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Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivison unveiled a surprise overhaul of its ad-sales structure Monday — with just weeks to go before the TV industry opens its annual “upfront” marketplace.

The company replaced Tim Naividad, who had been in place since June of 2025, with a veteran internal choice, John Kozack, who has worked at TelevisaUnivision over two decades. Natividad had previous experience at Roku and Amazon, and his digital chops were no doubt welcome at a traditional media company that has recently made significant strides in streaming. And yet, the move suggests TelevisaUnivision couldn’t abandon its reliance on the millions it generates from linear TV.

The company’s advertising revenue in the fourth quarter came to $856 million, flat with results from the previous year. In the U.S., advertising revenue declined 11% to $423 million.

TelevisaUnivision has been working to bolster its balance sheet since Wade Davis, the former Viacom CFO who orchestrated a buyout of Univision in 2020 before merging it with Mexico’s Grupo Televisa in 2022, ceded his CEO role to Daniel Alegre, a former senior executive at Activision Blizzard.  Since Alegre joined in 2024, TelevisaUnivision has worked to streamline operations that had previously been siloed by geographic region. The company owns media assets in both the United States and Mexico

“Over the last year, Tim has been involved in a significant transformation in our commercial strategy, particularly as we shore up our partner engagement, digital strengths and diversify our content to new formats and platforms,” said Alegre, in a statement. “We are grateful for Tim’s leadership throughout his tenure and for the talent he has brought into the company.”

The executive said Kozack had a “deep understanding of our business, passion for the U.S. Hispanic market, and proven track record of driving growth.”

The ad-sales shuffle marks the second choppy handoff of executives who oversee one of the company’s key sources of revenue. In June of last year, veteran Donna Speciale exited the company quickly after TelevisaUnivsion had made its annual upfront presentation to advertisers and media agencies. People familiar with the matter said Speciale and the company could not come to terms on a contract renewal at the time.

But the moves create difficult optics as the industry prepares for the upfront, an annual sales market during which U.S. TV companies try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory ahead of their next cycle of programming. Under such circumstances, the appointment of Kozack might be reassuring. He was previoulsy responsible for all client and agency relationships, serving as a critical lead in the upfront talks and focusing on, among other things the sales behind TelevisaUnivision’s sports portfolio. 
  
Kozack began his career at The Media Edge, a media buying agency under the aegis of WPP. He was responsible for creating the first presenting sponsorship of the Rose Bowl on behalf of AT&T. He then went on to become an account executive with Fox Sports, before joining Univision as an account executive in 2003

More to come…

Sophie Thatcher (“Heretic,” “Companion”), Erin Kellyman (“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” “Eleanor the Great”) and Joe Alwyn (“The Brutalist,” “Hamnet”) are to star in “Cavendish, an “irreverent and original” thriller set against the witch hunts of 17th-century Britain.

From writer-director Christopher Andrews (“Bring Them Down”), “Cavendish” is billed as “blending visceral action with sharp, unexpected humour.” Cornerstone will handle international sales and distribution and will commence sales at Cannes. CAA Media Finance is handling domestic.

Set in 1645, the story sees a privileged young bride (Thatcher) accused of witchcraft on her wedding day and pursued by a ruthless witch hunter (Alwyn). Forced into an uneasy alliance with a sharp-witted poacher living on the margins of society (Kellyman), the two women, as per the synopsis, fight back, “turning their powerlessness into strength through violence, wit and defiance.”

Cavendish is produced by BAFTA award winners Ivana MacKinnon and Emily Leo (“How to Have Sex,” “Bring Them Down,” “Beast”) from Wild Swim Films together with January Films’ Rosa Attab and Jacqueline De Croy (“You Were Never Really Here,” “I Daniel Blake”) and Klaudia Smieja-Rostworowska and Bogna Szewczyk-Skupien (“The Brutalist,” “The Testament of Ann Lee”) from Polish production entity Madants. The film was developed in collaboration with BBC Film and also received funding from the Polish Film Institute cash rebate program. It will commence production in Poland September 2026.

“It’s rare to find a British action thriller in this period that feels this fresh, entertaining and original,” said Cornerstone’s Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder said. “Cavendish is a real page-turner, with a wicked sense of humour and a bold subversion of traditional female roles. Christopher Andrews is going to create something fresh and exciting, and we can’t wait to share his vision with buyers”

Andrews’ debut feature “Bring Them Down” premiered at TIFF in Special Presentation in 2024. The film starred Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott and won the Douglans Hickox Award for Outstanding Debut Director at the 2024 British Independent film awards.

Thatcher is represented by CAA and Doreen Wilcox Little at Echo Lake Entertainment. Kellyman is represented by CAA, Curtis Brown Group and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christoper. Alwyn is represented by CAA, Lizzie Newell at Independent Talent, and Kelli Allick at Entertainment 360. Andrews is represented by Julien Thuan, Dan Erlij, Stella Ginsberg and Milorad Dragicevic, at UTA.

Now that’s a box office thriller.

“Michael,” an origin story about Michael Jackson, electrified the box office with $97 million domestically and $217 million globally in its first weekend of release. The PG-13 film wildly exceeded expectations to secure the biggest opening of all time for any musical biopic, easily supplanting the record set long ago by 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton” ($60 million debut). It’s a blockbuster result for Lionsgate, ranking as the company’s biggest hit since 2015’s “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” ($102 million debut). The studio is expected to greenlight at least one more film about Jackson’s life.

“The power of Michael Jackson’s reach into culture is undeniable,” says Lionsgate’s motion picture chair Adam Fogelson. “And people are having a blast in theaters.”

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, “Michael” stars Jaafar Jackson (the singer’s nephew in his acting debut) and chronicles the performer’s journey from the Jackson 5 to his status as the King of Pop. Negative reviews and costly behind-the-scenes headaches didn’t tarnish the excitement for “Michael,” which box office watchers predict will remain a major draw into the summer season. Here are five takeaways from the movie’s massive debut:

Can’t stop a crowd-pleaser

Critics have complained that “Michael” paints a sanitized portrait of Jackson since the film ends before he was accused of child molestation. (Jackson, who died in 2009, has denied all allegations.) Ticket buyers didn’t share that criticism. They embraced “Michael” with an “A-” grade on CinemaScore exit polls, a mark that bodes well for box office longevity.

“Michael” wasn’t a small-scale production, meaning the film couldn’t afford to polarize audiences. With a price tag nearing $200 million, it’s one of the most expensive biopics of all time. (Lionsgate shared expenses with the international distributor Universal and the Jackson estate.)

Initially, “Michael” had dramatized a 1993 child sexual abuse lawsuit against Jackson. But those sequences had to be removed after producers discovered a clause in the settlement with the young accuser that barred the depiction or mention of him in film or television. Toning down the screenplay was a major headache that added tens of millions to the budget. But in the end, the version that appeared onscreen was accessible to music fans of all ages and demographics.

“Reviews are weak,” notes David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. But “the movie is playing as a feel good, nostalgic appreciation. Audiences [are] on their feet, singing and dancing.”

Cue up the greatest hits

Mainstream audiences don’t necessarily want a warts-and-all story about their music icons. Some just want to feel like they’re enjoying a concert — from the comfort of plush recliners. That was part of the appeal of 2018’s Queen film “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which generated a massive $911 million globally. Since that movie’s stratospheric success, there have been plenty of musical biopics about artists such as Elvis Presley (“Elvis”), Amy Winehouse (“Back to Black”), Bob Dylan (“A Complete Unknown”), Bob Marley (“One Love”) and Bruce Springsteen (“Deliver Me From Nowhere”). Not all have been embraced with equal fervor. “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” for example, was criticized for focusing on a less commercial chapter of the Boss’ discography, his acoustic album “Nebraska,” rather than providing a look into the making of his greatest hits.

Much like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Elvis,” the film about Jackson became a crowd-pleaser by leaning heavily on recreations of iconic performances of “Billie Jean,” “Thriller” and “Beat It.” Cinema-goers opted to watch those thrilling sequences on the biggest and brightest screens. Imax alone accounted for $13.8 million, or roughly 14% of North American ticket sales, and $24.5 million globally, ranking as the company’s biggest start for a musical biopic.

“Movie theaters are perfect for music-centric films, with incredible sound systems offering up an experience that simply cannot be replicated at home,” says senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Enjoying the film with other Michael Jackson fans only added to the energy and excitement that made ‘Michael’ truly a must-see event on the big screen this weekend.”

Here’s hoping that Sam Mendes is taking notes as he prepares to make four interconnected films about the Beatles.

Jackson’s fans have long ago separated the art from the artist

It’s an age-old debate: Can you separate the art from the artist? Despite the child molestation claims that plagued Jackson for decades, his fans have demonstrated a number of times that the answer is yes. The singer’s estate, a producer on the film, was encouraged by several successful productions, including the profitable Broadway musical “MJ” (one of only four new shows since the pandemic that’s still running), the Cirque du Soleil show “One” and the 2009 concert film “This Is It.” None of those projects deal with allegations against Jackson.

If producers move forward with a sequel (and that’s clearly the intention — the words “His story continues” appear at the end of the movie), audiences might have to reckon with uncomfortable questions. Will people return en masse for a story that covers a period of Jackson’s life that was dominated by controversy and scandal?

Lionsgate’s commercial streak

What a difference a couple of years can make. By the end of 2024, Lionsgate’s box office fortunes were downright depressing after an epic string of failures including “Borderlands,” a reboot of “The Crow” and the “Wonder” prequel “White Bird.” Since last fall, though, Lionsgate has been on the upswing with wins including September’s dystopian drama “The Long Walk” ($62 million) and two November releases, heist sequel “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” ($243 million) and psychological thriller “The Housemaid” ($400 million).

Fogelson believes those three films, plus “Michael,” have benefited from a common thread: the “joy of the communal experience.”

“The fact that we’ve had success on such different types of movies has been incredibly gratifying,” he said. “It’s becoming more and more apparent that if you can create the promise of something that’s best experienced with a group of friends rather than alone, you are meaningfully enhancing the odds of success.”

Box office momentum matters

Exhibitors often lament they need new movies year-round (and not just during the summer and Christmastime) to entice patrons. Well, they didn’t have to dust off the cobwebs to welcome patrons for “Michael.” Auditoriums have been bustling for most of the spring, thanks to “Scream 7,” “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Project Hail Mary.” Now it’s up to cinema operators to keep people in the habit as they wait for next weekend’s “The Devil Wears Prada 2″ — followed by the Warner Bros. action sequel “Mortal Kombat 2” and “Star Wars” spinoff “The Mandalorian and Grogu” — to kick off the summer season in style. Enter Miranda Priestly.