Univision veteran Art Izquierdo, who worked for the network 28 years, is among about a dozen staffers quietly eliminated from the sports department. The layoffs took place Sept.27, as part of a “reorganization.” Univision officials would not comment, but just recently confirmed some of the layoffs.
Among the confirmed layoffs:
Art Izquierdo – Univision Director of Sports Production. He joined Univision in 1984, working the first 15 years as Production Manager, before getting promoted to his most recent position.
Pedro Pontillo – General Producer, “Contacto Deportivo.” He had been with Univision since 2002, first as an online writer/producer, before moving to a sports producer position at Telefutura.
Arturo Polo – Senior Segment Producer, “Contacto Deportivo.”
Juan Domingo Chacoff – Segment Producer, “Contacto Deportivo.” With Univision since 2000, he started in news before moving on to “República Deportiva,” later producing for the Telefutura sports show.
Daniel Viñas – Producer. He had been with Univision since 2000.
Ileana Chacón – Associate Producer, “Univision Deportes.” The newest member of the team, she joined Univision from ESPN in 2011.
Additionally, Senior Producer Victor Bague resigned following the layoffs. Izquierdo was replaced by Rick Ceara, Executive Producer of “Republica Deportiva.”
Insiders say the elimination of the long-running sports team is part of an effort to relegate more authority to the network’s Televisa partners and that it’s very possible a portion of Univision’s sports production will be moved to Mexico.