Meg James of the Los Angeles Times is one of the few reporters at a major newspaper who routinely cover the business of Spanish-language television (Christina Hoag at the Miami Herald and Miriam Jordan are the others and all three do outstanding work). Ms. James provided particularly insightful coverage of Univision's sale.
In yesterday's LAT, Ms. James reported Univision's "new owners threw a coming-out party here Wednesday that made clear that the Spanish-language network has bid adios to its tight-lipped ways."
Unfortunately, there is still plenty of evidence that suggests otherwise. That said, Ms. James is right to report on how CEO Joe Uva's Upfront appearance does mark a sea-change in how the network interacts with the outside world. It is just that Univision is still very secretive when compared to the other television networks. And the network routinely ignores and refuses to answer inconvenient questions.
Univision still won't say who is its board chairman, still won't answer questions about its children's programming advisory committee and still won't talk about online transmission rights. It won't make executives from its cable network Galavision available for interviews. It refused my request (made before the sale was finalized) to interview the co-head of sales because the article was not exclusively about the Upfront. McCauley was interviewed by several other journalists for articles exclusively about the Upfront. And you can forget about asking about anything related to Univision's programming dispute with Televisa that is headed to a federal jury trial in late October. One reporter notes Univision CMO Maryam Banikarim told the assembled journalists at a xx press conference to "please abstain ...".
The trial is crucial because the outcome will likely determine whether Televisa can end its its program licensing agreement with Univision. The agreement is vital to Univision because Televisa provides the U.S. network with its most successful telenovelas and football matches. Televisa's support is also necessary for coverage of Mexican celebrities, which is daily fodder for shows like El Gordo y la Flaca and to a lesser extent is important for the popular programs such as Sabado Gigante, Don Francisco Presenta and Cristina as well as for the network's popular awards shows. Despierta América. Televisa's support is important for Univision's newscasts and sports programs as well.
Hence, I am guessing, Ms. James' decision to close her piece with the following graf
After Wednesday's presentation, Saban buttonholed Televisa's top
business executive in the hall behind the stage. "See, we are getting
along," he said. "Haim Saban and Televisa — we're not fighting."
All in all, Ms. James has written a good piece and one that is
notably absent from the New York Times. I just would say that proof of
Mr. Uva's contention "that there is a new day dawning at Univision" is
still a good ways off. And skepticism is still called for. We'll see if
Mr. Uva is still regularly talking to the press in six months without important topics being off-limits.
If so, then we'll all be able to say with much more certainty that Univision has bid farewell to the Perenchio school of media relations.
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