Univision-Televisa getting all hot and steamy

By Eriq Gardner

Drama of muy rica telenovela proportions in a Los Angeles courtroom this week. Group Televisa is pressing a breach-of-contract dispute against Univision, claiming more than $100 million in damages and asking the court to void a programming agreement that provides Univision with its many hit Spanish-language soap operas.

 

Don't doubt the significance of this trial: Nielsen shows that Univision programs are consistently beating CBS, NBC, and ABC in the ratings among prime demographics, and in a time where many media companies are troubled, it has reportedly been able to bump ad rates.

This all may come to an end if Univision is allowed to yank Televisa's programming. If that happens, it would represent a melodramatic turn-of-events from a couple years ago when a group of private equity firms ganged together to beat out Televisa in the acquisition of Univision. Supposedly, bad blood between the two companies has existed for years, in part due to those doomed buy-out negotiations.