Univision just went on one hell of a hiring spree. The Spanish-language leader has brought aboard Pierluigi Gazzolo, Luis Silberwasser and Donna Speciale — and each carries a “president” title.
Gazzolo, who hails from ViacomCBS, is president of Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) and chief transformation officer. Silberwasser is president of Univision Television Networks Group. Those are both newly created positions.
Speciale, as you probably guessed, is Univision’s new president of ad sales and marketing.
Wade Davis is CEO of Univision.
“Today begins a transformation for Univision. One that will see us accelerate our position as the leading U.S. Hispanic media company as we launch new products and services that will drive value for our U.S. Hispanic audience and for our advertising and distribution partners, who want to reach and engage with this critical audience,” Davis said Monday in a statement.. “Achieving our objectives will require new ways of working together, diversity of perspectives and in some cases new talent and skillsets. We began the evolution of our team with the appointment of world class leaders to our board of directors to bring together skillsets and diversity that Univision has never had at the board level. Today we are announcing a new, industry leading executive leadership team that exemplifies the traits of innovation, collaboration, inclusivity and accountability that will be central to our transformation. Each of these leaders understand the need to optimize Univision’s core businesses to meet its audience where they are and evolve its content, platforms and products to reach the market in new ways.”
Below is Davis’ leadership team. All appointments are effective immediately. In addition to the three new hires, Davis promoted three others to the executive vice president level.
- Pierluigi Gazzolo, appointed to the newly created role of president of Univision Communications Inc. and chief transformation officer to drive the next era of growth
- Luis Silberwasser, appointed to the newly created role of president of the Univision Television Networks Group to lead Univision’s national TV properties
- Donna Speciale, named president of advertising sales and marketing, to drive innovative expansion of Univision’s offering for advertisers
- Friday Abernethy, promoted to executive vice president of content distribution and partnerships
- Adam Shippee, promoted to the newly created role of executive vice president, corporate development, strategy and transformation
- Amy Tenbrink, promoted to EVP & associate general counsel, revenue/business development with expanded responsibilities across the digital business
Gazzolo left ViacomCBS in October. Towards the end of his tenure there, Gazzolo transitioned from chief operating officer of Viacom’s international business to president of streaming and studios for ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI).
Silberwasser departed NBCUniversal/Telemundo in 2018. He was last president at Telemundo Networks.
Leave a Reply