Marlene Sanchez - P 2013
NBCUniversalMarlene Sanchez Dooner has been appointed to the newly created position of executive vp, Hispanic Enterprises & Content (HEC) at NBCUniversal, the company announced Thursday. Dooner, who is currently senior vp investor relations at Comcast Corporation, will transition to her new role at the end of the year.
She will be based in New York and report to HEC chairman Joe Uva working closely with Uva, a former Univision executive, to develop the company’s initiatives and new business opportunities in the Hispanic market.
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The appointment comes as content companies are strategically positioning themselves to capture the burgeoning Hispanic market; by 2050, one in three Americans will be Hispanic, according to the Pew Research Center. Right now, the country’s 52 million Hispanics are sitting on $1.2 trillion in spending power.
NBCU-owned Telemundo Media (which includes Spanish-language broadcast network Telemundo and bilingual cable channel mun2) has stepped up original programming on both networks in an attempt to grab a bigger piece of the Spanish-speaking and acculturated audience from market leader Univision.
“Marlene’s impressive experience navigating and analyzing the media business will help us drive new opportunities and partnerships in the U.S. Hispanic community across the company,” said Uva in a statement. “NBCUniversal’s portfolio reaches more than 90 percent of all Hispanics and I have no doubt Marlene will play an integral role in expanding our offerings and connections to the fastest-growing segment of the population.”
Dooner first joined Comcast Corporation in 1995 and has led the company’s Investor Relations function for the past 18 years. Comcast said it will be initiating a national search for a head of investor relations in the coming weeks.??
