Inside the Univision-Clinton network

When former President Bill Clinton takes center stage at Univision’s upfront presentation, it will mark more than just one of his many paid appearances. The relationship between the Clintons and Univision is deep -- from owner Haim Saban’s unabashed support for Hillary Clinton’s election effort to a partnership between Univision and the Clinton Foundation, to the network’s newscasts that have bashed Republicans and, most recently, praised Hillary’s new position on immigration -- putting her squarely in line with the network’s stance on the issue. The importance of Univision for the Latino electorate and 2016 is hard to overstate. It is by far the biggest Spanish-language media network in the United States when it comes to revenue, ratings and stations owned. In some markets, such as Los Angeles, the Univision-owned local newscasts are in the top one or two by ratings. On big nights for the Hispanic community, such as President Barack Obama’s remarks on immigration in November, Univision raked in 4.8 million viewers, more than any other network.

During the July sweeps summer 2014, Univision boasted the No. 1 spot in prime time among 18-to-49-year-old viewers for the second year in a row. “You have to go to Univision to get to Latino voters,” said Gabriela Domenzain, a liberal strategist who was a founding producer on Univision’s Sunday news show “Al Punto” and who ran Obama’s Hispanic media outreach in the 2012 election. Univision and the Clinton Foundation joined forces in 2014 for a multi-year early childhood initiative dubbed “Pequeños y Valiosos” (or “Young and Valuable”). The relationship proved of immediate value to Hillary Clinton, whose face was featured in five of seven slides on Univision’s website promoting the initiative in February 2014.