MUMBAI: Cisneros Group of Companies chairman and CEO Gustavo Cisneros has been named as the Mipcom 2005 Personality of the Year by Reed Midem.
Cisneros will receive the award during a gala dinner for industry executives on 19 October at the 21st edition of Mipcom (17 – 21 October, Palais des Festivals, Cannes).
“We are delighted to honor the man who has built the Cisneros Group of Companies into the media giant it is today, not only in Latin America but also in the US and Europe. For over 30 years, Gustavo Cisneros has been at the forefront of Latin America’s economic progress and social development. His efforts and the outstanding success of the Cisneros Group, which he oversees, have helped to increase Latin America’s profile on the global stage, cultivate new industries, and increase access to information,” says Reed Midem CEO Paul Zilk.
Cisneros said, “I am thrilled to be honored by Mipcom. It is especially gratifying to be recognised for contributions to international television. Crossing borders – not only between nations, but also between cultures and media – is a key element of both my business and philanthropic activities. Moreover I am honored to be in the company of others who have received the Personality of the Year Award, all of whom have made groundbreaking contributions to our field. Of course, credit for the accomplishments that have led to this award is not mine alone. My talented colleagues – all hardworking, intelligent professionals – and, above all else, my wife, Patty, are essential ingredients of my business and philanthropic successes.”
The Cisneros Group of Companies is one of the largest privately held media, entertainment, technology, telecommunications, and consumer-products organisations in the world. Today, the Cisneros Group of Companies owns or holds interests in 75 companies with operations in more than 80 countries. With annual revenues exceeding $3.5 billion, the Group’s business sectors range from broadcast television networks, pay television and interactive services, telecommunications and to beverage businesses and supermarket chains. Through its diverse industries, the Cisneros Group of Companies delivers leading brands and high quality services to 550 million Spanish and Portuguese-speaking consumers in the Americas and Europe.
The Group’s holdings include interests in Venevision (the leading broadcast television channel in Venezuela), Venevision International (a Spanish-language entertainment company specializing in TV programming), Univision Communications, Inc. (the leading provider of Spanish-language content to the US Hispanic audience), Movida Communications (the mobile virtual operator for the US Hispanic market), Claxson Interactive Group Inc. (an integrated Ibero-American media and entertainment company), and DirecTV Latin America.
In addition to his responsibilities related to the Cisneros Group, Cisneros is a charter member of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force. As an ambassador for the media world and the entertainment and communications industries, he regularly participates in a wide range of events and speaks at universities and other venues. These have included the World Economic Forum, World Management Council, Columbia University, and Rockefeller University, among others.
The Mipcom Personality of the Year Award was created in 1989 to pay tribute to exceptional careers in and contributions to the international television industry. Previous recipients of the Award include Canal+ founder André Rousselet, CNN founder Ted Turner, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, MTV Networks chairman and CEO Tom Freston, News Corporation president and COO and The Fox Group chairman and CEO Peter Chernin, and RTL group CEO Gerhard Zeiler.
