TelevisaUnivision, facing industry-wide challenges such as cord-cutting and fluctuations in the advertising market, has announced a restructuring effort that includes laying off several hundred employees.
In a memo to employees CEO Daniel Alegre outlined plans to revamp the company’s senior leadership team and acknowledged upcoming workforce reductions. While the exact number of layoffs was not specified, a source indicated that a “mid- to high-single-digit” percentage of the workforce is expected to be impacted.
Notably, with around 3,600 based in the United States and 9,700 in Mexico, TelevisaUnivision employs approximately 13,300 people worldwide.
As part of the executive restructuring, Jose Luis Fabila, currently leading content and strategy at TelevisaUnivision in Mexico, will take charge of all global content under the newly established Global Content Organization. Following the departure of local media chief Jesus Lara Donna Speciale, President of U.S. Ad Sales and Marketing, will expand her responsibilities to include local and audio ad sales. Additionally, Ignacio Meyer, Head of U.S. Networks, will now oversee U.S. audio and local programming alongside his current role and Vix COO Rafael Urbina has been promoted to lead all digital and streaming operations following the announcement that Pierluigi Gazzolo will step down as streaming chief at the end of the year.
Furthermore, these leadership changes reflect CEO Daniel Alegre’s efforts to reshape the company. Alegre, brings extensive experience in tech and video games including 16 years at Google and has outlined plans to revamp the organization’s operations after joining the company in September.
CEO Daniel Alegre highlighted key priorities during the company’s third-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts in October. These include streamlining operations across linear and streaming platforms and fostering greater integration between the two entities that merged to form TelevisaUnivision in 2022.
CEO Daniel Alegre, said, “We need to drive further integration of our two legacy companies. Each of these has been around for more than 60 years, and while that creates a rich history, catalog and branding recognition, it also brings with it very established ways of operating. We have a real opportunity to shift from two regional companies into one global company.”