Joe Uva, the president and chief executive officer of Univision Communications Inc., has stepped down from his position after leading the company for four years, Univision announced on Monday.
Uva's decision to depart Univision comes at an interesting time for the company. In January, Univison recruited former NBC and AOL executive Randy Falco as chief operating officer, suggesting that the company felt the need to bolster its management roster.
"Although I will miss working with the many talented professionals at Univision, the team is strong and I have decided the time is right for me to capitalize on other opportunities," Uva said. "I know that Univision will continue its great success as the premier Spanish-language media company in the U.S.”
Uva will step down on April 2, when his current employment contract expires.
Calling Uva's contributions to the company "tremendous," Univision executive chairman Haim Saban said, "Univision is a better company today due to Joe’s efforts in building a strong leadership team and positioning Univision for long-term success."
Univision will begin its search for a replacement "immediately," the company announced. In the interim, Saban will assume additional responsibilities to ease the transition.
In February, Uva predicted that Univision would become the best-rated network in the U.S. in any language within five years. At that time, the network reported an 11.8 percent revenue increase (to $576.7 million) for the fourth quarter of 2010.
During that same period, adjusted operating income also increased 23.2 percent (to $259.4 million), according to Univision.
Prior to Univision, Uva was president and CEO of OMD Worldwide an Omnicom Group Company, a position he held from 2002 to March 2007. He was also president of Turner Entertainment Group Sales and Marketing for Turner Broadcasting Center. Before that, Uva was executive vice president of sales for CNN.
