R.I.P.: Univision Founder Daniel Villanueva

Daniel Villanueva

Daniel D. Villanueva, a former professional football player who as a founder of the Univision network built a Spanish-language broadcasting empire spanning the United States, died from a stroke on Thursday in Ventura, Calif.

He was 77 according to the NY Times.

One of the first Hispanic-Americans in the National Football League, Mr. Villanueva was a kicker for the Los Angeles Rams from 1960 to 1964, and for the Dallas Cowboys from 1965 to 1967. He was also a television sportscaster and an executive of the Spanish International Communications Corporation, a forerunner of Univision.

Based in New York, Univision is today the leading Spanish-language television network in the United States, serving nearly 30 million viewers in 57 markets.

On retiring from football in 1968, Villanueva became the news director of KMEX radio. He was later the station’s president and a co-owner. On weekends he moonlighted as a sportscaster for KNBC-TV, the network’s Los Angeles affiliate, where his colleagues included a young Tom Brokaw.

Under Mr. Villanueva’s stewardship, KMEX became the flagship station of the Spanish International Network. It also became a lodestar for the region’s diverse Spanish-speaking population.

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