Michael Rodriguez has been named vice president and general manager of WLTV and WAMI, the Univision and TeleFutura affiliates in Miami.
“Michael’s expertise in Hispanic media is second to none, and we plan to tap into that experience as well as the total power of the Univision Network in order to continue to grow in the Miami market,” said Kevin Cuddihy, president of the Univision Television Group, in announcing the appointment. “Michael began his career–most of which has been spent in Miami–at Univision Radio and we are very excited for his homecoming.”
Rodriguez has significant experience working in the Miami market. He was vice president and general manager of Telemundo station WSCV from 2002 to 2007. Before that, he worked as a local sales manager at CBS-affiliate WFOR.
Rodriguez comes to Univision from Telemundo, where he was executive vice president of development, distribution, and broadcast operations. He began his broadcasting career as an account executive with Univision Radio in Miami.
“The 2010 Census showed that South Florida’s population growth is being fueled by Hispanics, with about half of the state’s Hispanic population living in Miami-Dade and Broward counties,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “Therefore, Univision’s stations in this market couldn’t be a more important source of information and entertainment for this community.”
In a press release announcing the move, Univision noted that WLTV’s 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts in 2011 were “watched by more Adults 18-49 than the local CBS and NBC affiliates combined.”