Pierluigi Gazzolo, the TelevisaUnivision executive who helped build its nascent ViX streaming service and get it to profitability in just two years’ time, is planning to leave the company at the end of the year.
“I want you all to know how proud I am of all we have accomplished together with ViX — we’ve surpassed viewership and revenue milestones this year and significantly expanded our footprint across platforms and geographies to deliver premium entertainment to Spanish-speakers worldwide. And to top it all off, we announced ViX’s profitability at our Q3 earnings this week — an amazing achievement driven by hard work and innovation from everyone across this organization, including our incredible partners from Televisa networks and studios in Mexico who brought us amazing content and promotion,” Gazzolo said in a note to staffers Thursday. He added: “This inflection point of progress is one that makes my personal transformation arc here feel complete — the time is right for me to close this chapter, spend time recharging and explore what type of adventure will fuel me next.”
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Gazzolo, who plans to exit in December, will leave a company in transition.
The Spanish-language media giant recently named a new CEO, Daniel Alegre, who hails from senior roles at Google and Activision Blizzard. Earlier this week, he articulated a plan to bring two distinct parts of the company — forged from the merger of the Univision broadcast network in the U.S. and the media production assets of Grupo Televisa in Mexico — into a closer working relationship.
“Each of these has been around for more than 60 years, and while that creates a rich history, catalog and branding recognition, it also brings with it very established ways of operating,” Alegre said during a recent call with investors. “We have a real opportunity to shift from two regional companies into one global company.” He also called for an evolution from “a company with siloed linear and streaming businesses into a content-first company that is platform agnostic.”
What that might mean for leadership of ViX remains to be seen.
The choice to depart is said to be Gazzolo’s own. With ViX’s chase for early profitability fulfilled, the executive can seek out a new adventure.
ViX initially debuted as PrendeTV, and Gazzolo had a hand in wooing celebrities such as Sofia Vergara to the service as the company’s plans for it became more ambitious.