SAN ANTONIO, Texas – One of the founders of Univision, Emilio Nicolás, died this Saturday at 88 years old at his home located in Olmos Park, San Antonio.
His death comes after a long struggle against progressive supranuclear paralysis (PSP), a rare brain disease that affects brain cells and interferes with the proper functioning of movements.
Nicolás, known as the pioneer of Spanish-speaking television, took the reins of the KWEX station in San Antonio and later founded the Spanish International Network (SIN) television network later known as Univision, the first Spanish-language station in the United States. United and the first Spanish-language network in the country.
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The pioneer of Hispanic television stood out for giving voice to Latinos in San Antonio and southern Texas. His mission was always to inform, empower and entertain the Spanish-speaking viewers of the nation.
Nicolás was born in 1930 in the city of Frontera in the state of Coahuila, Mexico.
Nicolás is survived by his wife Irma Nicolás, his son Emilio Jr., his daughter Miriam, and his youngest son, Guillermo Nicolás. The deceased earned a baccalaureate degree from St. Mary’s University and a master’s degree from Trinity University.
The birth of Univision
After finishing high school in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, in 1948, Nicolás arrived in San Antonio, Texas, to learn English and seek a university degree in chemistry and biology with a specialization in mathematics.
In 1955, Nicolás began working at KCOR-TV, a Spanish-speaking television station in San Antonio founded by Nicolás' legendary father-in-law, Raoul Cortez. There, Nicolás began his career in television and media.
Nicolas, or "Nicky," as he was known by his close associates, produced the programs live at night and directed the news departments of the radio and television stations during the day.
In the mid-sixties, he also managed advertising and production in Spanish for all customers of Pitluk Advertising, the largest agency in San Antonio at that time. During his six years at KCOR, he quickly rose to managerial positions, becoming the president and general manager of the station.
By 1961, he and a group of investors bought the KCOR station from Cortez, and Nicolás changed the station to KWEX – in honor of Don Emilio Azcarraga's first radio station in Mexico City, Mexico, affectionately known as "La XEW. " As general manager, Nicolás rebuilt the station with financial difficulties, and KWEX soon became SIN, predecessor of Univision.
For the next two years, he oversaw the purchase of additional stations and, in 1963, the station group was named SICC.
In 1976, KWEX and San Antonio became the center of operations for SIN, the first interconnected satellite television network in the United States. Later, SIN would become Univision, currently the most viewed Spanish-language network in the United States, reaching more than 95 percent of the country's Hispanic households.
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