NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of its ongoing commitment to education, Univision Communications, the leading media company serving Hispanic America, along with partners The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, College Board and Televisa Foundation among others, addressed the critical need for information with its second annual education week “¡Edúcate! Es el momento.” Millions came together to further impact Hispanic educational attainment through Univision-hosted forums, phone banks, special programs in multi-city events including an education town hall in Miami as well as a closing landmark event in Los Angeles, “La Feria, Es el momento.”
The “¡Edúcate! Es el momento” seven-day effort (October 7-13, 2012) concluded with a lineup of activities that featured:
- More than 7,000 users logged into the Univision College Fair, an online college fair powered by CollegeWeekLive with 134 participating colleges.
- “¡Edúcate, es el momento!” kicked off the second annual “Becas Univision” scholarship program, a multi-year scholarship program launched in 2011 to award $300,000 in scholarships to deserving college-bound Hispanic students.
- National leaders participated in education events and stories hosted by Univision including: Former Governor Jeb Bush, co-founder of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and philanthropist Melinda Gates, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, singer Tony Bennett, alongside leading Latino artists such as “Por Ella Soy Eva” co-stars Lucero and Jaime Camil and Hollywood stars including Wilmer Valderrama, who helped address national education issues among Hispanic youth.
- Phone banks hosted in cities around the country saw a 50 percent increase volume in traffic, with more than 27,000 calls from people looking for information about the college and financial application process.
- A first-of-its-kind series of live webcast town halls in English on dreamers and bullying which included guest speakers Mayor Villaraigosa and Olympian and former Dreamer Leonel Manzano; and Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of L.A. Cris Arzate and Hollywood actor Wilmer Valderrama, respectively, attracted thousands of participants.
- “Despierta America,” “Noticiero Univision” and “Al Punto” all showed increases in viewership compared to the previous week. “Despierta America” delivered 810,000 Total Viewers 2+; “Noticiero Univision” delivered 1.8 million Total Viewers 2+; “Al Punto” averaged 740,000 Total Viewers 2+.
- The town hall program led by educators, politicians, students and parents reached one million Total Viewers 2+ that watched all or part of the one-hour broadcast.
- “La Feria, Es el momento” which included activities ranging from a book fair to a forum featuring Univision award-winning anchors Maria Elena Salinas and Enrique Acevedo, and information about the education and financial process, attracted approximately 40,000 attendees.
- The book giveaway during “La Feria de Educación” broke the record for largest one-day book giveaway, with more than 65,000 books distributed.
- Additionally, Univision and Televisa Foundation launched a new program ¿Y Tú…A Quién Becarías? and awarded 1,000 English courses to provide more opportunities for college-bound Hispanic students.
Univision’s comprehensive “Es el momento” online and mobile website, www.eselmomento.com, served as a hub for education week and streamed the town hall live online. During the week, the dedicated site drove over 174,000 visits. Mobile traffic was up 118 percent year to year and generated a 164 percent increase in page views compared to last year. Also, the number of new subscribers for mobile text alerts was up 15 percent from last year– over 9,700 users are now subscribed to “Es el momento” alerts. The site will continue to provide education-related news, tools and resources year round.
Leveraging the power of social media to further create awareness, Es el momento connected parents, students and educators with Univision personalities and resources during education week. Efforts garnered more than 100 million impressions on Twitter; reached hundreds of thousands through special GetGlue stickers; and engaged users skyrocketed by 1,907 percent on Es el momento’s Facebook page.
The community was able to join the conversation around key education topics via @eselmomento and the #eselmomento hashtag on Twitter; share their photos through Instagram and Twitter, which were featured on a special dedicated mashup page on eselmomento.com; unlock GetGlue education stickers for tuning in to Univision’s programming; as well as connect directly with Univision personalities and education experts through a series of social events. From a Google+ Hangout with Pamela Silva Conde and education experts and students to a live Twit cam featuring Cesar Conde, moderated by Satcha Pretto and a Tweet “chat” discussion about the importance of parental involvement that included Teresa Rodriguez, Johnny Lozada, Tony Dandrades, Natalia Cruz and Alina Mayo-Azze, among others. In addition to special content and resources made available on Univision’s education Pinterest board.
About Univision’s Es El Momento
Es El Momento, launched in February 2010, is Univision’s comprehensive, multi-platform, national education initiative aimed at improving academic achievement among K-12 Hispanic students. The initiative focuses on college readiness, high school and college completion, as well as engaging Hispanic parents and the broader community. This effort is conducted in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, community, education and civil rights groups from around the country. Other partners include ASPIRA, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and NASA. As the premier media company serving the U.S. Hispanic community, Univision’s mission is to inform, entertain and empower Hispanics. Es el Momento builds on Univision’s legacy of supporting community initiatives of importance to Hispanic America, including education, health and civic engagement.
About Univision Communications Inc.
Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is the leading media company serving Hispanic America. Its assets include Univision Network, one of the top five networks in the U.S. regardless of language and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country reaching 96% of U.S. Hispanic households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network reaching 88% of U.S. Hispanic households; Univision Cable Networks, including Galavisión, the country’s leading Spanish-language cable network, as well as Univision tlnovelas, a new 24-hour cable network dedicated to novelas, Univision Deportes Network, a new 24-hour cable network dedicated to sports, ForoTV, a new 24-hour Spanish-language cable network dedicated to news, and an additional suite of six cable offerings - De Película, De Película Clásico, Bandamax, Ritmoson, Telehit and Clásico TV; Univision Studios, which produces and co-produces reality shows, dramatic series and other programming formats for the Company’s platforms; Univision Television Group, which owns and/or operates 62 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Radio, the leading Hispanic radio group which owns and/or operates 69 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Interactive Media, a network of national and local online and mobile sites including Univision.com, which continues to be the #1 most-visited Spanish-language website among U.S. online Hispanics, Univision Móvil, a longstanding industry-leader with unique, relevant mobile products and services, and Univision Partner Group, a specialized advertising and publisher network. Headquartered in New York City, UCI has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit Univision.net.
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