Alfonso de Angoitia
Management
The first one about Univision and the sale of that company, I think what I can tell you is that the process has just started, and therefore, I mean, we have limited information. But in terms of the deal we have with the private equity firms that are our partners, we have tag-along rights, which means that we have the option to sell if we believe that it's in the best interest of Televisa and its shareholders. But the selling move does not have a drag along, which means that they cannot sell our stock. So that gives us a lot of optionality. So it's too early to say in the process. Let's see basically what happens. As to your second question, thank you very much for that question. I think that there are many aspects to consider in terms of the underperformance of our stock. As Bernardo and I see it, and we have discussed this at length, there are 3 basic concerns. I would say that they're industry-related concerns, also Mexico concerns, and I would mention Televisa-specific concerns. As to industry-specific issues, there has been a repricing of most media assets globally and industry-wide. And of course, this has affected Televisa. The industry concerns are wide, and they go from changing in the viewing habits of audiences, newer distribution platforms, cord-cutting and cord-shaving and what has to do with the cable and DTH migration of audiences, migration of advertising budgets to pay television and especially, digital. So there are many concerns industry-wide. It is very important to keep in mind that the changes that happen in the U.S. do not happen in Mexico at the same time and very specifically with the same speed. And I believe that, that gives us here in Mexico at Televisa an advantage because we're watching all those developments closely and we can make changes and we can review and change our strategy, which we have done in all our businesses. Then moving on to Mexico, what we call Mexico-specific concerns, of course, the FX depreciation and the slowdown in economic activity in Mexico have had a negative impact in our valuation as it does in most Mexican companies. Now going to the Televisa-specific aspects and the concerns that the market has expressed to us about Televisa's operations, as we - as I mentioned before, if you focus on the very short term this quarter, we had a very difficult comparison to last year because of the three effects that we discussed, basically the World Cup effect, the Easter week holiday effect and the government effect. These factors are specific to the first quarter of this year, and they will transcend to the third quarter also in what has to do with the World Cup and the government effect. But leaving the short term aside, there are more strategic concerns. Our Content business is the one that has been challenged the most. Since we took over a little more than a year ago, Bernardo and I have been dedicating a lot of time to reengineer and turn this business around. It has been really tough, but I believe that we have taken very important steps. First, in what has to do with the sale of advertising, basically, we updated our obsolete sales model, which was widely used by us and by the Mexican industry for more than 30 years. Instead, we're now selling audiences for the first time in our history, which might surprise a lot of people that we were now selling audiences. However, I mean it takes a lot of effort to change old habits. I think that one of the challenges here is that it involves changing the whole industry. We're the leaders in the industry, and I think we're the only ones that can accomplish that, but it means changing our sales teams. It involves changing the relationship with agencies. It involves changing the manner in which clients buy and interrelate with us. So as I've mentioned, it has not been easy, but this is working. And also the positive thing here is that nobody can deliver the audiences and very specifically the reach that Televisa does with its productions. So we have the product, and it is working. So we feel that it's a work in progress. But we're moving in the right direction. And on top of that, in these 18 months since we took over, we changed the manner in which we produce content for many decades. There was a resistance before we took over in terms of changing the manner in which Televisa had been producing its telenovelas, its main products. However, since we took over, we have increased the production values significantly. We have modernized our formats. And as a result, the ratings are up, and we're maintaining very healthy margins. So basically, Televisa remains by far the largest producer of Spanish language content in the world. And as Patricio mentioned, now we're doing coproductions with Netflix, Amazon, et cetera. So we're a very attractive producer of content with all these changes that we have made. Now in terms of other specific concerns that the market has had with respect to Televisa and going to cable, basically the concern there has been CapEx and the level of CapEx. What I can say is that the high CapEx to sales ratio resulted from our double-digit compounded growth of the last years and the rebuilding and upgrading of our networks. We have passed the high CapEx intensity phase, and the ratio of CapEx to sales will continue to come down starting next year. Also of concern to the market is Sky, and there's a question around DTH future. It is obvious that Sky will not grow at the same pace as in the past, but we're transforming this company into a broadband provider. We will end the year with hundreds of thousands of new double-play subscribers. Sky is today, I would say, and will continue to be in the next years, a very profitable company, which generates a very strong operating cash flow. And finally, I would say questions relating to - specifically to Televisa and its investments, in the case of Univision, the results in the recent past have not been as expected, but we believe that the new management team is doing a great job in repositioning the company. They have reduced the company's debt, which was a specific concern of ours, and our royalty payment has increased substantially. We're working closely with them in order to produce content that works in both markets. We work with them every single day through Patricio's team. And what I can say is that Univision is a great asset. It remains the number one entertainment, sports and news media company for Hispanics in the United States. So I mean - and this has been a very long answer, but in summary, what I can tell you, Gordon, is that there are many industry-related and Mexico-specific aspects that impacts our valuation. And many of those, specifically the ones related to Mexico, we cannot control. As to the ones we can control, each of our businesses has a different set of challenges and opportunities, the ones I have been referring to, and both Bernardo and I are taking action and have a plan in place. In the meantime, what I can tell you is that we will continue to be disciplined in our costs and expenses. And of course, our goal is to protect our margins, and we will take advantage of our, what I would characterize as, frustrating valuation by buying back stock. So I'm sorry for such a long answer, but it gave me an opportunity to share with you how Bernardo and I are looking at things.