Univision’s political showdown with Google’s YouTube as removal looms

Spanish-language television network Univision is crying foul as Google’s YouTube TV prepares to remove the channel from its main bundle to an added price plan at the end of the month, a move the broadcaster alleges has discriminatory and political consequences.

“I honestly don’t know what their rationale is. The only thing I can tell you is they’re doing this at a time right around the midterm elections and the key gubernatorial elections. And they did this at a time where the Hispanic audience is no longer a party vote. It really is an issues vote. And they will be swayed by the messages that politicians make to them and they make through us,” TelevisaUnivision CEO Daniel Alegre told FOX Business in an exclusive interview. 

Negotiations with the tech giant, while ongoing, have failed to produce an agreement, forcing the broadcaster into fight mode. Starting Wednesday, a national ad blitz is rolling out in major publications, including the Los Angeles Times, The Houston Chronicle, The Miami Herald and USA Today, among others, where Alegre pens an open letter entitled ‘”Do the Right Thing Google,” warning about the dangers of limiting information for Hispanics. Univision reaches more Hispanics in the U.S. than any other television network.

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READ THE FULL LETTER: 

“The number of new registered voters since 2020 in Hispanics has been over four million, and particularly in key critical states where the midterm elections, the gubernatorial elections, the mayoral elections that are coming up. The Hispanic vote is going to be the determinant vote. And I representing the company that is the voice of Hispanics need to stand up and speak up for this audience because we will not be relegated or dictated by a technology company that tweaks the algorithm and silence the Hispanic voice,” he said. 

“We have literally around the corner in October, we have town halls with both the Democrat and the Republican gubernatorial candidates who are doing town halls on Univison. That means Hispanics in the New Jersey, New York metropolitan area are not going to be able to hear from those politicians,” he warned. 

YouTube pushed back on Univision’s allegations, telling FOX Business:

“TelevisaUnivision’s demands aren’t supported by their performance on YouTube TV over the last four years. If we cannot reach a fair deal by September 30th, their programming will no longer be available on YouTube TV. While we value our partnership with them, our carriage renewal decisions are based on viewer consumption and pricing, and any suggestion to the contrary is false.”  

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Alegre, who is one year into his tenure as CEO, pointed out YouTube is the only partner with an issue.

“Every single distributor, including Hulu, who is actually a new distribution partner, and even Comcast, that owns Telemundo, you know one of our competitors is actually distributing our content, and they see the value in our content and our connectivity to the Hispanic market,” he said, stressing that the move goes “beyond economics.”

In the 2024 presidential election, Trump won 46% of the Hispanic vote, according to NBC exit polls, a dramatic improvement over his 32% in 2020. He defeated George W. Bush’s previous Republican high-water mark of 40% in 2004, as noted by Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of Job Creators Network.

On Sept. 30, viewers who watch YouTube TV’s main bundle will lose Univision and will be required to pay an additional $14.99 per month on top of the $82. 99 for the service, a move Alegre coined a “Hispanic tax.”

Shares of Google have advanced 32% this year, outpacing the Nasdaq’s 17% rise.