Fox names Ibra Morales as president of MundoFox

21st Century Fox has named a new president to help grow its struggling Spanish-language broadcast network: veteran station executive Ibra Morales.

Morales, a former top executive with rival Telemundo, has worked for the last four years at Katz Television Group, most recently as its senior vice president of national marketing.

Morales, a Cuban American, replaces Emiliano Saccone, MundoFox’s first president, who resigned in December.

MundoFox is a joint venture between Fox International Channels and RCN Television Group, the Colombian programming giant. The network launched in August 2012 but has struggled for traction, in part, because its programming is carried on just a handful of TV stations with strong signals.

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The network is available in nearly a third of U.S. homes with TVs.

MundoFox’s prime-time block averages about 115,000 viewers a night, a fraction of the audience generated by Univision and Telemundo.

Industry leader Univision averages slightly more than 3 million viewers a night in prime time.

“Since we launched MundoFox in fall 2012, we’ve said that building a major new U.S. Hispanic broadcast network is a marathon not a sprint,� Fox International Channels Chief Executive Hernan Lopez said in a statement.

“In Ibra, we not only have an experienced television executive but an active marathoner,� Lopez said. “That’s a great combination.�

Morales will report to the venture’s board. Before working at Telemundo, owned by NBCUniversal, Morales was senior vice president for sales for Hearst-Argyle Television based in New York. He started his new position on Friday.

MundoFox is affiliated with Meruelo Media’s KWHY-TV Channel 22 in Los Angeles, which is the station with the largest audience in the MundoFox group.

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