Univision Names New Top Execs Under Wade Davis

Pierluigi Gazzolo Univision
Pierluigi Gazzolo was named president and chief transformation officer at Univision (Image credit: Univision)

Wade Davis, Univision's new CEO, named his senior management team, bringing several well-known industry executives to the Spanish-language media company.

Also Read: Wade Davis and Searchlight Close Deal for Majority Univision Stake

Former ViacomCBS exec Pierluigi Gazzolo was named president and chief transformation officer at Univision; Luis Silberwasser, last with Telemundo, was named president of the Univision Television Networks Group; and former Turner ad sales head Donna Speciale was named president of advertising sales and marketing.

Luis Silberwasser Univision

Luis Silberwasser (Image credit: Univision)

Amy Tenbring and Glenn Dryfoos were promoted to co-interim general counsel at Unvision; Jessica Rodriguez will continue as CMO and Friday Abernethy was promoted to executive VP of content distribution and partnerships.

Univision’s former chief legal and corporate affairs officer Jonathan Schwartz, president of distribution Henry Ahn, and president of ad sales and marketing Steve Mandala are leaving the company.

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“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,” said Davis, the former Viacom CFO, whose led the acquisition of Univision by ForgeLight and Searchlight.

Donna Speciale Univision

Donna Speciale (Image credit: Univision)

“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,” Davis said.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.