Telemundo is an American Spanish-language television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which is a subsidiary of Comcast. It delivers Spanish-language content across the United States and syndicates programming globally to over 100 countries in more than 35 languages.
On March 28, 1954, WKAQ-TV signed on and was originally founded by Ángel Ramos, who owned El Mundo, Puerto Rico's main newspaper at the time, and WKAQ, the U.S. territory's first radio station.
From 2010 to 2013, Telemundo utilized an off-time scheduling format, similar to the 'Turner Time' format used by TBS from 1981 to 2000.
On April 14, 1983, Ángel Ramos sold WKAQ-TV to John Blair & Co.
In 1984, NetSpan was founded before becoming Telemundo.
In 1984, the owners of WNJU in Linden, New Jersey, and KSTS in San Jose, California, formed NetSpan.
The network was originally launched as NetSpan in 1984.
In 1986, Reliance Group Holdings acquired the Telemundo brand through its purchase of John Blair & Co., which owned WKAQ-TV and WSCV. Reliance also purchased WNJU in late 1986.
In 1987, NetSpan was renamed Telemundo after the network owners purchased WKAQ-TV.
In 1987, NetSpan was renamed Telemundo, adopting the branding of WKAQ-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In 1987, Reliance Capital Group executives merged stations into the Telemundo Group, rebranded NetSpan as Telemundo and the company went public. Additional stations were purchased in San Francisco, Houston, and San Antonio.
In 1987, Telemundo debuted its first news program, Noticiero Telemundo-HBC, through an outsourcing agreement with the Miami-based Hispanic-American Broadcasting Corporation.
In May 1992, Telemundo appointed Joaquin Blaya, the former president of Univision, to head the network.
In 2012, Telemundo announced a new branding campaign that included the replacement of its framed 'T' logo, a variant of the 1992-era design that had been introduced by the network in 1999.
On October 10, 1993, GEMS Television was launched. It was owned by Empresas 1BC and aimed its programming at Latina women.
In 1993, Telemundo began producing telenovelas from Miami, with the first production being Angélica, mi vida.
In 1993, Telemundo rebranded introducing the "T" logo and slogan "Arriba, Telemundo, Arriba". The network also began producing original telenovelas like Angélica, mi vida, Marielena, Guadalupe, Señora Tentación, and Tres Destinos.
In December 1994, Telemundo Puerto Rico was launched as Telenoticias, a Spanish-language cable news channel serving Latin America.
In 1994, Telemundo Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to a debt load exceeding $300 million.
In September 1995, Telemundo launched a Saturday morning block, Telemundo Infantil.
In 1995, Telemundo opened its first network studio on the West Coast at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. Daily production began on three shows: La Hora Lunática, El y Ella, and Dando y Dando.
In June 1996, Telenoticias was sold to CBS, who rebranded it as CBS Telenoticias, expanding its distribution.
Following the sale of its cable news channel Telenoticias to CBS Cable in late 1996, Telemundo entered into a content partnership with the channel to produce early-evening and prime time newscasts for the broadcast network.
On August 11, 1997, Telemundo cut an hour of prime time telenovelas and moved local newscasts to 10:00 p.m. Late-evening national newscasts produced by CBS Telenoticias were added, and movies were featured during the 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. time slot.
On November 25, 1997, Liberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment purchased a majority interest in Telemundo from Reliance Capital Group for $539 million.
In 1997, Liberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired controlling interest in Telemundo.
On July 31, 1998, the sale of Telemundo to Sony and Liberty received FCC approval, and they formed Telemundo Communications Group. The network launched the slogan "Lo mejor de los dos Mundos".
On September 15, 1998, Telemundo introduced Nickelodeon en Telemundo, a block featuring Spanish dubs of Nickelodeon programming.
On September 28, 1998, Telemundo's revamped evening lineup included sitcoms, scripted dramas, and game shows. The network removed telenovelas from prime time, adding remakes of English-language series and updated Spanish versions of The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and Candid Camera, along with the police procedural Reyes y Rey. Movies were added on Tuesday and Thursday nights as part of "Cinemundo".
By February 1999, Telemundo's ratings for the overhauled prime time lineup sharply fell by 42 percent to an 8 percent audience share. The network aired commercials for free, losing more than $1 million in potential revenue.
In July 1999, Jim McNamara became president and CEO of Telemundo, with Alan Sokol as COO. Their strategy reverted to a more traditional approach.
In September 1999, Telemundo began transferring its programming and marketing operations from Santa Monica to Hialeah, Florida, consolidating all network operations there. This led to relocation offers for staff, some position eliminations, and a shift in the network's operational base.
In 2012, Telemundo announced a new branding campaign that included the replacement of its framed 'T' logo, a variant of the 1992-era design that had been introduced by the network in 1999.
Since 1999, Telemundo has served as the official U.S. broadcaster of the Billboard Latin Music Awards.
On September 5, 2000, Nickelodeon en Telemundo was relegated to Saturday and Sunday mornings to accommodate a time slot for Hoy En El Mundo.
From 2010 to 2013, Telemundo utilized an off-time scheduling format, similar to the 'Turner Time' format used by TBS from 1981 to 2000.
In 2000, Telemundo made a programming agreement with TV Azteca. Telemundo restored a two-hour block of telenovelas, later expanded to three, cancelling Angeles and Reyes el Rey. Reality, entertainment, and newsmagazine programs were added, with movies relegated to weekend evenings.
In 2000, Telenoticias was relaunched as the bilingual entertainment channel Telemundo Internacional.
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Telemundo created additional news programs, including Hoy en el Mundo on ABC News, to inform viewers of national and international events.
On September 30, 2001, the Nickelodeon blocks were discontinued after the expiry of Telemundo's program supply deal with Nickelodeon.
On October 11, 2001, National Broadcasting Company, Inc. purchased Telemundo Communications Group from Sony and Liberty Media for $1.98 billion and assumption of $700 million in debt. Media experts questioned if NBC overpaid considering Univision's larger Hispanic audience reach.
In 2001, Telemundo parents Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media purchased GEMS Television and relaunched it as mun2.
In the summer of 2001, Sony, Liberty, and Reliance announced their intention to sell Telemundo Communications Group. Viacom, Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, and AOL Time Warner were among the companies expressing interest in acquiring the network.
On April 12, 2002, the acquisition of Telemundo by National Broadcasting Company, Inc. was finalized. Jim McNamara and Alan Sokol continued to lead the network after the acquisition.
On September 8, 2003, Telemundo became the first Spanish-language network in the U.S. to incorporate English captions during its programming, starting with the premieres of "La Cenicienta" and "Amor Descarado".
From 2003 to 2014, Telemundo held the Spanish language rights to the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants.
In 2004, Telemundo Communications Group formed Telemundo Television Studios in Miami as part of an expansion of original programming. Also in 2004, Telemundo acquired RTI Colombia's interest in Telemundo-RTI, and acquired Tepuy International's operational assets.
On October 10, 2005, Cada Dia with Maria Antonieta, replaced Hoy en el Mundo and En la Madrugada.
In 2005, NBC Universal considered launching a Mexican version of Telemundo, leading to a legal battle with TV Azteca.
In September 2006, Telemundo debuted Qubo, a new weekend morning block of educational programming formed as a joint venture between NBC Universal, Ion Media Networks, Corus Entertainment, Scholastic, and Classic Media.
In September 2006, UPN and The WB shut down and were replaced by The CW, which Univision also outranks as the fifth highest-rated network in total viewership.
In 2006, Joe Peyronnin left Telemundo after serving as its executive vice president since 1999.
In 2006, Telemundo Internacional was reformatted as Telemundo Puerto Rico.
On January 8, 2007, the now-defunct Qubo Channel launched, including CC3 Spanish subtitles in addition to its native CC1 English subtitles in most of its programming.
In March 2007, NBC Universal announced it would restructure Telemundo's entertainment division to compete with Univision. NBC also intended to sell WKAQ-TV in Puerto Rico and KWHY-TV in Los Angeles to finance the acquisition of Oxygen Media.
On December 21, 2007, NBC Universal announced it would no longer sell WKAQ-TV, ensuring Telemundo Puerto Rico remained within the NBC corporate structure.
In 2007, Telemundo replaced the weekend editions of Al Rojo Vivo and Noticiero Telemundo with feature films and reality-based series.
On March 18, 2008, Grupo Televisa and NBC Universal announced a ten-year multiplatform agreement to broadcast Telemundo programming over Televisa's channels and SKY México.
In May 2008, Telemundo canceled Cada Dia after Maria Antonieta Collins announced her departure, and as a result of low ratings.
On October 14, 2008, Telemundo briefly discontinued English subtitles due to budget cuts and a switch from analog to digital broadcasts.
On March 30, 2009, Telemundo reversed its decision and brought back English subtitles on all prime time novelas due to viewer demand.
On April 23, 2009, Telemundo launched its simulcast feed, Telemundo HD, becoming the first national Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S. to provide its prime time programming in high definition. The launch was celebrated with the broadcast of that year's edition of the Billboard Latin Music Awards.
In August 2009, the Mexican cable-satellite version of Telemundo was launched as a joint venture between Grupo Televisa and NBC Universal.
In September 2009, Telemundo's scripted prime time telenovelas were upgraded to high definition, beginning with "Mas Sabe El Diablo" ("Falling Angel").
From 2010 to 2013, Telemundo utilized an off-time scheduling format for its prime time programming. The programs that aired weeknights from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. started on a three-minute delay.
From 2010 to 2015, Telemundo decreased its ratings gap in the key demographic of Adults 18–49, decreasing the gap between Telemundo and Univision by 54 percent.
In 2010, Comcast announced its intention to acquire a 51 percent majority stake in NBC Universal for $6.5 billion, including Telemundo.
On January 28, 2011, Comcast completed its acquisition of a 51 percent majority stake in NBC Universal, gaining control of Telemundo as part of the deal.
In February 2011, the production operations for Un Nuevo Día were relocated to Telemundo's headquarters in Hialeah, Florida.
In October 2011, Emilio Romano was appointed as president of Telemundo.
In 2011, 85 percent of Telemundo's telenovelas were recorded at its studio facility in Miami. The average hourly primetime drama costs $70K to produce.
In 2011, Telemundo discontinued its secondary newscast, Noticiero Telemundo Internacional.
In January 2012, Telemundo Television Group launched Exitos TV, a digital multicast network featuring reruns of Telemundo telenovelas.
On January 30, 2012, Univision began airing CC3 English captions on its evening programming, mainly on weeknight telenovelas and select weekend prime time series, following Telemundo's lead in providing closed captions in both English and Spanish.
On May 14, 2012, Telemundo announced a new branding campaign, including a new slogan and on-air identity. Telemundo replaced its framed 'T' logo with a new logo featuring two partial red spheres forming a 'T'.
On July 7, 2012, after Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal, Telemundo replaced Qubo with MiTelemundo, programmed by Sprout, consisting of Spanish dubbed versions of programs seen on NBC Kids.
In July 2012, the hybrid news and lifestyle program ¡Levántate! was retitled Un Nuevo Día.
In July 2012, the weekend morning MiTelemundo E/I block began to be broadcast in HD.
In 2012, Telemundo debuted Premios Tu Mundo, a viewer-decided awards show honoring Hispanics and Latinos in media.
In 2012, Telemundo programs with English-language captions during their original broadcast began including them in repeat broadcasts outside of prime time, particularly as part of the network's late-night novela repeat block.
As of July 2013, La Voz Kids is the only variety show appearing on the network.
In July 2013, Telemundo began narrowing its ratings gap with Univision, decreasing the gap in total prime time viewership to 238,000 by July 2015.
In October 2013, Emilio Romano abruptly resigned from his position as president of Telemundo.
On October 22, 2013, Telemundo launched Telemundo Now, a multi-platform streaming service for authenticated subscribers of participating pay television providers.
On December 13, 2013, Telemundo signed a distribution deal with DramaFever to offer episodes of past telenovelas on the streaming service.
From 2010 to 2013, Telemundo utilized an off-time scheduling format for its prime time programming. As a result, until this format was discontinued in 2013, conventional 'top-and-bottom' start times were not restored until the evening's final prime time program.
In 2013, Telemundo continued momentum with telenovelas like 'La Patrona' and 'El Señor de los Cielos', and the musical competition 'La Voz Kids'. With 'El Señor de los Cielos' debut, Telemundo launched the 'Super Series' format for action-oriented telenovelas.
On May 13, 2014, Luis Silberwasser was named president of Telemundo Network, LLC, taking responsibility for Telemundo network and Telemundo Studios.
In July 2014, Telemundo signed a licensing agreement with Dick Clark Productions and became the originating broadcaster of the Latin American Music Awards in October 2015.
On September 4, 2014, Telemundo restored daily broadcasts of Al Rojo Vivo and Noticiero Telemundo with the return of Saturday and Sunday editions.
On December 1, 2014, Exitos TV was relaunched as TeleXitos with a focus on Spanish-dubbed action and adventure series and feature films.
On December 24, 2014, NBCUniversal announced that mun2 would be rebranded as NBC Universo.
From 2003 to 2014, Telemundo held the Spanish language rights to the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants.
In 2014, Deportes Telemundo acquired the Spanish language rights to broadcast the FIFA Men's and Women's World Cup for a reported $600 million. The deal began with the 2015 Women's World Cup and runs through 2026.
In 2014, the second-season finale of El Señor de los Cielos posted some of Telemundo's highest viewership for an entertainment program, drawing 3.2 million total viewers.
Telemundo ended the 2014–15 season posting its highest average total prime time viewership against Univision with 1.46M, a 23 percent increase yearly. Telemundo came within 40,000 viewers of beating Univision in prime time viewership for the week of July 20–24, 2015.
On February 1, 2015, mun2 was rebranded as NBC Universo to coincide with the Spanish-language broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX.
In February 2015, the Miss Universe and Miss USA rights were obtained by Univision Communications with the intention of moving the telecasts to UniMás.
In May 2015, NBCUniversal created Telemundo Deportes within its NBC Sports Group, superseding the network-operated division Deportes Telemundo.
By July 2015, Telemundo had narrowed the ratings differentials with Univision in total prime time viewership from a gap of 1.2 million viewers in July 2013 to 238,000.
On July 21, 2015, Telemundo beat Univision for the first time in a singular-night demographic. Additionally, 'El Senor de los Cielos 3' beat 'Yo No Creo En los Hombres' on Univision in the demographic during the 10:00 p.m. hour.
In September 2015, Donald Trump sold the Miss Universe Organization to WME-IMG after NBCUniversal sold its interest.
In October 2015, Telemundo became the originating broadcaster of the Latin American Music Awards through a licensing agreement signed in July 2014.
As of 2015, Telemundo operates on a 147½-hour network programming schedule, offering various types of general entertainment programming.
In 2015, Deportes Telemundo began broadcasting the FIFA Women's World Cup. The broadcasting rights were acquired in 2014 and runs through 2026.
In 2015, two variety series debuted: 'Si Se Puede', an adaptation of the Armoza Formats celebrity talent competition franchise I Can Do That, and '¡Qué Noche! con Angelica y Raul', a family-oriented series to fill the void by Univision's Sabado Gigante.
On February 9, 2016, NBCUniversal, Telemundo's parent company, faced claims by SAG-AFTRA of operating under a double standard between its Spanish-language and English-language talent at NBC and Telemundo.
On February 13, 2016, SAG-AFTRA claimed that Telemundo had been treating its employees like "second-class professionals" due to lack of basic workplace guarantees.
On May 28, 2016, a Telemundo cameraman was caught filming a #NeverTrump protest in San Diego, which was allegedly staged. This sparked controversy and demands for an apology from Telemundo.
In August 2016, Telemundo refused to air an ad placed by SAG-AFTRA detailing the unfair wage gap and lack of benefits Telemundo employees face, compared to unionized performers at NBCUniversal.
On September 25, 2016, despite NBC Kids being replaced by The More You Know block on NBC, MiTelemundo initially retained its existing programming.
On January 6, 2018, MiTelemundo moved exclusively to Saturday mornings and became programmed by Litton, carrying Spanish dubs of programming from The More You Know.
As of June 2018, Telemundo has 28 owned-and-operated stations and 66 additional television stations, making it the largest American Spanish language broadcast television network by total number of affiliates.
On July 12, 2018, SAG-AFTRA announced it had reached a first-ever tentative agreement with Telemundo Television Studios covering Spanish-language television performers, after fifteen months of negotiations.
On September 1, 2018, Telemundo converted its presentation to a 16:9 aspect ratio. "Al Rojo Vivo" became the first program presented in the new format.
At the start of 2018, the ZGS stations became direct O&Os of the network after they were purchased by NBC's Telemundo Stations Group.
As of July 2019, Telemundo's network feed originates from NBCUniversal's corporate office in Centennial, CO, sharing a technical operations facility with Comcast and NBC.
In 2021, the agreement between Telemundo and SAG-AFTRA was renewed, including improvements in rest periods and provisions related to sexual harassment.
The broadcasting rights that were acquired in 2014 by Deportes Telemundo for the FIFA Men's and Women's World Cup ends in 2026.
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