Noticias Telemundo’s “Inmigración, Trump y los Hispanos” Sunday, February 12 at 7PM/6 C, ranked # 1 in Spanish-language TV in primetime across all key demographics, averaging 1.57 million total viewers, 708,000 adults 18 to 49 and 325,000 adults 18 to 34, according to Nielsen. The news special moderated by Noticias Telemundo News Anchor José Díaz-Balart also positioned Telemundo as the #1 Spanish-language network during the entire primetime on Sunday, across all key demos.

“Noticias Telemundo is empowering millions of Latinos with reliable and TRANSPARENT information at a time of change,” said José Díaz-Balart. “Viewers trust us because they know our only commitment is to present the facts the way they are, with professionalism and a total commitment to our community.”

“Immigration, Trump and the Hispanic Community” also reached 1.6 million viewers on Facebook, generating 23,000 global actions on the social network.

The Town Hall answered viewers’ questions about the impact of President Trump’s immigration policy on the Hispanic community. The news special featured a panel of experts, including immigration lawyer and Telemundo contributor Alma Rosa Nieto; Telemundo conservative political analyst Ana Navarro; the Deputy Vice President of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Clarissa Martínez, and CHIRLA’s Executive Director, Angélica Salas. In addition, “El Poder en Ti”, Telemundo’s robust community initiative, launched an Internet site for Hispanics looking for information, tools and resources on immigration in parallel to the Town Hall.

“Inmigración, Trump y los Hispanos” is part of a series of Noticias Telemundo specials, including “Trump en la Casa Blanca,” produced the day after the elections, and “Trump y los Latinos,” which aired on Inauguration Day. All of these programs share an emphasis on allowing audiences to express their views and empower them by giving them access to trustworthy, rigorous and relevant information presented under Noticias Telemundo’s banner “Telling It Like It Is” (“Las Cosas Como Son” in Spanish).

Your Editor Asks: How can they not be militants?

-The following is a joint statement from Univision Communications Inc. and Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., regarding the U.S. Federal Communications Commission decision:

“The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved an increase in the authorized aggregate foreign ownership of Univision’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock from 25% to 49%, in a Declaratory Ruling adopted yesterday. In the same ruling, the FCC authorized Televisa to hold up to 40% of the voting interests and 49% of the equity interests of Univision. The Commission concluded that permitting increased foreign investment in Univision would serve the public interest in diversity and competition in the media sector without any countervailing national security, law enforcement or trade policy concerns. The FCC’s decision will enable Univision to accommodate increased foreign investment that may result from share purchases by the public in an IPO while enabling Televisa (an existing investor in, and business partner of, Univision) to increase its current equity stake in the company.”

Your Editor Concurs: More freedom, more diversity

By Claire Atkinson

Univision’s private equity backers and its Mexican programming partner just ran into a roadblock.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation strongly discouraged the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday from making major decisions until the Trump administration is in place.

Univision, expected to go public in the coming months, had asked the FCC for permission for Mexico-based Televisa, from which it buys telenovelas, to increase its stake in the Spanish-language network to 40 percent from 10 percent.

Current rules restrict foreign ownership of US television networks.

“It’s a big concern,” said a source close to Univision.

An FCC spokeswoman confirmed the Univision petition has yet to be ruled upon.

For several reasons, a Trump administration is expected to give the request a much tougher review.

While the odds of getting its request acted upon in the 64 days before Trump is inaugurated is slim, one connected media source cautioned, “This may still get decided before a new FCC chairman is appointed.”

Univision’s road to FCC approval under a Trump White House is expected to be bumpier for several reasons.

For starters, Univision is backed by Haim Saban, its executive chairman and a vocal Hillary Clinton supporter.

Plus, Univision has had a less than positive relationship with the President-elect. For instance, Chief Executive Randy Falco fought with Trump over a variety of issues, including the Miss Universe pageants.

Trump sued Univision for $500 million after the company dumped its coverage of the pageants because Trump described some Mexicans as “rapists.”

Then there was the Trump-Jorge Ramos dustup.

Your Esitor Asks: Any more surprises?

Primo TV and Kids Central Will Launch on Comcast’s Xfinity TV in January 2017

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) last week announced it has selected two new Hispanic American-owned independent networks to be broadly distributed on Comcast Cable systems beginning in January 2017. After a thorough evaluation of dozens of proposals, Comcast selected Primo TV and Kids Central, both of which will provide quality family programming targeted to bilingual Hispanic youth.

“We believe that these networks will provide high-quality educational and entertaining content while infusing Latino culture into the experience.”

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“Kids Central and Primo TV’s unique focus on young bicultural Hispanics fill an unmet need in youth-oriented programming and further demonstrate our commitment to providing the best experience for bicultural Hispanic families,” said Javier Garcia, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Multicultural Services at Comcast Cable. “We believe that these networks will provide high-quality educational and entertaining content while infusing Latino culture into the experience.”

Kids Central is an English-language network consisting of age-appropriate programming with high educational value and entertainment standards that appeals to bicultural Hispanic viewers ages 3-7. In primetime, the network expands its audience with a block of family-oriented programming targeted to the whole family. Kids Central will provide both English and Spanish language video on demand content. Kids Central is owned and operated by Condista Networks.

“We are proud to work with Comcast to bring this network to viewers,” said Jorge Fiterre, President of Condista Networks. “Kids Central offers a new option for both English and Spanish speaking children and their families.”

Primo TV is an English-language network that will appeal to bicultural Hispanic viewers ages 6-16 and consisting of age-appropriate programming with high educational value and entertainment standards. Primo TV will build off the proven track record of V-Me and V-Me Kids with diverse content such as animated series, adventure programming and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Awareness that will connect US Hispanics with their cultural roots. The network will also provide several video on demand content options. Primo TV is owed by V-Me Media, Inc.

“We’re excited to launch Primo TV on Comcast,” said Victor X. Cerda, Senior Vice President at V-Me Media, Inc. “Primo TV supports V-Me Media’s mission to provide empowering content to the next wave of Hispanic and bicultural youth. V-Me also applauds Comcast for supporting a Hispanic-owned network in reaching a growing population with content that positively reflects U.S. Hispanic values on screen.”