Randy Falco, president and CEO of Univision Communications, will receive the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Board of Trustees Award in June.The award recognizes Falco's long run in the media biz, rising through the ranks at NBC and moving into CEO posts at AOL and Univision since 2011.“Randy Falco has been a trailblazer in every facet of the television business he has touched,” said NATAS chairman Chuck Dages.The award will be presented June 4 in New York.
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In his eight years at Univision, Randy Falco presided over big changes. He planted Univision firmly in digital turf by buying Gawker out of bankruptcy for $135 million, purchasing a 40.5% controlling stake in the parent of humor-oriented The Onion for $27 million and forming a video streaming JV with Lionsgate–all in 2016. Netflix also licensed series “El Chapo” with a second window for Univision that year.
The Spanish-language U.S. TV media outfit even diversified into English-language content with its Fusion cable network/digital platform, though Disney exited a Fusion partnership in 2016. Falco kept Fusion, which rebranded as Splinter in July 2017, aimed at a broad millennial audience.
Univision’s total audience is sizeable as its TV, radio and digital platforms average a measured monthly unduplicated audience of 89 million persons. Its reach extends to other TV properties including UniMas, formerly Telefutura, as well as cable channel Galavision and sports network Univision Deportes.
With Univision owned by private equity investors since 2007, a corporate merger or initial public stock offering to cash out could be on the horizon. Univision flirted with an IPO, a plan that could be impacted should speculation be true that emerged in 2017 that John Malone may be looking to make an investment in the company.
Prior to joining Univision in 2011, Falco was CEO at AOL and earlier a 30-year veteran of NBC Television. He has an undergraduate business degree and MBA from Iona College. He left Univision at the end of 2018.