Telemundo Chief Quits, Is Replaced by NBC Veteran

Three years after NBC Universal paid more than $2 billion for Telemundo, the second-place Spanish-language network is making big changes at the top.

Jim McNamara, the network’s longtime chief executive, stepped down Wednesday and was replaced by Don Browne, a veteran NBC news producer and station manager who has been Telemundo’s chief operating officer since May 2003.

“I’m extremely proud of all that we’ve accomplished. It just became time to move on,” McNamara said in an interview. What led to his departure just two days before his contract expired was “kind of complicated,” he said, declining to elaborate.

In a statement, Randy Falco, president of General Electric Co.-owned NBC Universal Television Networks Group, praised McNamara for doing “a remarkable job.”

Back in 2001, when Telemundo was owned by Sony Corp. and Liberty Media Corp., it was McNamara who helped persuade NBC to acquire the operation for $2.7 billion, including debt. Analysts at the time marveled at the price, noting that Telemundo lacked the programming to take on Univision Communications Inc., the Spanish-language leader.

After NBC took over in April 2002, McNamara received a three-year contract to continue as chief executive. He also reaped a nearly $50-million bonus from Telemundo’s previous owners as a reward for closing the deal -- a payout that sources said irked some NBC executives.

“I made a ton of money. I’m not going to deny that,” McNamara said.

Since then, NBC Universal has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on new equipment, talent and original programming.

But despite a growing Latino population in the U.S., Telemundo still commands just 25% of the audience for Spanish-language television, while the broadcast networks owned by Univision Communications controls about 75%.

On Wednesday, some analysts speculated that Telemundo’s stalled ratings might have played a part in McNamara’s departure. Others said NBC always wanted one of their own in charge.

“It comes as no surprise,” said Martin Barreto, chief executive of a public relations firm that specializes in Spanish-language media. “The only surprise is that it didn’t happen sooner.”

“This is a property that has been extremely expensive to NBC and General Electric -- they paid so much for it,” said Barreto, a former CBS television and radio executive. “We all are waiting to see what is going to propel [their ratings] so they can justify the price.”

The new Telemundo president, Browne, said, “There’s no silver bullet, but we’re going to chip away slowly and stay on our strategy.”

During the last two years, Telemundo has tried a new strategy of making its own prime-time programming, setting up production operations in Miami; Dallas; Mexico City; Lima, Peru; Bogota, Colombia; and Buenos Aires. The strategy was necessary because Univision had locked up the rights to air Latin America’s most popular shows.

Telemundo is at a disadvantage because an estimated two-thirds of the Latinos in the U.S. are from Mexico or of Mexican descent. This audience often chooses Univision, which runs the popular telenovelas, or soap operas, produced by Grupo Televisa in Mexico City.

Browne’s ties to Telemundo go back to 1987. Then, as NBC News’ Miami bureau chief, he struck a deal to share news footage from El Salvador with the upstart Spanish-language network, helping it launch its news division.