Grupo Televisa's spat with Univision to unfold in court

Some of the best Spanish-language television dramas delve into the ambitions and rancorous relationships within powerful Latino families. Instead of playing each night on TV screens, though, this tale of a tumultuous 16-year marriage, fraught with allegations of treachery and bad faith, will begin to unfold this week in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles. Grupo Televisa -- the Mexico City-based entertainment conglomerate that is the world's preeminent producer of sensational Spanish-language soap operas, or telenovelas -- claims in a suit filed three years ago that it has been cheated out of more than $100 million in royalties by its partner, Univision Communications. The trial is set to begin Tuesday, pitting Televisa's 40-year-old media scion Emilio Azcarraga Jean against Univision's new owners, led by Los Angeles billionaire Haim Saban, the company's chairman. Televisa is demanding that it be allowed to sever all ties with Univision, which has become the dominant Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S. largely because it can run Televisa's popular programming.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-televisa28apr28,1,2740204.story
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