Univisión holds its 2011-2012 Upfront

Univisión’s held its 2011-2012 Upfront at the New Amsterdam Theater on Times Square in New York City. Univisión president César Conde hosted the event, which was short and to the point, lasting about an hour. In attendance were Televisa high executives Pepe Bastón and Alfonso de Angoitia, and Haim Saban, Chairman of Univisión.Lucero, Televisa’s Mexican star and lead actress of the year’s most successful novela in the U.S. and Latin America, Soy tu dueña, opened the event. David Lawenda, President of Sales, followed by showing figures that position Univisión as the only U.S. network, regardless of language, that gained audience while others lost some (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC), and place it among the top five networks, often ranking above NBC. Lawenda said he had 50 executives ready to help advertisers grow with the Hispanic market.César Conde later entered the stage dancing with the winning couple from Mira quien baila, and immediately announced its second season, Mira quien baila 2. He also reminded the audience he had delivered on every promise made at the previous Upfront. These include the first novela produced at Univision Studios, Eva luna, the strengthening of the Sunday programming block with Mira quien baila, and the continued rise of the network to the top in the U.S. This year Univisión climbed another step in the ladder by outperforming NBC.Later, Conde listed the new programming for Galavisión, TeleFutura, and Univisión. He pointed out the powerful multi-platform machine that resulted from the partnership with Televisa. Lastly, he announced the three new networks: Univisión Deportes, Univisión 24/7, and Univisión tlnovelas; which along with the new Pay-TV channels of Televisa Networks acquired with the deal, makes Univisión a giant.Among the Televisa executives in attendance were Alejandro Quintero, VP Commercial; Eduardo Clemesha, New Contents; Alejandro Benítez, Talent Commercialization and Production of Series; Pedro Torres of the mall; Bruce Boren and Fernando Muñiz of Pay-TV channels; and Maca Rotter from Consumer Products.Other attendees included Carlos Bardasano and Juan Andrés Rodríguez, from Venevisión; from FoxTelecolombia, Samuel Duque Senior with two series on TeleFutura, El capo 2 and La mariposa, and another one on Galavisión, Kdabra. Most of the main talent of Univisión was also in attendance, including Mario Kreutzberger “Don Francisco,” who reaches his 50th anniversary with Sábado gigante, originally from Chile. Luis Balaguer, President of LatinWe, was also present. Executive Producer Mary Black was responsible for the event, which filled the two floors of the New Amsterdam Theater.