Former Viacom big Wade Davis snapped up a majority stake in Univision this week — but admits he can’t speak Spanish.
Davis’ investment firm, ForgeLight, bought 64 percent of Univision, with backing from Searchlight Capital Partners. The ex-Viacom CFO said his first task is learning Spanish, and he hopes to learn the language before the deal closes.
He said Spanish-language programming has a huge market in the US. “Language is incredibly relevant . . . from an identity standpoint, from a cultural standpoint,” he said. “And I do think in totality, this audience prefers watching content in Spanish.”
A source said nine of the recent Univision CEOs have spoken Spanish.