{"id":333598,"date":"2025-10-26T10:18:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T10:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/333598\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T10:18:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T10:18:16","slug":"heres-how-univision-got-its-start-in-san-antonio-70-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/333598\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s how Univision got its start in San Antonio 70 years ago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in the 1960s, there were federal laws that limited the amount of broadcast stations a person could run. But, Univision\u2019s pioneer Emilio Nicolas Sr.<\/a> found a loophole.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He would find a phone booth and he would look for Hispanic surnames.\u00a0The visionary for the nation\u2019s first Spanish-language news television station would then call every Latino professional he could until one would meet with him and agreed to take part in his business. He did this 200 times all across the nation.<\/p>\n

Nicolas Sr. would then send lawyers, satellites and programming to the new owners to establish TV stations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Univision celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Its legacy of providing accessible Spanish-language news media started right here in San Antonio.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cameraman and reporter Andr\u00e9s Morin records a broadcast for KWEX-TV in this undated archive photo. Credit: Courtesy \/ Univision 41<\/p>\n

\u201cThese 70 years of history aren\u2019t Univision\u2019s history,\u201d Antonio Guill\u00e9n said in Spanish. \u201cThese 70 years are the history of Channel 41 \u2014 they\u2019re San Antonio\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guill\u00e9n started reporting for Univision in 1988 and has become something of a local hero to the community, especially those who rely on his news coverage at Univision 41. He\u2019s often seen at breaking news events broadcasting live from the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said that while he was offered an office at the TV station, he prefers to stay out in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Univision that if they wanted me to stay, they\u2019d have to trust me and my cameras,\u201d he said. \u201cThey agreed, so I take my own photos, take my own videos, and I edit it all myself in my car before I send it over to Univision. No one is faster than me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Guill\u00e9n\u2019s work has earned him and the station multiple Emmys, highlighting important issues in and around San Antonio.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first ever words in Spanish out of a TV box in the states came out of San Antonio,\u201d he said. Today, dozens of TV channels across the U.S. broadcast Spanish-language news, drama and sports coverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Univision 41 Multimedia Journalist Antonio Guill\u00e9n in the Noticias San Antonio newsroom on Oct. 6, 2025. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is, I think, an absence of recognition for San Anto\u2019s role in the rise of Univision,\u201d said Jerry Gonzalez, history professor and director of St. Mary University\u2019s new Center for Mexican American Studies. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He\u00a0clarified that Univision\u2019s website doesn\u2019t make specific mention of its roots in San Antonio outside of its anniversary celebrations. \u201cHere, locally, we see it, but it\u2019s not very visibly recognized by Univision,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gonzalez reflected on the station\u2019s early beginnings when Mexican Americans were faced with the impact of World War II in its communities, particularly segregation in housing and education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt certain points in our history, this media has served of critical importance to our civil rights,\u201d he said. \u201cPart of the effort to organize in support of more fair education and housing was transmitted through the radio and eventually the television. There is a whole history of our civil rights in this media that people aren\u2019t aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known by many names<\/p>\n

Univision is known here by many names: KWEX, Channel 41, KCOR and Univision 41.<\/p>\n

KCOR refers to KCOR-TV, founded by Raoul A. Cortez in June 1955. Cortez had spent the previous decade establishing KCOR as the first Mexican American-owned, full-time Spanish-language radio station before he started broadcasting on TV.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first Spanish TV station began operating in the northwest part of the city, near I-10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"KCOR founder Raoul A. Cortez sits for a photo with radio station staff in his office in 1949. Credit: Courtesy \/ Univision 41<\/p>\n

Cortez sold the TV station to his son-in-law Emilio Nicolas Sr. and his business partners in 1961, and the station\u2019s name changed to KUAL-TV later that year. It would change once more the next year to KWEX-TV. That same year, Nicolas Sr. opened KMEX-TV in Los Angeles, bringing the start of the Spanish International Network (SIN), the U.S.\u2019s first satellite-interconnected television network.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[Cortez] and [Nicolas Sr.] were not the best of friends, I don\u2019t think they liked each other very much,\u201d said Guillermo Nicolas, Nicolas Sr.\u2019s youngest son. \u201cBut they were smart men, and they knew they were doing something important together.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the 61-year-old Nicolas isn\u2019t involved in Univision today, he holds immense pride in his family\u2019s pioneering history. He currently serves on the Texas Public Radio\u2019s board of directors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2019, TPR and Nicolas announced the naming of the Irma and Emilio Nicolas Media Center, housed in Alameda Theater, where Cortez produced programming for the KCOR radio station.<\/p>\n

Five years earlier, community advocates tried to preserve KWEX\u2019s original studio on 411 E. C\u00e9sar E. Ch\u00e1vez Blvd. after it was approved for demolition by the city\u2019s Office of Historic Preservation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the developer of the land wanted to tear the building down, the city suggested they put up some kind of historical marker of where the KWEX building once stood,\u201d said Gonzalez. \u201cThere was significant community outcry. The Westside Preservation Alliance organized demonstrations and letter writing campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WPA was able to delay the building\u2019s demolition for several days by filing for an injunction with the court. When that didn\u2019t work, activists jumped the fence and wouldn\u2019t leave the site.<\/p>\n

Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, was one of those protestors. \u201cSomebody from the community came and dropped off a little table and chairs, and somebody else brought tacos, somebody else brought tea,\u201d she recalled. \u201cWe stayed there for a while, and eventually the cops did come.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and others were arrested and the building was eventually demolished.<\/p>\n

Trailblazers in San Antonio<\/p>\n

Martha Tijerina broke barriers as one of the first women in Spanish-language television in the United States when she was hired at KWEX-TV in 1970.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Reporter Martha Tijerina interviews comedian and actor Cantinflas for KWEX-TV. Credit: Courtesy \/ Martha Tijerina<\/p>\n

San Antonio Express-News columnist Elaine Ayala wrote of Tijerina\u2019s many on-air accomplishments<\/a>, which includes her show \u201cEn San Antonio.\u201d She featured Mexican American and Chicano activists, politicians, educators, religious leaders and others in the midst of tremendous change and tumult.<\/p>\n

For that work, she was featured in a Smithsonian<\/a> exhibit titled, \u201c\u00a1De \u00faltima hora! Latinas Report Breaking News\u201d at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe needs of the community from the days that I started, during the Chicano movement \u2014 those needs still exist,\u201d said Tijerina. \u201cPeople should challenge the people giving them their news, introduce new perspectives. We can only uplift ourselves if we uplift each other first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tijerina is still on the airwaves hosting her show on Catholic Television of San Antonio.<\/p>\n

She credits her success to Nicolas Sr., singing his praises far and wide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think any of us fully understand what he did. He didn\u2019t have anyone to follow,\u201d Tijerina said. \u201cIt was a whole network, and it was one man doing it. He was sales, he was production, he was everything. On top of that, he was just so supportive of everyone who worked for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Reporter Martha Tijerina interviews former Texas State Sen. Carlos F. Truan for KWEX-TV. Credit: Courtesy \/ Martha Tijerina<\/p>\n

With KWEX-TV under Nicolas Sr.\u2019s leadership, the news broadcasting industry would see several changes. When people struggled to tune in without a way to receive the broadcast on their TV sets, Nicolas Sr. would advocate for them to be sold with converter boxes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nicolas Sr. traveled all over the U.S. to establish TV stations under SIN, but he would come back to San Antonio every time. He lived and worked in San Antonio for the rest of his life, even after SIN was sold to Hallmark Cards and Televisa, rebranding as Univision in 1987.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Univision would grow larger and larger, launching several of its iconic broadcast segments between 1989 and 1998, such as \u201cPrimer Impacto\u201d in 1994 and \u201cDespierta America\u201d in 1997.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the Spanish news network became a household name with a legacy of providing accessible news media made for Spanish-speaking families in the U.S.. According to a 2024 Pew Research study<\/a>, 69% of Hispanic immigrants get their news from Hispanic news outlets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re dedicated to the whole family,\u201d Univision 41 Anchor Jorge N\u00fa\u00f1ez said in Spanish. \u201cWe\u2019re dedicated to reaching grandmas and mothers, and through them we reach the children who sit down and watch along. There\u2019s a certain family magic that we try to connect to, and it goes on for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guill\u00e9n remembers the time a family approached him on the street. Their little boy pointed at him and said, \u201cLook, mom, it\u2019s my daddy!\u201d Guill\u00e9n couldn\u2019t stop laughing as he recounted one of many silly interactions with viewers. \u201cHis father said, \u2018Look at this guy, he sees you on the news everyday and he thinks you\u2019re his dad!\u2019 I had to say, \u2018No, no! I don\u2019t know you or your son.\u2019 I was just grateful he understood the situation!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Univision works intentionally to engage with local viewers \u2014 and local viewers engage with the reporters they see on TV. N\u00fa\u00f1ez has been part of several of Univision\u2019s telethons and walks in parks with viewers, and he said it\u2019s his favorite part of the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we work for the public audience,\u201d N\u00fa\u00f1ez said in Spanish. \u201cThey ask for advice on immigration, and it\u2019s such a big responsibility. The most we can do is be honest with what we do and don\u2019t know and suggest they find a lawyer. They\u2019ll keep us updated and even let us know if they get a court date.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Univision 41 Anchor Jorge N\u00fa\u00f1ez and Multimedia Journalist Antonio Guill\u00e9n in the Noticias San Antonio control room on Oct. 6, 2025. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

In 2012, Univision 41 collaborated with several universities in San Antonio and launched Proyecto U, an education partnership program that would allow students to receive direct mentorship from the station\u2019s staff. It was discontinued in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really impressed with the mentorship the students received under the program,\u201d said Jenny Moore, the communications professor at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. \u201cI\u2019ve never worked with an organization so committed to mentorship and community engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students in the program developed hands-on experience in broadcasting and assisted Univision 41 with broadcasts throughout the semester. They would have class with their professor in a classroom inside the studio before getting to work with staff members at the station.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of communities at risk of not being heard,\u201d Moore said. \u201cUnivision has built and defined what it means to have community engagement and serve an audience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Univision\u2019s Guill\u00e9n and N\u00fa\u00f1ez, there is no place like San Antonio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey offered to transfer me to the Miami headquarters,\u201d N\u00fa\u00f1ez said in Spanish. \u201cI declined. I\u2019ve known for a while now that I want to stay in San Antonio. I don\u2019t see myself going anywhere else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never even considered leaving,\u201d Guill\u00e9n said. Even after covering California\u2019s wildfires and the U.S.-Mexico border crises, he\u2019s made it clear that he intends to continue covering local matters in the same city he\u2019s spent most of his journalistic career in. \u201cIt\u2019s San Antonio, baby!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back in the 1960s, there were federal laws that limited the amount of broadcast stations a person could…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":333599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,165339,165340,165341,155874,165342,165343,165344,165345,7202,7203,28638,165346,165347,358,7453,3187,7593,67,586,132,5230,57385,165348,68,2969,7455],"class_list":{"0":"post-333598","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-antonio-guillen","10":"tag-elaine-ayala","11":"tag-emilio-nicolas-sr","12":"tag-graciela-sanchez","13":"tag-irma-and-emilio-nicolas-media-center","14":"tag-kcor","15":"tag-kwex","16":"tag-martha-tijerina","17":"tag-san-antonio","18":"tag-sanantonio","19":"tag-smithsonian","20":"tag-spanish-international-network","21":"tag-spanish-language-tv","22":"tag-texas","23":"tag-top-story","24":"tag-tx","25":"tag-typefeature","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-united-states-of-america","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","30":"tag-univision","31":"tag-univision-41","32":"tag-us","33":"tag-usa","34":"tag-wc-1500-2000"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115439961078288290","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}