Daniel Villanueva, a Creator of Univision, Dies at 77

Daniel D. Villanueva, a former professional football player who as a founder of the Univision network built a Spanish-language broadcasting empire spanning the United States, died on June 18 in Ventura (CA). He was 77.

One of the first Hispanic-Americans in the National Football League, Villanueva was a kicker for the Los Angeles Rams from 1960 to 1964, and for the Dallas Cowboys from 1965 to 1967. He was also a television sportscaster and an executive of the Spanish International Communications Corporation, a forerunner of Univision. Based in New York, Univision is today the leading Spanish-language television network in the United States, serving nearly 30 million viewers in 57 markets.