The threat of signal piracy to broadcasters serving minority communities

• Author: Christopher Wood
• Position: Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Univision Communications Inc., USA
• Pages: 19-21

p. 19WIPO | MAGAZINE

→

THE THREAT

OF SIGNAL

PI R ACY

to broadcasters serving

minority communities

By Christopher Wood,

Senior Vice P resident and Asso ciate

General Counsel, Univision

Communications Inc., USA

Univision Communications Inc. (Univision) is the leading me-

dia company serving the Hispanic community in the United

States (US). Our programming ser vices feature two over-the-air

Spanish-language broadcast networks, Univision and Unimás,

and a suite of cable television net works that includes Univision

Depor tes, the leading Spanish-lan guage sports channel in the

US. With the tremendous grow th of the Hispanic population

in the US over the past decade, Univision has evolved from

a niche servic e into a leading content provider. Our agship

Univision Network is n ow one the most-watched broadcast

networks – in any language – in the US.

Univision is a content creator, producing thous ands of hours of

national and local news, pub lic affairs, sports, daytime e ntertain-

ment, special events, music specials and other programming.

But we also license marque e entertainment program ming

from other producers, particularly Televisa, the world’s leading

Spanish-language content producer. Further, Univision licenses

live sports programm ing such as Major League Soc cer in the

US, the Liga MX (the premier socce r league in Mexico), the US

and Mexican national teams, b oxing and Formula One.

With 61 stations across the continental US a nd in Puerto Rico,

Univision is also one of the l argest TV station owne rs in the

country. Our agship station in Los An geles, KMEX, is the

most-watched station in the US among adults aged bet ween

18 and 49 – in any language. Univision T V stations also serve

African Americ an viewers on their digital multicast streams, a s

one of the largest afliates of B ounce TV, a television network

co-founded by Martin Luthe r King III.

Univision’s progr amming is pir ated every day

of the year. e compan y is joining ran ks with

other broadcas ters around the world t o raise

awareness among inte rnational policy makers

about the detri mental eects of si gnal

piracy, and the n eed for a new internat ional

treaty to prot ect broadcast si gnals.

Photo: Univision Communications Inc.