The Financial Times profiles Univision as it begins work in earnest on Fusion, the new cable news channel it is building in conjunction with ABC News. Univision News president Isaac Lee plays a big role in the story, not only for his vision of what his news organization should be, but how he views the English language competition.

Lee is withering about English language rivals’ attempts to appeal to Hispanic audiences, saying that they give little coverage to topics such as immigration.

“They think getting a Hispanic voice is getting a reporter with a Spanish last name,” he says. “It is unbelievable how gringos believe they can have a Latino tone. They end up offending the community and patronising them. We are [portrayed] as the gardeners and the maids.”

Univision’s audience is a few decades younger than the average audience for English language news. It is made all the more amazing by the fact that the budget for Univision News is around 1/10th that of, say, ABC News. As the FT notes, ABC has benefited from Univision talent in recent months, as the two companies forge the new channel together.

As we told you yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter is out with its annual “35 Most Powerful People in Media” list. The honorees were feted at a “power-soaked New York party” at the Four Seasons restaurant Wednesday night.

From CBS News, chairman Jeff Fager was there, along with “CBS This Morning” co-hosts Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, “60 Minutes” correspondent Morley Safer, “Evening News” anchor Scott Pelley and “Sunday Morning” correspondent Mo Rocca. CNN’s Piers Morgan was there, as was Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. The “Today” show’s Willie Geist and “Live!” co-hosts Michael Strahan and Kelly Ripa attended, along with talk show hosts Wendy Williams and Katie Couric. And from ABC News, president Ben Sherwood, “The View” anchor Barbara Walters, senior VP for content and development James Goldston and “Good Morning America” anchors Lara Spencer and  George Stephanopoulos, who was with his wife, Ali Wentworth.

More pictures of the event in THR’s gallery.

The Hollywood Reporter released its 2013 “35 Most Powerful People In Media” list, and TV news dominates the winners. The list looks at the most dominant media personalities in New York.

The list includes (in alphabetical order) Roger Ailes, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, Anderson Cooper, Bob Costas, Katie Couric, Jeff Fager, Pat Fili-Krushel, James Goldston, Phil Griffin, Sean Hannity, Megyn Kelly, the “60 Minutes” team, the “Today” team, Rachel Maddow, Piers Morgan, Bill O’Reilly, Scott Pelley, David Rhodes, The “Good Morning America” team, the “CBS This Morning” team, Diane Sawyer, Ben Sherwood, Barbara Walters, Brian Williams and Jeff Zucker.

Some of the recipients gave interviews, others did not. You can see the full list here.

ABC News has promoted a pair of executives charged with wrangling tough interviews. Eric Avram has been promoted to Senior EP of division-wide interviews, reporting to ABC News president Ben Sherwood. In that role Avram will be in charge of interviews for ABC’s Medical, Business and Law & Justice teams as well as the Woodruff unit and the investigative units.

Santina Leuci, “Good Morning America’”s chief booker, will become executive editorial producer, while retaining her “GMA” duties. She will continue to report to “GMA” senior EP Tom Cibrowski.

Avram has been the man charged with booking big guests for many of ABC’s primetime specials. As the network moved away from paying for interviews via license fees, it has been able to book big guests by promising maximum exposure on multiple platforms and shows. Leuci has been at the forefront of “GMA’”s revival, particularly during Robin Roberts‘ absence from the program, when a number of big names stepped in to help fill her shoes.

Sherwood’s note to staff, after the jump.
Read more

As we first reported Saturday, ABC News is now announcing that Rebecca Jarvis is joining the network as chief business and economics correspondent. Jarvis spent the last three years at CBS News, as a business and finance correspondent and co-anchor of “CBS This Morning” Saturday.

“Deeply knowledgeable about financial news, Rebecca is a versatile and aggressive reporter who will contribute immensely across every program and platform,” writes ABC News president Ben Sherwood in a note to staff, obtained by TVNewser. “I’m delighted Rebecca is joining ABC News as we expand the strongest team in journalism.”

Jarvis is ABC’s second high-profile pick this week from CBS. It was announced yesterday that Byron Pitts will join the network as national correspondent and anchor.

CBS News veteran Byron Pitts says he jumped ship to ABC for three reasons, in order of importance: “God, diversity and Diane Sawyer.”

Pitts, 52, the lone correspondent of color on “60 Minutes” and a CBS staffer since 1997, officially joined ABC yesterday as chief national correspondent. He begins April 15.

In addition to reporting, Pitts will anchor prime-time news specials as well as fill in as news reader on “Good Morning America” and on weekend news. He signed a four-year deal with a “significant” salary bump, he says.

A devout man, Pitts prays over all major decisions. ABC was no exception. “For me, God is the ultimate closer,” he says. “Once I felt I had His blessing, it was full steam ahead. I’m grateful for my time at CBS, and I’m excited about this opportunity grace has provided.”

In the Gospel According to Pitts, diversity ranks a strong No. 2. In his talks with ABC News president Ben Sherwood, Pitts says he was impressed that Sherwood made a point to bring up his (Sherwood’s) commitment to the hot-button issue.

“It was encouraging to have a network executive talk to me, openly and with enthusiasm, about the importance of racial diversity,” says Pitts. “I never had that conversation at CBS.”

Not with his division leaders, anyway.

Pitts says he and CBS Corp. chieftain Les Moonves have discussed diversity, and he admires Moonves’ passion about it. As for CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager and his lieutenant, David Rhodes, here’s how Pitts puts it:

“I don’t want to seem critical. They were certainly nice and supportive of me. But the facts are the facts. Sixteen years ago, when I joined CBS, there were 10 people of color on the air. Now there are seven. Why is that? It’s discouraging. America is becoming more diverse, not less diverse. “

According to CBS News spokesperson Sonya McNair, CBS has “more than double” Pitts’ estimate of seven correspondents of color. “We wish Byron well,” she adds. ABC News has a total of 29, says division rep David Ford.

Read more

Byron Pitts‘ jump from CBS to ABC is official, ABC News president Ben Sherwood announced this morning.

Pitts will be a New York-based anchor and chief national correspondent for ABC News. He begins at the network later this month.

“An accomplished reporter and brilliant storyteller, Byron has a unique talent for stories about people and communities facing the longest odds,” Sherwood wrote in a note to staffers. “In his new role, he will file for all platforms, bringing his signature thoughtfulness, seriousness of purpose, and flair.”

New York magazine’e Joe Hagan files an impressively reported story on the trials and tribulations of NBC’s “Today” for this week’s cover. The PDF of the story was forwarded throughout the NBC News offices, studios and newsrooms yesterday in advance of its release online.

“It hit like a ton of bricks,” one NBC News staffer told TVNewser. “It was a rough day.”

The article tells the behind-the-scenes drama of what went down on NBC’s “Today,” including the departure of Ann Curry. There are also some new revelations, including just how close Matt Lauer came to joining ABC News. According to Hagan’s sources, all the parties involved believed that the deal was done, and that Lauer could be joining Katie Couric on her new ABC talk show:

And at the moment they informed him of Curry’s exit, Lauer himself appeared halfway out the door. Three months earlier, Lauer had been angered by a press leak that [Steve] Capus and [Jim] Bell were talking to Ryan Seacrest about possibly replacing him. (Lauer learned of the leak while being forced to stand outside the security gate at the White House Christmas party because Ann Curry had forgotten her driver’s license.) In trying to placate Lauer, Burke had given him a window to explore other jobs, but they made it clear that Seacrest was really just an insurance policy; they didn’t want Lauer to leave. But Lauer, possibly as a negotiating tactic, was taking leaving pretty seriously. He’d begun working closely with Zucker to develop an idea for ABC: the Katie Couric daytime talk show with Matt Lauer—together again. Lauer met with Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, ABC’s parent company, who made a strong effort to recruit Lauer.

Read more

ABC News is promoting “World News Now” co-anchor Rob Nelson, naming him a correspondent for all programs and platforms.

“Rob distinguished himself on the overnight leading the network’s coverage of the Japanese tsunami, a story that broke just before WNN airtime,” writes ABC News president Ben Sherwood in an email to staff this morning. “He also led a two-hour ABC News Special Report last summer following the late-night theater massacre in Aurora, and he’s reported often for the weekend editions of World News and GMA.”

John Muller will be named the new co-anchor of “World News Now.” Before joining ABC as a reporter in 2011, Muller spent 11 years as the anchor of the PIX 11 morning news on New York’s WPIX.

Sherwood’s note, after the jump.
Read more

UJA-Federation of New York will honor Bloomberg Media Group CEO Andy Lack at its annual broadcast, cable and film event next month.

Lack, who joined Bloomberg in 2008, will be presented with the award by Katie Couric. NBC’s Matt Lauer will serve as the emcee of the event at The Edison Ballroom on April 9. The annual award honors a professional in the field “for his or her philanthropic leadership and service to the New York Jewish community.”

Event chairs include NBC News Group chairman Patricia Fili-Krushel, CBS News anchor Charlie Rose, and ABC News president Ben Sherwood.