The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Univision would be cutting costs in light last Tuesday’s announcement that the Spanish language broadcaster is not going forward with its long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO).
20 Univision staffers were laid off last Friday as part of those cost-cutting measures, including high-level executives at the Univision-owned Fusion Media Group, which consists of the Fusion TV network, as well as digital publishers, including The Onion, Gizmodo, The Root.
Felipe Holguin, CEO of Fusion Media Group, which houses Univision’s English-language assets including the Fusion cable network, Gizmodo Media Group, and the company’s stake in The Onion, was laid off on Friday. President and chief content officer of Fusion cable network Daniel Eilemberg was laid off as well.
The UCI board, chaired by Haim Saban, cut ties with Univision CFO Frank-Lopez Balboa last week in light of the failed IPO. He’s being replaced with Peter Lori.
A UCI spokesperson provided us with the following statement:
As the media industry rapidly evolves, we are focused on continuing to transform UCI for the future. As part of this process, we have recently taken steps to realign parts of our operations and reallocate resources to invest in growth that will best serve our audiences, community and partners. This week, 20 positions were eliminated across various UCI business units.
Univision CEO Randy Falco is retiring at the end of the year, even though his contract with Univision Communications was extended last November, and doesn’t officially expire until January, 2020. The company’s search for a new CEO is underway.