HispanicBusiness

NEW YORK -- The Univision media group announced Wednesday that veteran company executive Ray Rodriguez will oversee all its television interests, including the January launch of the new Telefutura network.

On Wednesday, Rodriguez, 50, who has been president of Univision Network since 1992, became the head of television activities for the media group, which also owns the Galavision and Univision Sports cable networks.

"Ray has been a key figure in Univision's success over the past decade," said A. Jerrold Perenchio, CEO of Univision Communications, announcing the appointment.

Lucia Ballas-Traynor, general manager of Galavision, and David Downs, president of Univision Sports, will remain in their posts, but will now report to Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said he felt fortunate to be working with Perenchio and praised his vision of the potential of Spanish media in the United States.

"Under his leadership and with a team of outstanding executives, we have created the leading Hispanic network, the top Spanish cable network, and the leading Spanish site on the Internet," Rodriguez said in a press release.

Univision Communications' television network reaches 95 percent of the country's Hispanic households in the major U.S. markets.

Rodriguez will be responsible for launching Telefutura, a new Univision venture aimed at the growing Hispanic market, which, according to the latest Census, comprises 35 million people.

The new network, broadcasting 24 hours a day, will not have the traditional format of Hispanic channels. Telefutura will compete with English-language networks, aiming a good portion of its content to households where both English and Spanish are spoken.