A month after Alberto Ciurana resigned from his role as President of Programming and Content, Univision’s President and CEO Randy Falco announced restructuring plans for the division during “this time of transition.”
In an internal memo sent to staff, Falco outlined changes designed to “to win in an ever changing industry.”
The Programming and Entertainment Division is being restructured into two units – program scheduling and entertainment.
Gustavo Ordóñez, SVP, Programming Research, who joined the company in 2013, will lead the program scheduling team, which will focus on entertainment, news, sports and music content across Univision Network, UniMás and Galavisión.
Ordóñez will be working closely with EVP of Programming Sandra Smester, EVP and Executive Director of News Daniel Coronell, Univision Deportes President Juan Carlos Rodríguez and recently appointed President of Univision’s music division Jorge “Pepo” Ferradas.
The company is currently conducting a search for the head of Entertainment. According to Falco, that person “will work closely with Televisa, our external partners and our in-house productions for Univision Network, UniMás and Galavisión.”
Until that position is filled, Smester will continue to focus on Univision Network’s daily and in-house primetime productions.
Here’s the internal memo:
Dear UCI Colleagues,
Today I want to provide an update on our plans for our programming and entertainment division. First I want to thank everyone who has stepped up to continue to deliver the best of UCI at this time of transition, including our programming leadership team, executive producers, our talent and entire entertainment and programming teams. As part of my commitment to you I wanted to do a deep dive to make sure that we are organized to win in an ever changing industry. Based on this analysis, we are restructuring the Programming and Entertainment Division as follows:
Program Scheduling: We will reorganize our program scheduling team under Gustavo Ordoñez, who will report to Jessica Rodriguez. This team will focus on scheduling for Entertainment, News, Sports and Music content across Univision Network, UniMás and Galavisión using a research based approach which aligns with how the industry looks at program scheduling. Gustavo will work closely with Sandra Smester, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, Daniel Coronell and Jorge (Pepo) Ferradas. Andres Mendoza and Ramsey Elia will report into Gustavo and work closely with Sandra.
Entertainment: We are currently conducting a search for the head of Entertainment. This person will work closely with Televisa, our external partners and our in-house productions for Univision Network, UniMás and Galavisión. Sandra will continue to focus on our Univision Network daily and in-house primetime productions. She has done an outstanding job in leading our daytime and primetime entertainment shows – such as Despierta América, El Gordo y La Flaca and Sal y Pimienta – and in collaborating with Televisa. Alan Nissim, Carlos Bardasano and Mauro Castillejos will continue to report to the new head of entertainment, and in the meantime will work with Sandra to make sure we continue to deliver for our audience and our partners. I am confident this team will continue to elevate the quality and innovation of our productions and set the standard in the industry.
We have the best team in the business, with an unparalleled commitment and passion for our community and I am extremely proud of how the teams have come together to continue to deliver on our mission and drive engagement across platforms with our teams. I will keep you posted on the search and look forward to working with Jessica, Sandra and Gustavo as we transition into this new structure.
Randy