MIAMI — She is ranked at No. 19 on RBR+TVBR’s 2023 Broadcast Television’s Best Leaders list, and this year marked her first appearance on the highly regarded honor roll.
Will she return to the list in 2024? Likely not, as the President of U.S. Local Media for TelevisaUnivision has retired.
As a result, the individual who has been leading Univision Radio is being promoted.
RBR+TVBR has confirmed that President of Radio Jesus Lara has been named President/Local Media, succeeding Diane Kniowski.
He reports directly to TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis, who reportedly shared the news with the company’s market-level general managers.
As TelevisaUnivision noted in a statement, the promotion “significantly expands Lara’s current scope of responsibility for the company’s cross-platform audio strategy, including the Uforia Audio Network,” TelevisaUnivision’s on-air radio and on-demand audio offerings brand.
But, the big takeaway is that Lara will lead the company’s local TV and radio operations, plus sales efforts associated with those properties, across the U.S.
Lara joined what was then-known as Univision Communications in January 2017 as GM of Digital, Content, and Entertainment for its radio division. He previously worked at Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), serving as EVP of Digital Media Strategy from December 2013 through November 2016. From 2009-2014, he was a Fellow at the Americas Business Council Foundation. Professionally, Lara spent many years at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), and was SVP/Music Programming, Marketing and Talent Strategy for MTV Internaciónal from June 2007-July 2011. From 1998-2004 he held several positions at EMI Music, lastly as VP/Marketing and A&R out of the Miami Beach office.
Lara’s arrival at Univision was not a part of the company’s original plan. When hired, Lara took a role originally intended for Alejandro Nieto Molina, an executive from Grupo PRISA’s Cadena SER, a national network in Spain. Nieto’s appointment came in late January 2016; on Feb. 8, Nieto died of a heart attack at the age of 48.
AN ‘ADIOS’ TO A TV VETERAN
According to TelevisaUnivision, Kniowski is formally retiring, following a successful career in media.
“We are incredibly grateful to Diane for her immense contribution to the transformation and growth of our business,” the company said in a statement obtained by RBR+TVBR. “She drove a unified strategy and superb execution in our Local Media division. We are grateful to Diane for her contributions, valuable insights, and unwavering dedication to TelevisaUnivision and wish her all the best in this exciting new chapter of her life.”
For the past five years, Kniowski played a key role in making sure the Univision and UniMás-branded stations owned by TelevisaUnivision remain vitally important to Spanish-language television viewers in the markets where the company owns broadcast television stations. She was based remotely, from Grand Rapids, Mich.
Kniowski joined then-Univision Communications in 2018 after serving as SVP/Regional Manager at Nexstar Media Group, where she had oversight of operations for 32 stations in 15 markets before joining Univision as Chief Local Media Officer. For 17 years before that, she was the head of Nexstar’s WOTV-4 and WOOD-8 in Grand Rapids. Kniowski has also served as the President of the Texas Association of Broadcasters and the Michigan Association of Broadcasters and been an active member of the NAB across her entire career.
