TELIVISA VS UNIVISION

[mrtexmex2007]

I heard that TELEVISA a Mexican Televison network has sued UNIVISION for something. Im ot sure of what but Televisa is trying to locate a competitor to broadcast its shows. One of the first choices is Telemundo.
This was back in 2007, how does this deal stand now?

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/dec/21/business/fi-univision21

 

[azumanga]

I heard that TELEVISA a Mexican Televison network has sued UNIVISION for something. Im ot sure of what ...

According to Wikipedia (take with a grain of salt), Televisa sued Univision over the latter's treatment of Televisa's programming, in which Univision edited programming for content standards and commercial time; Televisa also accused Univision for not paying for programming rights on behalf of Telefutura and Galavision (the one in the US owned by Univision, not related to Televisa's XEQ-TV).

 

[Ultimajock]

...were I with Televisa, I'd sue Univision for one thing alone -- dumping Televisa's Lucha Libre, months (if not over a year) behind production, onto Galavision instead of putting it on Univision itself the same week that it runs in Mexico City...

 

[mequetrefe413]

...were I with Televisa, I'd sue Univision for one thing alone -- dumping Televisa's Lucha Libre, months (if not over a year) behind production, onto Galavision instead of putting it on Univision itself the same week that it runs in Mexico City...

Actually, Galavision airs AAA's Lucha Libre, and they are (about) 6 weeks behind schedule, and they have ditched the more traditional CMLL since 2005. This has been an eternal discussion on Univision.com's Lucha Libre forum, and still waiting for an answer on why the exclusivity for AAA (which I think most of their wrestlers are a joke, compared to the lineup from CMLL), and the only answer I have gotten is that Univision tends to switch between the two, but this time they have sticked with AAA much longer than they would normally do. I am sick of "El Elegido" and the cheap imitation of HHH named "Cibernetico", and I demand more "Dr. Wagner", "Dos Caras", "Blue Panther" (even without the mask) and perhaps (gasp!) "Mistico".

 

[JayR]

AAA vs. CMLL

Actually, Galavision airs AAA's Lucha Libre, and they are (about) 6 weeks behind schedule, and they have ditched the more traditional CMLL since 2005. This has been an eternal discussion on Univision.com's Lucha Libre forum, and still waiting for an answer on why the exclusivity for AAA (which I think most of their wrestlers are a joke, compared to the lineup from CMLL), and the only answer I have gotten is that Univision tends to switch between the two, but this time they have sticked with AAA much longer than they would normally do. I am sick of "El Elegido" and the cheap imitation of HHH named "Cibernetico", and I demand more "Dr. Wagner", "Dos Caras", "Blue Panther" (even without the mask) and perhaps (gasp!) "Mistico".

CMLL airs in the US on FOX Sports en Espanol.

 

[mequetrefe413]

Re: AAA vs. CMLL

CMLL airs in the US on FOX Sports en Espanol.

I know that already, but I want to see more of the matches from Arena Mexico, and those are on the CMLL show on the Galavision service in Mexico (and for many years on Galavision USA).

 

[lugnuts6]

Update:
December 2nd the LONNNNNNNNG Delayed court trial TELEVISA VS UNIVISION begins

HOWEVER!!! some interesting things have developedsince this battle began

To borrow a line from Geraldo Rivera:

ITEM..Televisa signed a deal with TELEMUNDO to air Telemundo programming on its Galavision (XEQ TV 9) channel as well as a couple of Cable channels owned by Televisa

ITEM: Televisa has announced that they signed a deal with TELEMUNDO to broadcast Mexican Soccer games

Now these recent deals may not mean much, BUT.. it does raise ONE GOOD PREDICTION...
early 2009 look for this headline SHOULD Televisa win: TELEVISA TO BUY 25% OF NBC-UNIVERSAL's TELEMUNDO

Univision has some BIG problems ..and its showing!
You'll note they have removed some big Televisa produced shows from GALAVISION USA And it kinda looks like AAA Wrestling could be gone from GALAVISION USA as well

 

[azumanga]

Now these recent deals may not mean much, BUT.. it does raise ONE GOOD PREDICTION...
early 2009 look for this headline SHOULD Televisa win: TELEVISA TO BUY 25% OF NBC-UNIVERSAL's TELEMUNDO

Or maybe ALL of the Telemundo network and a 25% stake in its stations -- that's how it is in the case of Azteca America, where TV Azteca owns the network, as well as 25% interest in KAZA in Los Angeles (with the belaguered Pappas Telecasting owning the other 75%).

Going to be interesting to know what programming Univision will carry if they lose -- Televisa goes to Telemundo, TV Azteca programming already pent up on AZA, Venevision being based in an unfriendly country. I can see the next headline -- "Don Francisco and Sabado Gigante moves to Telemundo".

 

[lugnuts6]

AND..lets not forget some embarrassing newsmaking headlines recently

mainly the UGLY scandal involving the married (soon to be divorcing) anchors of Primer Impacto Fernando Del Rincon and Carmen Dominicci (and its getting NASTIER)


The once strong armour of Univision is starting to rust, BADLY!

 

[BRNout]

Going to be interesting to know what programming Univision will carry if they lose -- Televisa goes to Telemundo, TV Azteca programming already pent up on AZA, Venevision being based in an unfriendly country. I can see the next headline -- "Don Francisco and Sabado Gigante moves to Telemundo".

A couple of quick points on this.

For one thing, Venevision's location still doesn't matter as much as you may think. Although the government is very unfriendly to the US, Venevision's management certainly is. As is the case with the majority of networks down there. They just need to have a low profile, considering Chavez' recent law which provides a 25 year prison sentence for making statements "offensive to the Presidency."

So, they could take additional programming from Venevision - in addition to many of the shows they already do (i.e.Que Locura). And, they could get a lot from Columbia's Caracol network too. Both crank out a lot of telenovelas.

Additionally, Don Francisco isn't going anywhere. His show is produced by Univision in Miami and not by Televisa. He's one of their biggest revenue draws. Combine that with the programming that they produce themselves and they can find a way to get by without Televisa if absolutely necessary. That being said, they would probably rather not try. A large percentage of their audience is Mexican and Televisa's programming works well with that audience, culturally. Their most popular current telenovelas come from Televisa. Losing access to that programming would definitely be an outcome that Univision would rather not see.

By the way, Univision's news programming is so left-biased as to make Keith Olbermann look like he belongs with Sean Hannity! They get away with it because most of their audience doesn't know to question what is reported and because most who blog for media watch groups don't speak Spanish. But, their newscasts are pretty bad. If that's the only channel you watched (and for some people, it is), you would have thought that Obama was named president back in May, once he beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. Seriously, it's that bad.

 

[azumanga]

Additionally, Don Francisco isn't going anywhere. His show is produced by Univision in Miami and not by Televisa. He's one of their biggest revenue draws.

I realise that, though what would stop Telemundo from offering a better contract once Don's contract at Univision is up for renewal?

 

[JayR]

TELEVISA VS UNIVISION

Additionally, Don Francisco isn't going anywhere. His show is produced by Univision in Miami and not by Televisa. He's one of their biggest revenue draws.

I realise that, though what would stop Telemundo from offering a better contract once Don's contract at Univision is up for renewal?

I'm glad I'm not alone in this thinking. I wonder what the viejos would think about Mario "Don Francisco" Kreutzberger jumping ship to Telemundo? To them, Sabado Gigante is synonymous with Univision. Talk about confusion...*LOL* ;D

 

[BRNout]

No, there's nothing to keep a big talent from jumping ship when his/her contract is up. While that's certainly a possibility, Univision will certainly do whatever they can to keep that from happening with Mr. Kreutzberger. 'Don Francisco' is their biggest single draw and his Sabado Gigante program is provided (mostly live) to leading networks in every country in Latin America. It's a pretty big deal for them. Losing his services would be worse for Univision than being blackballed by Televisa.

From what I understand, he's pretty happy with Univision and with the way his programming is distributed throughout the Americas (including to his native Chile). They free him up for his beloved annual "Teleton" in Chile and have facilitated making it into a franchise in other countries. Sure, Telemundo could do the same thing - but it they would have to offer up one heck of a big pile of money to outbid Univision. Remember, financially (and ratings-wise) Univision does a lot better than Telemundo.

 

[stationless listener]

Re: TELEVISA VS UNIVISION

Bumping up this topic to bring up something interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/business/media/07univision.html

Univision, the nation’s highest-rated Spanish language television network, plans to announce on Monday the formation of a dedicated studio division and the hiring of an experienced producer to run it.

The move reflects Univision’s effort to produce and own more of its programs. For years virtually all of the network’s hugely popular serialized soap operas, called telenovelas, have been imported from other countries under a deal with the Mexican media giant Televisa. Over time, the studio will allow Univision to reduce its dependence on overseas producers.

In the article, it talked about how Univision operating its own studio would help them with programming when their contract with Televisa expires in eight years. They're already putting into place plans to look ahead after their agreement with Televisa ends. That's the biggest sign that there is no going back for Univision.

If you're Telemundo, would you still willfully jump fully in bed with Televisa, knowing the problems they've had with Univision? Also, with Cheapcast owning Telemundo, Televisa might buy a stake in Telemundo just to spite Univision. However, I think that Univision is more than capable of competing against a possible Cheapcast/Telemundo/Televisa conglomerate if that happens. As long as they can keep the rights to World Cup soccer.

 

[azumanga]

Re: TELEVISA VS UNIVISION

... with Cheapcast owning Telemundo, Televisa might buy a stake in Telemundo just to spite Univision.

Though they may end up leaving the stations out of this, as the FCC restricts ownership of local stations by foreign groups. This was the main reason why Televisa was forced to divest interest in the old SIN in the late-1980s, leading to the establishment of Univision.

 

[Ultimajock]

Re: TELEVISA VS UNIVISION

... with Cheapcast owning Telemundo, Televisa might buy a stake in Telemundo just to spite Univision.

Though they may end up leaving the stations out of this, as the FCC restricts ownership of local stations by foreign groups. This was the main reason why Televisa was forced to divest interest in the old SIN in the late-1980s, leading to the establishment of Univision.

...the Federal Communications Corruption changed those regulations after it was noticed that Fox is owned by an Australian conglomerate...

 

[azumanga]

Re: TELEVISA VS UNIVISION

the Federal Communications Corruption changed [foreign ownership] regulations after it was noticed that Fox is owned by an Australian conglomerate...

If that was the case, then why aren't there any foreign ownership of stations now? I always thought Rupert Murdoch skirted around the regulations by becoming an American citizen.

 

[stationless listener]

Murdoch acquired U.S. citizenship in 1985 as a pre-requisite to owning the Metromedia stations that would be the distribution medium for the FOX network. This would help explain what went on then:

As perhaps befits a man with such a great level of power and influence, Murdoch has often found himself at the center of political firestorms. He became widely scorned by labor organizations and pro-labor politicians around the world because of his hardline tactics in battling the British newspaper workers' unions in the mid-1980s. His 1985 purchase of the Metromedia television stations required him to become an American citizen to comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. television stations; many felt he received inordinately preferential treatment by the Reagan administration in expediting the citizenship process. His FOX television network was able to avoid complying with the FCC's Financial Interest and Syndication (FinSyn) rules, first, by airing fewer hours of programming than was required to define FOX as a "network," and later, by receiving a temporary FCC waiver of the rules--an action the other three broadcast networks vigorously opposed. Also, Murdoch was the specific target of a 1988 effort by Senator Edward Kennedy--at the time, a frequent target of Murdoch's Boston Herald newspaper--to revoke another FCC waiver, one that waived cross-ownership restrictions that would have prevented Murdoch from owning both newspapers and television stations in New York and Boston. The end result of Kennedy's efforts was that Murdoch eventually sold the New York Post (he later would receive a new waiver that allowed him to reacquire the struggling paper in 1993), and put Boston's WFXT-TV into an independent trust.

Link: http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=murdochrupe

Anyway, this topic isn't about Rupert Murdoch, so I'll leave it there.

Back to what I was trying to comment on, I speculated that Televisa might buy a stake in Telemundo to spite Univision for what they believe was Univision's violation of a previous contract for Televisa's programs. I didn't mean to imply that they would buy the stations outright. I know they can't do that, from my understanding of the rules. But Televisa can easily enter in a joint venture with Cheapcast....I mean Comcast for Telemundo, say...up to 49% of the Telemundo network. They could, if I'm right, own up to 25% of the stations themselves (I'm thinking of Azteca's partial ownership of KAZA as an example). Televisa is already doing business with Telemundo for programs being aired in Mexico. It would be just as easy to upgrade that relationship to a joint venture in the States.

But that's one scenario. Another scenario is Telemundo gets spun off NBCU to an independent group that can do a better job of focusing on delivering Spanish-language programming. NBCU hasn't exactly been good stewards of Telemundo since owning them. I think Telemundo, even though it does produce many of its own shows, may be suffering from being under the corporate umbrella. An independent media group could give Telemundo the focus that it needs and funds to compete against Univision.

 

[MarcB]

Telemundo has always been the #2 Hispansic network and always will be. They've always struggled. How many morning shows have they been through in the past years? Also Univision has a national feed on cable in areas where there is no Univision affiliate. Does Telemundo? I've never been aware of one.

I remember back in the day Telemundo running Bugs & Friends in Spanish in the morning along with a couple other dubbed American cartoons. Then at another point they were running Nickelodeon cartoons in Spanish - Ahhh Real Mosnters, Rugrats, Rocko's Modern Life, etc and on the weekends shows from Nick Jr dubbed in Spanish.

A couple positives about Telemundo - they air American movies dubbed in Spanish. (Univison does that on their Second network Telefututa) and they got that dance show on Saturday afternoons with the hot chicas dancing on the beach. And the other positive about Telemundo is their Mun2 Network. Much better then MTV Tr3cs, which is slowly being morphed into MTV dubbed in Spanish.

 

[azumanga]

Univision has a national feed on cable in areas where there is no Univision affiliate. Does Telemundo? I've never been aware of one.

Some cable systems offer a national feed of Telemundo -- Charter in Bay City, Michigan, for instance.