The in-house innovation unit, part of Univision Digital’s ongoing collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, adopts cutting edge products, tools, formats and technologies that enhance Univision’s ability to inform and engage with Hispanic audiences
MIAMI – Univision Digital, the digital division of Univision Communications Inc. (UCI), the leading media company serving Hispanic America, announces the launch of Univision Beta, a new initiative aimed at accelerating digital innovation across the organization and expanding audience reach through the creative use of emerging digital and social platforms, with special emphasis on news and information.
Functioning as an in-house innovation lab housed at Newsport, UCI’s state-of-the-art news facility in Miami, the Univision Beta team of media innovators is experimenting with cutting-edge products, tools, formats and technologies that can enhance Univision’s ability to inform and engage with audiences in the U.S. and abroad. Initial projects already under way are focused on expanding Univision News’ coverage of the 2016 presidential elections to new storytelling and messaging platforms such as Snapchat, Purple and Slack. Univision Beta will also work with internal teams and outside research organizations to explore digital opportunities and implement new technologies, as well as develop data-driven analytics tools to support news and business related decisions, among many other projects.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the launch of this innovation initiative that will not only help keep Univision at the forefront of the digital explosion but will also improve our internal processes and promote the search for new, more efficient platforms, models and formats for delivering content to an increasingly wider digital audience,” said Isaac Lee, Chief News and Digital Officer, UCI. “Innovation through experimentation is Univision Beta’s principal mission; one that will positively impact the way that our multicultural audiences receive and engage with information in today’s fast evolving media landscape.”
Univision Beta is led by Univision’s director of digital innovation, Carlos Martínez de la Serna. A veteran Spanish journalist and former John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, Martínez de la Serna is the co-founder of the nonprofit news startup porCausa and a member of the team that launched the mapping platform CartoDB. Before joining Univision, he worked at First Look Media in San Francisco. Previously, he spent over a decade working as a reporter and editor at one of Spain’s leading newspapers, El Mundo.
Additionally, Univision News’ Vice President of Strategic Communications, Jose Zamora, also plays a leading role in the Univision Beta team. Prior to joining Univision in 2012, Zamora managed Knight Foundation’s Knight News Challenge, an initiative to spur media innovation across the world. He also helped manage Knight Foundation’s journalism and media innovation portfolio, contributing to the development of over 100 projects to advance media innovation.
Univision Beta was created as part of a three-year collaboration
