Univision bets large on news

Univision is improving its news coverage, built around 'Aqui y hora,' co-located by Maria Elena Salinas, above, along with a top team of journos including Brit Karl Penhaul, below. While U.S. auds happen to be progressively sliding from news and current matters shows, Univision's U.S. The spanish language-speaking audiences are adopting the format.During the last ten years, Univision's primetime news magazine "Aqui y ahora" (Present), co-located by Maria Elena Salinas and Teresa Rodriguez, has upped its audience, while its British-language alternatives -- ABC's "20/20," CBS' "an hourInch and NBC's "Dateline" -- have forfeit nearly 50% of the audiences.The The spanish language-language TV giant expects to give the interest in such shows even more, using Univision News prexy Isaac Lee to improve the scope of their inhouse coverage.The moves dovetail using the company's intend to launch cable news funnel Univision 24/7 in fall 2012, over time for that U.S. presidential elections.The network is creating a large push into news, employing high-profile heavy-players having a slew of honours.Journos Karl Penhaul and Carlos Villalon happen to be employed as special foreign correspondents incompatible zones all over the world.Uk-born Penhaul originates from CNN and it has been located in Latin America since 1995. He's won a clutch of honours for his work, such as the 2010 Cine Golden Bald eagle for "La bestia," his docu planning illegal immigration from Guatemala towards the U.S.He seemed to be a part of a CNN team that won the 2006 Peabody award for is confirming of Hurricane Katrina and it is aftermath, along with the team that won the 2007 Edward R. Murrow award for coverage from the Lebanon war. Chilean photojournalist Villalon, that has labored for Redux Pictures and Getty Images, won second devote this years World Press Photo contest's general news category for his focus on cocaine gangs in Colombia.Mexican-born Maria Antonieta Collins -- a TV journalist, radio personality, writer, author and champion of two Emmys as well as an Edgar Murrow award -- is joining like a senior special correspondent.Univision also offers released documentary and investigative models and broadened local newscasts in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Raleigh.Univision's documentary unit, headed by scribe-producer Juan Rendon, intends to produce three docus annually.The very first the gate is "Infiltrados" (Treated), set to air in September. It focuses on intelligence agents whose infiltration of Colombian left-wing guerrilla org FARC brought towards the capture of their leaders.Lee, who became a member of Univision in The month of january, professional-created NatGeo's 2008 docu "FARC Hostage Save," which Rendon composed.Another docu within the works explores the growing influence of Iran across Latin America, and will also be a collaboration between your investigative and documentary models, states Lee. Gerardo Reyes, a Pulitzer prize-winning journo formerly in the Miami Herald, heads the investigative unit.Univision 24/7 will in all probability carry the net's weekly cornerstones. They are brought by public matters program "Al punto" (To the stage), which provides a typical 900,000 audiences on Sunday morning and it is moored by Univision's most influential newscaster, Jorge Ramos and "Primer impacto" (First Impact), co-moored by Peru-born, six-time Emmy-winning journo Pamela Silva Conde and Puerto Rican journo Barbara Bermudo."Primer impacto" may be the greatest-ranked The spanish language-language daily mid-day news enter in the U.S., outperforming syndicated British-language alternatives "Inside Edition," "Extra" and "Insider" within the 18-34 demo.While not wanting to reveal more particulars about Univision 24/7, Lee stresses the new employs along with other efforts to create more in-depth news coverage goal to supply U.S. Hispanic auds with compelling news reviews."All of this reaffirms Univision's commitment to purchase its inhouse news procedures and expand its news franchise," states Lee. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com