In his first big reorganizational move since taking over as President of Telemundo Network in August of 2014, Luis Silberwasser today announced several changes among the executive ranks. Among them, he has named Luis Carlos Vélez to Executive Vice President of Network News, reporting directly to him.
He takes over the news department leadership role from Alina Falcón, who was named EVP of Network Sports, Research and Integration for Telemundo Network, also reporting to Silberwasser.
In his new role, Vélez will oversee the network news operations and be responsible for editorial direction, programming and production of all news properties, including nightly newscast “Noticiero Telemundo,” Sunday news program “Enfoque con José Diaz-Balart, morning show “Un Nuevo Día,” and daily news magazine “Al Rojo Vivo,” as well as other related network news programming, breaking news and specials.
He’ll also play a key role in strengthening the collaborations with Telemundo’s owned and operated stations.
Prior to joining Telemundo, Vélez was Anchor and News Director in Caracol Television in Colombia. In that role he supervised all editorial content for Caracol News across its multimedia platforms.
He was previously an anchor and reporter for CNN International based in New York and an anchor for CNN en Español.
Falcón will now decide sports programming strategy for Telemundo network, working closely with Eli Velázquez, recently appointed EVP, Sports, Hispanic Enterprises and Content.
Claudia Foghini rejoins the network team as SVP of Production Strategy, Management and Services, but will continue her current duties at Telemundo Studios, where she has been since 2013.
As part of the changes, Silberwasser is consolidating on-air and off-air creative departments into a single Marketing and Creative group reporting to Aileen Angulo and placing the Specials Group, under Pilar Lamadrid, within the Programming team. Both department heads will report to Jesús Torres Viera.
According to the Telemundo president, “these changes will add depth to our leadership team and better position us to leverage our strengths for success.”
Below is the email sent out to staff announcing the changes:
From: Silberwasser, Luis (NBCUniversal) Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 1:37 PM Cc: Uva, Joe (NBCUniversal) Subject: Management Announcements at Telemundo Network
I want to share with you some important management and structural changes at the Telemundo Network, all of which are effective today.
Over the last five months, since my arrival at Telemundo, I have spent a great deal of time working with the team, analyzing the strengths and opportunities we face as we look to take Telemundo to new heights. In order to strengthen our capabilities, as well as to have a leaner and more efficient structure fueled by new ideas and innovation, we are implementing the following changes:
1. Alina Falcon is being named Executive Vice President — Network Sports, Research and Integration for Telemundo Network, continuing to report directly to me.
a. In this new role, Alina will be the executive in charge at the network for Sports programming. She will lead the network’s creative, editorial, and scheduling strategies for our sports properties, and will work closely with Eli Velazquez to ensure that the network reflects the quality standards that NBC Sports and Deportes Telemundo are known for. Additionally, Alina will be responsible for leveraging the FIFA World Cup properties across the entire Telemundo Network to maximize their promotion power for the rest of our schedule. Alina brings to this new role a wealth of expertise and knowledge in sports broadcasting, having had oversight for Sports programming, including the FIFA World Cup tournaments, during her tenure at Univision.
b. Effective today, Alina will also assume oversight of the Research department. She will work with NBCU’s research teams to develop and implement best practices, processes, and structures that will strengthen the Network’s capabilities in audience research and insights. Importantly, Alina will work closely with NBC Universo and our digital platforms to jointly determine what research resources should be dedicated to each of the businesses. As a result of this change, Millie Carrasquillo will leave the company to pursue other interests. Millie is a true professional and has been a passionate and committed Telemundo executive for many years. We deeply thank her for her hard work and dedication and wish her much success in her future projects.
c. Partnering and leveraging the strengths of the entire NBCU portfolio and the Telemundo Stations is a key priority for the Network. Therefore, Alina will be the point person to execute network-wide initiatives across all departments, including Symphony and other initiatives that involve coordinating Telemundo Network with other NBCUniversal and Comcast properties and local stations. She will support Jackie Hernandez and Alfredo Richard at Hispanic Enterprises and Content, as well as Manuel Martinez at the Station Group to execute these kinds of broader initiatives across the network.
2. I am also very pleased to name Luis Carlos Velez as Executive Vice President — Telemundo News, reporting directly to me. Luis Carlos will oversee all our network news operations and be responsible for editorial direction, programming, and production of our news properties including all our newscasts, “Al Rojo Vivo” and “Un Nuevo Dia.” The Specials Group under Pilar Lamadrid will now join the Programming team headed by Jesus Torres Viera. Building on the record performance of Telemundo’s news in 2014, Luis Carlos will be charged with infusing innovation and best practices to accelerate our growth, while strengthening the synergies with Telemundo’s owned and operated stations, as well as with the team and properties at NBC News. Luis Carlos comes to Telemundo with an impressive track record as a journalist, news anchor, and most recently as News Director in Caracol Television in Colombia. In that role, he supervised all editorial content for Caracol News across its multimedia platforms, leading a team of more than 150 journalists. Under his leadership Noticias Caracol became Colombia´s TV news leader reaching its highest ratings since its launch in 1998. Prior to that, Luis Carlos was an anchor and reporter for CNN International based in New York and an anchor for CNN en Español. Please join me in welcoming Luis Carlos to the Telemundo family.
3. I am consolidating our separate on-air and off-air creative departments into a single Marketing and Creative group reporting to Aileen Angulo. My goal with this change is to have a unified creative and marketing vision for the network, innovate our go-to-market strategies, and run a more efficient group to serve all network departments. Aileen will continue to report to Jesus Torres Viera in the Network Programming group. Separately, Susan Solano-Vila, who was previously heading the off-air and branding group, will continue to report to me leading key network projects. Specifically, she will be responsible for creating and executing the 2015/16 Upfront presentation in NYC, as well as overseeing and completing the next evolution of Telemundo’s Brand strategy and look, which is currently under way.
4. Lastly, Claudia Foghini will now join the Network management team, reporting to me as Senior Vice President of Production Strategy, Management and Services. She will continue her current duties at Telemundo Studios, but will now oversee production management of third party productions for the network. The objective with this change is to strengthen the network’s capabilities in the production management area, improving our execution and cost control skills. Claudia’s expertise and ability to manage talent, outside production companies, and to leverage her internal relationships with legal, technical and engineering groups has greatly benefited the Studios. We now look forward to bringing this kind of impact to the rest of Network projects.
As we face an exciting year at the Network, these changes will add depth to our leadership team and better position us to leverage our strengths for success. The Telemundo Network has a great opportunity to truly materialize the growth potential it represents for our company. In the few months I have been here, I have seen the incredible creativity and passion of all our employees. This is what distinguishes Telemundo and is the engine of ideas that will move this network forward. Your dedication and commitment, together with a clear strategy and a revitalized management team, will surely allow us to continue to grow and deliver against our short and long term goals.
Luis