Telemundo
Telemundo (Spanish pronunciation: [teleˈmundo] ⓘ; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content nationally with programming syndicated worldwide to more than 100 countries in over 35 languages.
This article is about the terrestrial television network launched in 1984. For the Puerto Rican television station it was named after, see WKAQ-TV. For the unrelated news program from Uruguayan channel Teledoce, see Telemundo 12.Type
United States
Miami, Florida, U.S.
- Telemundo East
- Telemundo West
- Beau Ferrari
(Chairman of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises - Bonnie Hammer
(Vice Chairman, NBCUniversal) - Jeff Shell
(CEO, NBCUniversal)
1984
June 19, 1984
NetSpan (1984–1987)
Universal Pictures is founded
NBC is founded
Universal Cartoon Studios (later known as Universal Animation Studios) is founded
MCA Inc. establishes Revue Studios (later Universal Television)
NBC begins first compatible color broadcasts, preceding other networks by nine years
NBC's first peacock logo debuts
American Cable Systems is founded
NBC broadcasts the first Super Bowl
American Cable Systems rebrands to Comcast
Comcast began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Universal releases Jaws
PolyGram renames Casablanca Record & Filmworks to PolyGram Pictures
Universal releases E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Walter Lantz Productions is sold to Universal
Universal releases Back to the Future
General Electric buys RCA for $6.4 billion, including NBC and a stake in A&E
NBC relaunches Tempo Television as CNBC
Universal Studios Florida opens
Law & Order premieres on NBC
Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting merge to form British Sky Broadcasting
Universal Cartoon Studios (later Universal Animation Studios) is established
Universal releases Jurassic Park
DreamWorks Animation is founded
Barry Diller purchases Universal's domestic television assets
Seagram acquires PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Universal Television is renamed Studios USA Television
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment is folded into Universal Pictures
Universal Studios Florida expands to become Universal Orlando Resort
Grand opening of Universal Studios Japan
Universal releases The Fast and the Furious
Vivendi purchases Studios USA
NBC acquires Telemundo and Bravo
Studios USA assets are folded into Universal
Focus Features is formed
Comcast acquires AT&T Broadband for $44.5 billion
Universal becomes the first studio with five summer releases breaking the $100 million mark
GE and Vivendi merge NBC and Universal into NBCUniversal
The Office premieres on NBC
Comcast sets up a joint-venture with PBS, Sesame Workshop & HIT Entertainment to form PBS Kids Sprout
Comcast & Time Warner Cable jointly acquire Adelphia Cable assets for $17.6 billion
USA Network begins 13-year streak as #1 cable network in total viewers
Illumination is founded
Universal releases Illumination's first film Despicable Me
Vivendi divested in NBCU; Comcast buys 51% of NBCU from GE, turning it into a limited liability company
NBCUniversal Archives is founded
Universal celebrates its 100th anniversary
NBCUniversal divests its A&E Networks minority stake
Comcast buys GE's remaining 49% of NBCU
Comcast/NBCU assumes full ownership of Sprout
Comcast attempts to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion
NBCUniversal reaches a new long-term deal with WWE
NBCU acquires DreamWorks Animation
Sprout relaunches as Universal Kids
Comcast acquires Sky after a heated bidding war with 21st Century Fox
NBCU acquires Cineo Lighting
NBCU launches Peacock
Grand opening of Universal Beijing Resort
The Super Mario Bros. Movie becomes Illumination's highest-grossing film
The network was founded in 1984 as NetSpan before being renamed Telemundo in 1987 after the branding used on WKAQ-TV, its owned-and-operated station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1997, Liberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired controlling interest in Telemundo. NBC then purchased Telemundo in 2001.
The channel broadcasts programs and original content aimed at Latin American audiences in the United States and worldwide, consisting of telenovelas, sports, reality television, news programming and films—either imported or Spanish-dubbed. In addition, Telemundo operates Universo, a separate channel directed towards young Hispanic audiences;[1] Telemundo Digital Media, which distributes original programming content across mass media, the Telemundo and Universo websites; Puerto Rico free-to-air station WKAQ-TV; and international distribution arm Telemundo Internacional.
Telemundo is headquartered in Miami and operates a studio and productions facility in the Miami suburb of Doral, Florida, and has 1,900 employees worldwide.[2][3] The majority of Telemundo's programs are shot at an operated studio facility in Miami, where 85 percent of the network's telenovelas were recorded during 2011.[4] The average hourly primetime drama costs $70K to produce.[5]
Controversies
SAG-AFTRA
On February 9, 2016, NBC Universal, Telemundo's parent company, faced claims by SAG-AFTRA of operating under a double standard between its Spanish-language and English-language talent at NBC and Telemundo. In their response, the network released a statement claiming they are "committed to making Telemundo a great place to work for our employees and will continue to invest in them to ensure their salaries and working conditions are competitive with the rest of the broadcasting industry in accordance with market size and station revenues."
A few days later on February 13, 2016, SAG-AFTRA came back and added that Telemundo had been treating its employees like "second-class professionals" given that many actors do not receive basic workplace guarantees that SAG-AFTRA contracts provide, such as fair pay, water breaks, health insurance and residuals. At that time, Telemundo president Luis Silberwasser responded saying that SAG-AFTRA asked for recognition of the union as the bargaining agent for employees — rather than seeking a vote by employees. However, SAG-AFTRA claimed that intimidation tactics had been taking place within the network to keep employees from unionizing and that they believe "there is no such thing as a 'fair vote' when workers are afraid for their careers and livelihoods, and live with the fear of retaliation if they are seen as actively wanting to unionize. SAG-AFTRA wants to ensure full protection for workplace democracy and performers' rights to choose through a truly fair process."[93]
In August 2016, Telemundo once again found itself up against the union when the network refused to air an ad placed by SAG-AFTRA detailing the unfair wage gap and lack of benefits Telemundo employees face as opposed to unionized performers at NBCUniversal. The ad was set to air during the network's premiere people's choice awards Premios Tu Mundo but was never placed into rotation. A Telemundo spokesperson responded saying, "After legal review, we have concluded the ad did not pass legal standards for issue-based advertisement." Meanwhile, other Spanish-language networks such as MegaTV and Estrella TV aired the ad nationwide.[94]
SAG-AFTRA continued to stand its ground, stating that "Telemundo's decision to censor 30 seconds of truthful commentary about its working conditions shows just how averse it is to having a transparent discussion about its refusal to fairly compensate Spanish-speaking performers."[94]
2016 presidential election
On May 28, 2016, filmmaker Andrew Marcus caught a cameraman from Telemundo filming a #NeverTrump protest in San Diego. According to the filmmaker, the protest was staged. L. Brent Bozell III, the president of Media Research Center responded by demanding Telemundo to apologize to Donald Trump and to fire the crew involved with the incident. Meanwhile, Ken Oliver-Méndez, the director of MRC Latino, described that the incident as a "self-inflicted wound on Telemundo's credibility." Telemundo responded to Oliver-Méndez by claiming that "the integrity of the broadcast was not compromised since the material was not used by the Network news team." Telemundo also claimed that the network is "known for its balance and accuracy," and that it "did not, nor would it ask any full-time or temporary worker to stage events."[95]
International broadcasts
Mexico
Telemundo programming is available in Mexico through affiliates in markets located within proximity to the Mexico–United States border (such as owned-and-operated stations KHRR/Tucson, Arizona, KUAN/San Diego, KTLM/Rio Grande City, and KTDO/El Paso and other afiflates; KESE-LD-KECY-DT4/Yuma, and KGNS-DT3/Laredo), whose signals are readily receivable over-the-air in border areas of northern Mexico.
On March 18, 2008, Grupo Televisa and NBC Universal announced a ten-year multiplatform agreement that would allow 1,000 hours of Telemundo programming, including news; entertainment; specials and sports, to be broadcast over both Televisa's free-to-air channels, as well as its co-owned cable provider SKY México starting that April. The deal also included plans to launch a Telemundo channel that would be operated as a joint venture between both companies; the Mexican cable-satellite version of the network launched in August 2009. NBC Universal had considered launching a Mexican version of Telemundo as early as 2005, which led to a legal battle between it and TV Azteca over allegations that Azteca "engaged in the wrongful use of force" to shut down production of the Telemundo-produced reality singing competition series Quinceañera: Mamá Quiero Ser Artista ("Sweet 15: Mom, I Want to Be an Artist") in Mexico and a news story featured on an Azteca news program that accused then-NBC Universal parent General Electric and Grupo Casa Saba of fraud and corporate corruption with the intent to prevent the approval of a license application by Telemundo and Grupo Xtra to operate a television network in Mexico.[96][97]
