Univision sells several television stations in Puerto Rico to Liberman

The operation includes WLII-DT, Caguas-San Juan, and the stations that repeat its signal throughout the island: WOLE TV-DT, Aguadilla in the west zone and WSUR-DT, Ponce in the central zone.

Univision Communications has reached an agreement to sell some of its television stations Puerto Rico a Liberman Media Group.

The operation includes WLII-DT, Caguas-San Juan, and the stations that repeat its signal throughout the island: WOLE TV-DT, Aguadilla in the west zone and WSUR-DT, Ponce in the central zone.

Univision will continue to operate sister station WSTE-DT (TeleIsla Canal 7) as well as its radio properties, including Uforia.

Lenard Liberman, the president of Liberman Media Group, has extensive experience producing Spanish-language programs, as the former president of Liberman Broadcasting (LBI) and the Estrella television network. At LBI, Liberman produced nearly 25,000 hours of television programming, some of it now syndicated in Latin America and on streaming services. Following the closing of the transaction, Liberman Media Group plans to continue broadcasting a combination of programming that is produced locally in Puerto Rico and programming that airs on the Univision and UniMás networks.

A la espera de la revisión y las aprobaciones reglamentarias habituales, se espera que la transacción se cierre antes de finales de 2020. Como se anunció anteriormente, un grupo dirigido por ForgeLight y Searchlight Capital Partners ha acordado adquirir una participación del 64% en Univision. Se espera que el cierre de ambas transacciones se produzca al mismo tiempo.

Vince Sadusky, CEO de Univision, ha asegurado que “confiamos en que el equipo de Liberman Media, como veterano locutor en español, es el comprador adecuado para estas estaciones de televisión de Puerto Rico. Agradecemos a nuestros empleados en estas estaciones por su duro trabajo y dedicación, y les deseamos todo lo mejor en este próximo capítulo”.

For his part, Lenard Liberman has been delighted to "acquire these Puerto Rican television stations and excited about the idea of ​​entering the market with an experienced and talented staff from Univision Puerto Rico. We are fully committed to continuing the locally produced programming that has characterized these stations and that is loved by the audience they serve."

“With three decades of experience in Spanish-language media, I have seen firsthand the importance of stations like these to local communities, and I am proud that we will continue to serve Puerto Ricans with the content they are based on,” he added.