Jorge Hidalgo is no longer Executive Vice President of Telemundo Deportes. His position has been eliminated.
As of today, Eli Velázquez has been promoted to the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Sports, Hispanic Enterprises and Content.
Velázquez will report directly to Joe Uva, chairman, NBCU’s Hispanic Enterprises and Content and Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics and Operations, Strategy, NBC Sports Group.
In his new role,Velázquez will be responsible for leading sports production and coordinating resources between Telemundo’s existing production capabilities and NBC Sports, delivering sports content to Telemundo, NBC Universo and the company’s digital platforms.
Velázquez was previously promoted to SVP Sports in 2014, overseeing all sports programming and operations for Telemundo.
Before that, he was VP of Sports since 2008. He joined Telemundo as a producer for “Boxeo Telemundo” in 1999.
In an email sent out to staff, Uva announced the reorganization of the sports division as part of the plan “to get our company World Cup-ready.”
Given Telemundo’s acquisition of the Spanish-language rights to the FIFA World Cup, BPL, NFL and NASCAR, Uva stressed “sports programming has become a very important priority for our division” that required restructuring and expansion of the company’s “sports production capabilities.”
Under the new structure, Telemundo will be aligned closer to NBC Sports to leverage their production resources, media rights management, best practices and expertise.
According to the email, Hidalgo will be helping during the transition period.
Hidalgo joined Telemundo in February 1999 as VP of Sports. He was previously sports director for Univision Network.
Here’s the staff email:
From: Uva, Joe (NBCUniversal)
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 12:20 PM
Subject: Sports Announcement
As you know, with the acquisition of the Spanish-language rights to the FIFA World Cup, BPL, NFL and NASCAR over the last couple years, sports programming has become a very important priority for our division. In fact, in 2015 we will have over 700 hours of additional sports content across our platforms, and that number will grow significantly as we approach 2018 and the FIFA World Cup. In order to meet this growing demand for sports content and better serve all of our businesses across Hispanic Enterprises and Content, we have decided to restructure and expand our current sports production capabilities. Under this new structure, we will align ourselves closer to NBC Sports to leverage their production resources, media rights management, best practices and expertise as one of the leading sports broadcasters in the world.
Consequently, today we are promoting Eli Velázquez to a new role as Executive Vice President, Sports, Hispanic Enterprises and Content, reporting directly to me and Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics and Operations, Strategy, NBC Sports Group. In his new role, Eli will be responsible for leading sports production and coordinating resources between our existing production capabilities and NBC Sports, to make sure the Telemundo Network, NBC Universo and our digital platforms are provided the high-quality sports content they need.
As a result of this reorganization, Jorge Hidalgo, Executive Vice President of Telemundo Sports, will leave the company to pursue other interests. He will be with us during a transition period. I want to thank Jorge for all his dedication and commitment to Telemundo and wish him the best in his new projects. He has built one of the best sports teams in the industry and leaves us with a great foundation to continue building into the future.
In closer alignment with NBC Sports and serving the needs of the different Hispanic brands across our division, this new structure will allow us to take advantage of the company’s long-standing storytelling tradition to engage the US Hispanic audience with relevant, bold and distinctive sports content that will bring them closer to their favorite athletes and teams across multiple sports.
As I have said before, our number one priority is to get our company World Cup-ready. This reorganization is another step in that direction and better positions us to meet our increased content needs in the short and long term. With the 2015 FIFA World Cup events and NASCAR coverage about to start, and only a few weeks away from the launch of NBC Universo and its broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX, I am confident that this new structure, together with your professionalism, expertise and commitment, will solidify our position in the market as a true “sports powerhouse” for years to come.
Joe