Alberto Ciurana, the executive who defines what audiences consume across Univision’s entertainment platforms, will be honored with the Latinovator Award during Hispanicize 2015 this month. Ciurana oversees programming for the entertainment, broadcast and cable networks of Univision Communications Inc. (UCI), the nation’s leading media company serving Hispanic America.
Ciurana, president of Programing and Content at Univision Communications, Inc., is a beloved and respected television veteran. He maintains a strong connection with his audience, which is reflected in the 2.5 million followers he has on Twitter. Ciurana was among the first in the industry to use social media to engage with the audience, measure what it craves and deliver.
“Alberto is one of those visionaries whose incredible track record of success can be seen in the many popular platforms and people that he’s helped create,” said Manny Ruiz, founder and creative director of the Hispanicize event.
During his television career, he has left his mark at several media powerhouses, including Spanish International Network, which went on to become Univision, Televisa and UCI, where he has helped grow ratings.
At UCI, Ciurana, who reports directly to president & CEO Randy Falco, oversees all video programming and content across all its platforms, including broadcast and cable television, digital and on demand. His leadership has resulted in significant ratings increases for a number of the Company’s long-standing properties, as well as taking the flagship Univision Network to the No.1 ranking, regardless of language, among Adults 18-49 in the last two consecutive July Sweep rating periods.
Ciurana was also part of the team that launched Teletón México, an annual fundraiser devoted to helping children with musculoskeletal disabilities, cancer and autism that has built more than 20 children’s rehabilitation centers in 20 states in Mexico. It served as model to launch TeletónUSA in 2012, which last year opened its first pediatric rehabilitation center in San Antonio, TX and has helped raise more than $45 million in the United States.
Hispanicize 2015, the sixth annual Latino trends event for filmmakers, bloggers, journalists, marketers, opinion leaders and musical artists, will take place March 16-20 at the InterContinental Hotel in Miami. The event serves as a launch pad for creative endeavors, new products, technologies, marketing campaigns, films, books and more targeting Latinos in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
The Latinovator Awards recognize Latino celebrities, business professionals and other high achievers who have become crossover successes or whose stories of achievements are remarkable or inspirational. Ciurana will be among four recipients this year.
Prior to joining Univision Networks in September of 2012, Ciurana was vice president of programming at Televisa, Mexico’s largest media company, where he led its networks to record-setting ratings. He was also vice president of Broadcasting and of Operations. He oversaw international operations at Televisa and helped strengthen the company’s brand and expand its international reach, working from London and with responsibility for Eurovisa.
Earlier, Ciurana was vice president of Production at S.I.N, the first Spanish-language television network in the United States.
Ciurana’s career in the television industry goes back to his work as producer of “Siempre en Domingo,” where he helped make the weekly variety show led by Raúl Velasco an overwhelming success and a staple of Latin American entertainment. He started his career as director of Social Communications for the government of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico.
Ciurana, who was born in Guadalajara and raised in Guanajato, Mexico, lives in Miami. He is a board member of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), one of the industry’s most important trade organizations. In 2013 CableFax recognized him as one of the Most Influential Minorities in Cable.