UNIVISION DEAL APPROVED MEDIA GROUP ADDS 68 HBC RADIO STATIONS.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Univision Communications Inc., the nation's largest Spanish-language media conglomerate, received approval from the federal government Monday to purchase the Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. for $3.1 billion.

The Federal Communications Commission split along party lines in a 3-2 vote with Republicans making up the majority. The approval process had been especially lengthy in part because it overlapped with the FCC's rewriting of its media ownership regulations.

Los Angeles-based Univision will acquire the 68 radio stations owned by HBC, the largest radio group in the United States. The Dallas-based company becomes Univision Radio, a division of Univision. As part of the FCC approval, Univision is required to sell HBC stations in Houston and Albuquerque, N.M.

The acquisition gives Univision a dominant radio presence to complement its already dominant television, music and Internet assets. They include the Univision and TeleFutura television networks, the Galavision cable network and 50 television stations in the United States.

The FCC Republicans stated Monday that the deal will give ``Hispanic media a better opportunity to compete against big media companies.'' But the Democrats on the panel believe the merger hurts competition and limits the entertainment choices for the Spanish-language audience. Univision rival Telemundo, which is owned by NBC, had also objected to the merger.

Analysts see the deal as a significant bonus for Univision in luring more advertisers to the rapidly growing Hispanic market.

``It gives them entry into the great Spanish-language radio market, which could be viewed as being a little bit more important than the radio market would be in English,'' said David Joyce, an analyst with Miami-based Guzman and Associates. ``It provides a whole new advertising platform for Univision and its current set of advertisers. They will have more bargaining power with large advertisers.''

Univision President and Chief Executive Officer A. Jarrold Perenchio pointed out that 60 percent of all national advertisers do not yet advertise in Spanish. He believes that his company's new ability to offer advertisers both television and radio will accelerate their development of Spanish-language marketing campaigns.

``Univision's entry into the $20 billion radio industry presents tremendous opportunities for our employees, advertisers and shareholders,'' Perenchio said in a statement.

Mac Tichenor Jr., former chairman and chief executive officer of Hispanic Broadcasting, has been named president of Univision Radio. He will report to Perenchio.

``We are thrilled to now be part of Univision and eager to participate in and further the growth and success of this unique, multifaceted company,'' Tichenor said in a statement. ``The benefits of this combination are numerous and far-reaching.''

As part of the transaction, Univision has agreed to reduce its partial ownership of Entravision Communications Corp. to less than 10 percent over the next six years. It currently owns 27 percent of Entravision, which is the largest owner of Univision television affiliates.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com