Univision Communications Inc. didn't see it coming.
The company had faced scattered opposition in its bid to earn federal approval of its $2.3-billion acquisition of a Dallas-based radio chain. But two months after executives predicted the merger was on the verge of being approved, the deal is still sitting on regulators' desks, and the company is defending its commitment to Latinos.
The Los Angeles-based company has paid for full-page advertisements to run today in newspapers including the Washington Post and the New York Times. The ad features a letter from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson urging Democratic leaders in Congress to support Univision's planned purchase of Hispanic Broadcasting Corp., which owns more than 60 Spanish-language radio stations.
The acquisition would allow Univision to grow into a television, radio and record label behemoth commanding two-thirds of the advertising dollars spent on Spanish-language media in the U.S.
That prospect has prompted several Democrats in Congress, including Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, to urge Federal Communications Chairman Michael K. Powell to delay approval.
"There's huge monopolistic concerns," Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood) said Tuesday. "If you have one company that controls almost all of Spanish-language television, radio and Internet portals, then I'm worried that you won't have a diversity of viewpoints or expression."
Univision executives counter by saying the company must be bigger to better compete against English-language media conglomerates, such as Viacom Inc. and News Corp. Although Univision controls more than 80% of the audience of Spanish-language TV, its position in the overall market is much smaller.
"Nationwide, Univision has 4.5% of the viewership and approximately 2% of the advertising dollars," said Ray Rodriguez, president of Univision TV networks. "If we can't compete effectively, then we can't get more resources for more news and improved programming. This is going to help Hispanics."
Univision hadn't planned on mounting an eleventh-hour lobbying blitz. But in recent weeks, executives have been calling on FCC commissioners and members of Congress as well as soliciting support from Latino political groups, such as the National Council of La Raza.
"We thought we would win approval based on the merits of the deal," said Doug Kranwinkle, Univision's general counsel. "And we still think we should, and that we will."
