ViacomCBS confirms Lat Am leadership after completing Chilevisión deal

Juan Ignacio ‘Iñaki’ Vicente

ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI) has confirmed its leadership team in Latin America after completing the acquisition of free-to-air broadcaster Chilevisión from WarnerMedia.

Darío Turovelzky, GM of ViacomCBS South Cone, will oversee both Chilevisión and Argentina’s FTA network Telefe, as well as all ViacomCBS operations locally.

Juan Ignacio ‘Iñaki’ Vicente has been confirmed as VP & executive director of Chilevisión, reporting into Turovelzky. He was most recently director of content & international business at Chilean broadcaster Mega, where he introduced Turkish telenovelas.

Prior to that, Vicente was an independent producer for networks like TVN and the Discovery Channel, as well as an executive producer for Chile’s Channel 13, overseeing development of scripted series, telenovelas, and reality shows.

Turovelzky reports to JC Acosta, president of ViacomCBS International Studios and Networks Americas, with the rejig coming six months since the US studio confirmed its deal for Chilevision as part of a greater push into Latin America and streaming.

JC Acosta

ViacomCBS said the integration of Chilevisión into ViacomCBS’s South Cone would “create a one-of-a-kind FTA Hub”, enabling it to “expand its scale in the region by aligning and maximising commercial, content and streaming strategies.”

Acosta said: “Under Darío’s leadership, Telefe has become the undisputed leader in free-to-air television in Argentina and has helped expand the ViacomCBS ecosystem; I have no doubt Chilevisión will thrive under his direction.”

The exec added that: “I am equally as excited to have Iñaki onboard. With his distinctive track record in programming and leading teams in Chile, he is the perfect choice to lead Chilevisión and to create a perfect stronghold to support the local linear and streaming ViacomCBS ecosystem.”

Turovelzky said the deal would provide “the largest production studios in the country and an incredible team of talented employees” that would help ViacomCBS’s “global brands and streaming products locally.”

Raffaele Annecchino, president an& CEO, ViacomCBS Networks International, said the deal would build on the company’s existing strategy of owning broadcast businesses around the world.

“As we rapidly grow our streaming services worldwide, we’ve seen the power our free-to-air channels like Telefe in Argentina, Network 10 in Australia, and Channel 5 in the UK have to fuel Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

“Spanning every platform and price point, our diversified ecosystem is what continues to set ViacomCBS apart in the streaming landscape as we drive subscribers across our platforms and connect audiences with more premium, original content.”