Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 5.
‘Comedians are the new public intellectuals’: Why Univision took a bite of The Onion
Univision has a head start on the most unlikely deal of 2016.
The Spanish-language media giant has acquired a minority stake The Onion. Valued at less than $200 million, the deal gives Univision a 40 percent stake in The Onion’s parent company, with the option of buying the publisher outright in the future, according to The New York Times.
The deal comes at a time when Univision is aggressively pushing to diversify its business beyond the Spanish-language TV content it has historically been known for.It’s not just doing more English-language content either, as Univision has placed an internal focus on owning different content verticals that resonate with millennial audiences.
Last May, the company acquired African-American news and culture site The Root. In the past several years, it also launched two English-language cable channels, Fusion and El Rey. Univision has also been building several digital businesses, including the digital arm of Fusion, the UCN YouTube network and the streaming comedy channel Flama.
“Comedians are seen as the new public intellectuals. That is because they are seen as more real, authentic and able to cut through all the crap that is out there,” said Isaac Lee, Univision’s chief news and digital officer, in a staff memo circulated this morning. “The Onion is the master of that. They’ve been doing it longer and better than anyone else.”
While Onion Inc. will continue to operate independently, Univision will assist the publisher in growing its distribution footprint and ad-sales capabilities. The two companies will also aim to create new content, both in short- and long-form formats, for each Onion brand across digital and linear platforms.
For an example of how this might work, look no further than a deal signed by Fusion and The Root to create original content for the cable network. The first content from this deal is expected to launch sometime in 2016.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1
Main image via Univision
More in Media
Digiday+ Research Subscription Index 2025: Subscription strategies from Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others
Digiday’s third annual Subscription Index examines and measures publishers’ subscription strategies to identify common approaches and key tactics among Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others.
From lawsuits to lobbying: How publishers are fighting AI
We may be closing out 2025, but publishers aren’t retreating from the battle of AI search — some are escalating it, and they expect the fight to stretch deep into 2026.
Media Briefing: Publishers turn to vertical video to compete with creators and grow ad revenue in 2026
Publishers add vertical video feeds to their sites to boost engagement, attract video ad spend and compete with news creators.
Ad position: web_bfu