Months before the World Cup's very first whistle, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, the leader of the departmen...

1. Largest Winner in World Cup TV? Perhaps Univision
Months before the World Cup's very first whistle, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, the leader of the
department of Univision Communications, offered a challenge: can his engineers work out the best
way to air its football broadcasts than its English-language competitions faster in to American
houses to them?
About a half-thousand dollars in new technology after, the task was fulfilled -- programs that were
Univision's beat ABC's and ESPN's, if only by a matter of seconds.
Univision, that was commenced as a neighborhood San Antonio TV station in 1955, is now a
sprawling media conglomerate based in Ny, reaching almost 100 million television households
across the USA.
The numbers function to the sudden increase of America's Hispanic population over the last two
decades as a sort of exclamation point. It is a demographic change which has been obvious in voting
work patterns and trends. Today the World-Cup has revealed how the landscape is being reshaped
by it too.
Telemundo outbid Univision for the 2022 and 2018 World Cups, splitting the Spanish-language
monopoly Univision has used over the tournament since 1972. Telemundo has also been investing
heavily in its telenovelas. NBC's biggest success at the minute, "El Senor p los Cielos" ("The Lord of
the Skies"), of a Mexican drug lord, occasionally draws larger people than Univision's contending
play in the exact same time-slot. Not too long ago, that might have been unimaginable, according to
Spanish-language TV experts.
"We're viewed as a Spanish-language broadcaster that largely plays with Telemundo," the
corporation's CEO, Randy Falco, stated. "But in my view, we should be contending with the english
language sites because progressively we are going to have an audience which will surpass ESPN."
The unprecedented publicity that it has received from the World-Cup couldn't have come at a better
moment for Univision. Mr. Perenchio, an one time Hollywood representative, observed the potential
of Spanish-language tv in 1992, when he purchased Univision for only $500-million.
Mr. Saban and his associates are now researching the chance of a deal at the center of a flurry of
big press business mergers. In recent months, they have spoken to at least two big firms, Time-
Warner and CBS, about marketing Univision for roughly $20 billion. In addition, they are
contemplating an IPO of inventory.
"If I were Univision right now, I'd be asking myself, Where are we headed?" said Emiliano Saccone,
the former head of MundoFox, another relative newcomer to the Hispanic marketplace. "Can we
keep up our kingdom the way we've for the last 50 years? My feeling is, perhaps not necessarily."
The World-Cup has been a record-breaking occasion for Univision, that has commanded its
Television competitions in many of America's largest towns -- La, Miami and Houston. It even won
the Ny market for many games. With the finals still to come-on Sunday -- offering a Latin American
team for the first time in 12 years -- Univision has already brought roughly 80 million viewers, or
about 60 percent more than it recorded for the 2010 competition.

2. Mr. Falco, who took over at Univision 3 years ago after mature positions at NBC and AOL, embodies
the company's desire to be seen as a mainstream media firm. He's a-60-year old Bronx native who
does not speak Spanish.
Edgar Martinez planning for a program. The World Cup has set seeing records for the media
business. Credit Lianne Milton for The Ny Times
For Mr. Rodriguez, that felt like enough to entice away some viewers. He said within an interview
from Brazil.
Yet exactly the same changing demographics that help Univision also threaten its popularity. Other
media companies are currently trying to reach the expanding Hispanic population, most notably
Telemundo, which has the strong sources of its parent organization behind it.
Twenty thousand bucks would be a high price for a Spanish Language media business. But on any
given night , telenovelas -- tales of love, sex, money and betrayal, imported completely from Mexico -
- may attract more viewers than English-language sites like Fox and NBC. The system confirmed its
governmental influence when a newsgroup that was presidential was hosted by it during the
strategy that was last, and it is set to play an even larger role in the 2016 race.
A confluence of additional variables -- some deliberate, some serendipitous -- have worked to the
network's advantage. Univision's were utilized free loading by legions of football supporters to
discreetly watch games on their workplace computers or cellphones. A few of Latin-American teams,
including Mexico and Costa Rica, performed surprisingly well in the championship. And some low-
Hispanic audience only prefer the network's excitable experts, who perform themselves into a frenzy
every time a player crosses mid-field with the basketball, never mind drives it into the back part of
the net: "Mamita querida que GOOOLLLAZZZOO!"
Assimilation introduces an even greater threat that is long term. Many identify themselves culturally
as American and grow bilingual up. Univision must compete for their attention equally, with every
other media store, Spanish and English.