Daniel Alegre, CEO of TelevisaUnivision
With the latest restructuring revealed on Wednesday, December 11, TelevisaUnivision aims to significantly enhance the profitability of its ViX platform. While ViX is already profitable, these changes are expected to increase margins by lowering costs.
The departures include a substantial portion of the Development and Content team, such as Augusto Rovegno, Senior VP of Content, and Vincenzo Gratteri, Senior VP of Development; Bilai Joa Silar, Senior VP and Head of AVOD Programming and Content; Jorge Balleste, VP of Content Partnerships and Acquisitions for SVOD/AVOD/FAST Channels/Formats/Coproductions; Michael Cerda from Technology; Roger Soler, CMO; and members of the ViX Communications department, including José Rodríguez, Tatiana Oviedo, and Viviana Rubinstein. Rafael Urbina will continue leading the area.
This move underscores the strategic importance of the U.S. market for TelevisaUnivision, as the majority of its US$5 billion annual revenue comes from the U.S., generating US$4 billion compared to US$1 billion from Mexico.
An analysis of ViX’s audience revealed that its viewers are less sophisticated than those of its competitors. Many of the productions created exclusively for ViX were too advanced for its audience, excessively expensive, and less successful on the platform compared to traditional Televisa content, which is produced at a lower cost.
The Univision audience is more sophisticated than Televisa’s, and to better appeal to U.S. viewers, one strategy will be to increase the per-episode value of content produced in Mexico, making the same content perform better in the U.S.
ViX’s new content strategy abandons the focus on sophisticated content and consumers, effectively reducing the development and production of premium series. Instead, it will leverage the three pillars where Televisa Mexico excels and leads in broadcast television: drama, comedy, and soccer. Additionally, there will be significant announcements in the reality TV genre, following the massive success of La Casa de los Famosos.
All decisions, acquisitions, development, and production operations will now be consolidated into a single operation in Mexico, optimizing resources and achieving significant savings.
The company’s ultimate goal remains to go public in the U.S. (IPO). This cost-cutting initiative and pivot towards a broader audience are expected to make the company more appealing to investors.
TelevisaUnivision anunció reestructuración para consolidar su liderazgo global
