these leaders is Sean Cunningham, President & CEO of VAB, the Video Advertising Bureau. Cunningham is being recognized as a Leader in Hispanic Television for his unceasing commitment to providing his association’s membership with the latest methods for reaching the Hispanic television viewer. This award honors Cunningham’s exceptional stewardship of VAB and his unwavering commitment to supporting programmers and advertisers focused on engaging Hispanic audiences.

Isabel Rafferty Zavala, Founder & CEO of Canela Media is also being recognized for her leadership in Hispanic television and media innovation. She has been selected for her entrepreneurship and as a market front runner in the adoption to streaming by Hispanic television viewers. This honor recognizes Rafferty’s remarkable work in the establishment and growth of Canela Media, a streaming platform tailored for Hispanic audiences. Additionally, she is recognized as a driving force in the Hispanic television and media industry by delivering culturally relevant and engaging content that resonates with Hispanic viewers.

Michael Roca, Director of Elevate at Omnicom Media is to be recognized for his leadership in Hispanic television for conceptualizing and implementing innovative media strategies for major brand advertisers using Hispanic television. His strong leadership skills have advanced the landscape of multicultural media advertising, fostering the growth of the Hispanic media segment, and innovation within the overall Hispanic television industry.

Two other executives will receive the Rafael Eli Award for Pioneers in Hispanic Television. As a condition of this award, the recipient must have worked in the Hispanic television and or media industry for 20 years and continues to be actively engaged with the television industry. They were also personally acquainted with the namesake of the award, the late Rafael Eli, who had been a co-producer of the Hispanic Television Summit before passing from COVID in 2020.

Chiqui Cartagena is one of the 2024 recipients of the Rafael Eli Award for Pioneer in Hispanic Television. She is receiving this award in recognition of her tireless efforts to promote and market programming content to Hispanic consumers. She has had a distinguished career in television and media, and currently serves as Executive Director of CUNY TV in New York City.

Previously, she worked at Univision Communications for nearly eight years in marketing, CSR and Political Advocacy. Her career includes senior roles in editorial and content origination at Meredith Hispanic Ventures and at Time Warner Cable’s NY 1 News, when it first launched. She was part of the team that developed and launched People en Espanol and TV Gude magazines. Chiqui began her career working in local and network television news for both Univision and Telemundo. She is recognized as a leader in Hispanic marketing and is the author of the Latino Boom series of books.

Javier Saralegui, Founder & CEO, DangerTV is the other 2024 recipient of the Rafael Eli Award for Pioneer in Hispanic Television. Saralegui has been selected for his outstanding 30+ year career that has been committed to delivering content and programming to Hispanic audiences, including both Spanish and English-speaking viewers. Saralegui has served as President of the Spanish language cable tv network, Galavision, as well as President and COO of Univision Online. Today, his efforts to serve Hispanic viewers continues with his leadership at the helm of DangerTV that offers diverse and culturally relevant programming that resonates with Hispanic audiences.

For more information about the 22nd Annual Hispanic Summit and/ or NYCTV Week CLICK HERE.

About Schramm Marketing Group

Schramm Marketing Group is a marketing agency based in the New York City metro area. It was founded in 1993 by cable TV pioneer and marketer Joe Schramm. The company produces conferences for the television industry, promotes pay television and sports, notably international soccer, consults on multicultural markets, and sells sponsorships. Its clients are leading brands in sports, television, entertainment, trade associations and nonprofits. www.schrammnyc.com