Television

The Telemundo Station Group named Cristina Schwarz as President and General Manager of Telemundo 47 / WNJU, the NBCUniversal-owned television station serving the Hispanic community in the New York Tri-State area. Additionally, Liliana Aristizabal was promoted to Vice President of Sales for the station.

Entravision Communications Corporation announced that the company has appointed Luisa Collins to Vice President of News, Social Affairs and Wellness, effective February 10th.  She will be based in Los Angeles, California.    In her new position, Collins will oversee news content and be responsible for quality control across Entravision’s 25 television stations that currently air local news coverage.  She will also be responsible for expanding the Entravision brand by developing increased content for the news websites.

Telemundo Media has announced the appointment of A. Victoria Rivas-Vázquez as Noticias Telemundo Bureau Chief in Washington D.C.  In her new role, Rivas-Vázquez reports to Noticias Telemundo Senior Vice President, Sylvia Rosabal. 

Telemundo Media has been nominated for seven GLAAD Media Awards in the Outstanding Spanish-Language Daytime Talk Show Episode, Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Journalism and Outstanding Spanish-Language Local TV Journalism categories.

mun2 will premiere its first MMA (mixed martial arts) competition reality series “Combate Americas” on Sunday, February 23rd at 10:00p.m. EST/ 9:00p.m. CST. The series produced by BMP Latin ( a division of Emmy award winning Bunim/Murray Productions) and created by Co-founder of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Campbell McLaren, follows the lives of ten Hispanic MMA fighters as they compete, coexist and face the daily challenges set before them to win an exclusive contract with the new Combate Americas franchise. The series will be hosted by award-winning Latin music duo Chino & Nacho and MMA host/journalist Andrea Calle. Urban music superstar Daddy Yankee will serve as Combate Americas’ first commissioner and Piolin, SiriusXM host of Piolin Radio channel 147, appears as the color commentator.

The television industry has witnessed a shakeup in recent years with TV viewers’ quick adoption of new viewing platforms and the gradually declining levels of cable and satellite subscription services. Some have expressed concerns about how TV service subscription rates are changing and whether this will affect the current business model. However, a recent TV Dailies poll conducted by Ipsos MediaCT surveying prime-time viewers’ subscription service behavior suggests the industry should not be worrying just yet.

Telemundo Studios announced the kick-off of its new original production “Reina de Corazones,” starring Paola Núñez, Eugenio Siller, Juan Soler and Catherine Siachoque. Set in Sin City – Las Vegas – “Reina de Corazones” is a story of a love that must overcome the barrier of memory, where the glamorous nightlife and casinos play a prominent role in a plot characterized by mysterious twists and turns, espionage, conspiracy, intrigue, crime and romance.

Olympusat, Inc. has recently signed with BuenaVision to exclusively distribute its high-quality entertainment-based programming, from the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean, to the United States.

Univision Communications Inc. has announced a licensing agreement with Telelatino Network, a holding of Corus Entertainment, to rebrand Telelatino’s TLN en Español (TLNE) as Univision Canada.

ESPN Deportes announced that they will be conducting their 2014 Upfront activities on May 14 at 9:00 a.m. at the Hearst Tower in New York City.

Telemundo Media and Spain’s Reset TV announced plans to jointly own, develop, produce and distribute “El Artista” (Working Title), a new musical competition format and weekend primetime series, set to premiere in the 2014-15 season.

UniMás, a Univision network, announced the acquisition of the exclusive rights for the dramatic series “El Varón de la Droga” (The Drug Baron) at NATPE.

Discovery en Espanol starts off February with the premiere of EL DUO MECANICO (Fast N’ Loud) and a new season of OVERHAULIN’. Both series air February 10th on Lunes de motores (Motor Mondays), the network’s new programming block dedicated to the transformation of cars feeding viewers passion for restoration, technology, innovation and real life stories.

Univision Communications Inc. announced that it will hold its annual Upfront presentation for advertisers in New York City at 11:00 am on Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

Fox International Channels (FIC) and the RCN Television Group (RCN) have announced the appointment of Ibra Morales as President of MundoFox, effective today.

Hemisphere Media Group, Inc. announced that Hemisphere Media Holdings, LLC, its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire three Spanish-language cable television networks from Media World, LLC.

Mexicanal becomes the first network to broadcast live news from its regional Michoacán affiliate, Sistema Michoacano de Radio y Televisión. Viewers can now tune in to watch “SM Noticias Michoacán” every weekday from 7-7:30PM CT.

Telemundo Media announced the promotion of Allan Infeld to Vice President, Client Development. Infeld had previously served as Director, Client Development, Telemundo Media since joining the company in March 2013.

Leveraging the success of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” Telemundo announces the premiere of “Top Chef Estrellas” on Sunday, February 16th at 8pm/7c.  Produced by Emmy award-winning production house Magical Elves and shot in New Orleans on the same kitchen and with the same crew as the Bravo version, “Top Chef Estrellas” blends the best of Bravo’s franchise with a few twists, featuring eight major Hispanic celebrities as they compete to raise money for charity. 

ZGS Communications announced that it has appointed Gilberto Companioni as the News Director of its Telemundo affiliate station in Orlando, effective immediately.  Companioni is an award-winning news executive with over two decades of experience.