Univision’s New CEO Says Latinos Are No Longer a Democratic Bloc, But Issue-Driven Free Agents

Just a month into his new job, Univision CEO Daniel Alegre has already seen his network embrace both major mayoral candidates with undecided Latino voters, and he reveals Just news he made one unequivocal point about America’s fastest-growing voting bloc: “The world 15 years ago, where Latinos were essentially seen as voting for the Democratic Party, is no longer the case.”

Alegre made the comment during an extensive interview with the newspaper.”John Solomon Reports” podcast where he also laid out his vision for the world’s largest Spanish-language television network. “You know, Latinos are really becoming more and more the voice on issues rather than the voice of a particular party.”

He noted that “The Republican Party has made very significant gains compared to previous years in the Latino community. You know, the gap has always been much more skewed toward Democrats, and it’s narrowed significantly over the last few years,” especially among male voters.

Changing Hispanic electorate

“I’m not trying to be overly dramatic, but I fundamentally believe that Hispanics will decide who the next president of the United States is,” Alegre said. “And if you look at just the battleground states, for example, the number of Hispanic voters in each of those battleground states is about 10 times higher than the margin of victory in each state.”

The changes in the Latino electorate come alongside changes in Univision’s own politics as it prepares for a post-cable world with new streaming products and targeted digital advertising opportunities, as well as major changes in the news department, where embattled longtime anchor Jorge Ramos is retiring He then reigned supreme for decades, while simultaneously causing mistrust among conservatives who believed he was leaning left.

Univision has made a concerted effort to open corporate communication channels to campaign managers for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, in addition to its usual interactions with the news department. This has created new opportunities to make friends and share knowledge about how to engage one of the most dynamic voter blocs today.

Besides, Univision commissioned a survey conducted by a Latino polling company associated with longtime Trump pollster John McLaughlin, which grabbed national headlines and showed support for the GOP candidate among Latino voters rose as much as 17 points since the 2020 election. Those findings were confirmed by internal polling of campaigns and other precincts that showed a marked shift to the right among Latino voters, who now make up about 13% of the total votes expected to be cast in the Nov. 5 election.

“Policy issues matter”

The poll also found that Latino voters had clear concerns influencing their 2024 decisions that were also aligned with Trump, with 26% citing the economy/jobs as the most important issue and 13% choosing immigration and the border. The poll found that Kamala Harris’ two main issues – abortion and climate change – were lower priorities.

Under Alegre’s predecessor Wade Davis, Univision conducted similar polls among its audience that revealed a much more evenly divided Latino electorate concerned about insecurity at the border and in their own communities, the impact of illegal immigrants on the labor market and loss of purchasing power. due to inflation, according to documents reviewed Just news.

Alegre said polling should be a driving factor in how political campaigns continue to boost Latinos, with more daily conversations about politics and issues. He noted that while Latinos make up 13% of expected voters, political spending on Latino media is likely to reach only 2% of the total. He added that a quarter of Latino voters were still undecided just a week before the election.

Applicants must demonstrate that they are “able to speak consistently to this community about important issues and policy issues,” Alegre said.

“We know the No. 1 issue, you know, is inflation and the impact of inflation on living standards. Then safety and security, which obviously ties into the whole immigration issue,” he said. “This is absolutely important. And you know, these town halls have shown that if you come and talk to the community, they will listen, they will appreciate, and you can change their minds.”

He warned both sides not to show up in the final days of the election, then abandoned such talk in the months after the vote.

“What’s really important after that is consistency, consistency in engagement with our community to ensure you’re speaking to them in their language, on the platforms they’re used to and trust. And this obviously goes well beyond next week’s election. It’s a long-term partnership that I think is important to focus on.”

Alegre, a native of Mexico, also said political parties often seek to limit their appearances on Univision to Spanish-speaking politicians, but interacting with non-Spanish-speaking officials is also key. He noted that the Harris and Trump town halls had impeccable translations that did not affect the quality of viewing or the flow of the programs. He encouraged others to follow his example.

“I want my Latino community to be fully informed and vote their conscience. But on the other hand, this goes beyond November 5th. You know, it’s a short-term, mid-term and long-term game for the community, which is going to get stronger and stronger, and the consistency of engagement will pay dividends. well beyond November 5,” he added.

Alegre is a seasoned big tech executive who made his mark on the early Google franchise and then led gaming giant Activision through an era of explosive social media expansion. He took over Univision just a month ago.

He said Univision’s expansion into digital platforms – the company already has two streaming giants – will continue to transform passive viewing into an interactive experience.

“I’ll tell you where I think things are going: digital platforms, of course, and the ability to get content on demand and personalize what you really care about. You know, it’s definitely going to become a trend, but there’s still a lot of opportunity in linear space. And you know, sports for example, we are known as the home of football and people will always go back to television, the main network for that,” he said.”

People can interact more socially

“What really gets exciting is when you can really combine all these different parts where you consume content, whether it’s on a TV screen, a connected TV or on your iPad, but then you can actually interact with the content in a much more social way. after that, and that means it’ll be shorter clips that you can share with friends, or providing chat capabilities to, you know, influencers, and bringing influencers into the mix, which makes things a lot richer as an overall experience for the consumer . ” said Alegre.

He added personal desire to the strategy. “I want to bring the Latino community together, whether it’s through our content, whether it’s through our news content,” he explained. “This ensures that our community is connected, heard and properly informed so they can make decisions that are best for themselves and their families.