Isaac Lee named CEO of Univision-ABC joint venture Fusion

Isaac Lee, the president of Univision Communications Inc.’s Univision News, has been named chief executive officer of Fusion, the soon-to-be-launched cable channel that is a partnership between the Spanish broadcaster and ABC News.

Beau Ferrari, Univision’s executive vice president of operations, had been serving as acting president for Fusion.

A veteran journalist and Colombia native, Lee has been overseeing the development of Fusion, which is expected to launch at the end of the month and targets the growing population of English-speaking Latinos. The channel will have a mixture of news and satire and will be programmed in English. Lee will retain his Univision News position.

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“I am honored to take on this increased role with the incredibly creative and ambitious team at Fusion,” Lee said, in a statement. “I want to congratulate Beau Ferrari who has done an excellent job putting in place the building blocks for this network’s long term success.”

Lee will be responsible for all programming and business aspects of the network.

He was appointed president of news for Univision in 2010. Before that, he was the editor in chief of the magazine Poder, which he founded.

“Isaac has been a tremendous partner in this endeavor since its inception,” said Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News. “His deep understanding of content that is relevant to Latinos and millennials will be critical as we bring together diverse cultures, voices and viewpoints to serve this influential and growing audience in the months and years ahead.”

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ryan.faughnder@latimes.com