Telemundo taps Discovery veteran Silberwasser as president

Luis Silberwasser has been named president of Spanish-language broadcast network Telemundo by NBCUniversal's Hispanic Enterprises and Content unit. His hiring comes at a time when Telemundo is in the process of refining its business strategy and programming lineup.

Luis Silberwasser, Telemundo

Silberwasser (Image courtesy of NBCU)

That new lineup, which features over 1,000 hours of new content available via broadcast and online according to a company release, will be introduced to advertisers Wednesday night as part of its Upfront presentation in New York City.

Telemundo is taking over rights to several World Cup soccer games beginning next year as part of a deal that also involves Fox and ESPN. The company outbid its chief rival, Univision Communications, by agreeing to pay $600 million to the FIFA organization for the rights from 2015 to 2022. It also has plans to add NASCAR to its mix of programming.

Silberwasser, who had been executive vice president and chief content officer for Discovery Networks International, replaces Emiliano Romano, who stepped down as president last year. He'll have overall responsibility for the Telemundo broadcast network and Telemundo Studios when he starts his new gig in August. The move follows last week's hire of Ruben Mendiola as president for Telemundo's sister network mun2.

For more:
- see this press release
- and the new programming lineup
- Broadcasting & Cable has this story
- the Los Angeles Times has this story

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