[July 01, 2011] Falco named CEO of Univision Tweet Jun 30, 2011 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Television industry veteran and former AOL chief Randy Falco was named president and chief executive officer of Univision Communications, the nation's largest Spanish-language media company. The news doesn't come as a surprise. Falco joined the Univision leadership in January as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Three months later, Univision CEO Joe Uva announced he would be stepping down when his contract expired in April. Before Falco's six months with Univision, he served as head of AOL from 2006 until March 2009. Prior to that, he spent 30 years with NBC in various roles, culminating as president of the NBC Universal television group. "Randy has great experience in both traditional and new media," said Hispanic media consultant and former Telemundo president Julio Rumbaut. "At NBC, Telemundo reported to him, so he had his hand in the U.S. Hispanic market." Falco, who will be based in New York, comes into the job during a strong time for Univision, as programming continuously snags high ratings. It's the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast network in the nation, often ranking among the top three broadcast networks in overall viewers. Its website also lays claim to being the most-visited Spanish-language website among U.S. Hispanics. Univision Networks is based in Doral, and its president, Cesar Conde, will report to Falco. Rumbaut says now the only way Falco can bring the company higher is through an IPO in the next year to 18 months. "They really can't go much higher as far as ratings," Rumbaut said. Industry analyst firm Gerson Lehrman Group reported that Univision will likely go after an IPO by 2012. The Univision board of directors, led by Haim Saban, approved Falco as CEO. The company reported the decision was made after a comprehensive search process. "I'm excited to lead a company with such tremendous growth potential and look forward to continuing to work with such an exceptional leadership team," Falco said in a statement. He will also have a seat on Univision's board of directors. Second-place Telemundo has yet to name a successor to Don Browne, who stepped down as CEO of the NBC-owned Hispanic network in June. To see more of The Miami Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Miami Herald Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]