By NYU Staff

Last week’s Comcast and NBCU acquisition announcement set off a wave of speculation about the future of the U.S. media industry.  But the future appears to be now, as the country’s largest Spanish-language media company adjusts its business model.

Univision Communications, the largest Spanish language media company in the U.S., announced the creation of Univision Studios on Monday.  Headed by Luis Fernandez, the Miami-based Univision Studios is designed to push original produced and co-produced prime-time soap operas, reality shows and online videos for the Spanish speaking world.

Univision became the go-to Spanish language media giant primarily because of an exclusive content deal with Grupo Televisa, a Mexican media company.  Grupo Televisa is responsible for the wildly successful telenovelas (soap operas) included in Univision’s 4,000 hours of annual programming.  The telenovelas are popular among Spanish-speaking immigrants and Mexicans, particulary in California and the South West.  That exclusive deal will continue through 2017.  NBCU has a similar, 10-year deal with Grupo Televisa, which was signed in 2008.

Until now, Univision had little incentive to make this kind of investment in the U.S. , since it had “set aside two hours of its prime-time schedule to the telenovelas that originally aired on Televisa in Mexico,” according to the Los Angeles Times.  This programming was relatively cheap to obtain and generated high ratings.

“The creation of Univision Studios is a transformational step in the development and growth of our company and an important natural extension of our business,” Joe UVA president and CEO of Univision told The Hollywood Reporter.

This is nice CEO talk, but reading between the lines, Univision’s move is a direct response to the Comcast NBCU acquisition.  As reported, Comcast NBCU would create a massive company–in line with TimeWarner–that houses content creation (Universal Studios), local and cable networks (e.g., NBC, MSNBC, CNBC), and distribution (Comcast cable), all under one roof.   Though profitability and shareholder value from this deal is still unclear, one thing’s certain…it is a move that can’t be ignored and will move an industry desperate for stability in this precarious economic environment.

With the #1 and #2 spot in all its markets, an exclusive content deal that is scheduled to expire in 7 years (a blip for deals in the media world), and $10 billion in debt due by 2014, Univision would be remiss to ignore the opportunity to gain control of its content now.  This new production venture will certainly  translate into more jobs for the journalism world; so, bone up on your high school spanish.