Televisa

"On one occasion, Miguel Sabido, head of research at Televisa and a theater director, got into an argument with the boss when he learned that Azcárraga planned to get rid of the Alameda Theater, a renowned movie palace that had belonged to the family since the 1930s. “Please, don’t give it away,” Sabido complained, horrified. “It’s mine,” Azcárraga replied. In a theatrical outburst—very much in his style—Sabido knelt down and began to plead: “Not the Alameda!… Not the Alameda!… Please!” Somewhere between astonishment and anger, Azcárraga shouted at him: “Get up, you fucking bastard, you’re a vice president of Televisa!” Nonetheless, Sabido kept protesting until Azcárraga, exasperated and unable to hide a smile, gave in: “All right, we won’t give away the Alameda.”"

"Some journalists who wrote about him claimed it was due to the streak of gray hair he combed back, which enhanced his stately bearing. Businessmen attributed the nickname to his tendency to pounce on some coveted asset or to rush into a new venture; his decisions seemed based more on animal instinct than on any analysis. “If you propose an idea to him, right then he tells you whether he’ll buy it or whether he thinks you’re stupid,” said Ambassador Agustín Barrios Gómez, who worked for many years at Televisa. “He never says ‘Call me Monday.’ It’s ‘Let’s do it’ or ‘Fuck off.’” Rather than spend time reading up on a subject, Azcárraga preferred to seek out experts, bombard them with questions, and then make a quick, Solomonic decision."

"Like his father, Azcárraga devoted many of his resources, both personal and professional, to the poor. Publicly, he believed that his television channels served the humble classes by giving them free entertainment. Privately, in one of the lesser-known aspects of his life, he made secret donations—from his own pocket and not from Televisa—to numerous charitable projects. These included shelters for street children and people with disabilities, as well as schools in Chiapas. He also contributed to the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace and funded trips for nuns to Rome. Very few knew about these donations, since he usually sent them anonymously, asking his trusted secretaries or some executives to handle the transfer of the funds. He did not like to be thanked, and even less when the gratitude was emotional, because it totally disconcerted him."

"It also illustrates his influence on power that Joaquín Vargas had to wait almost five years to operate a pay-television concession in Mexico City. Azcárraga filed an injunction to delay the entry of this new signal, Multivisión, since it would compete directly with his company Cablevisión. The only explanation that President Miguel de la Madrid gave Don Joaquín was that he would have to wait because Televisa was “very important” to him. Days before his six-year term ended, De la Madrid authorized the concession of Multivisión to begin operations."

"Moreover, for most of his reign, Televisa was subject to a highly centralized decision-making system, even by Latin American standards. When Azcárraga left the country, as happened frequently, operations beyond day-to-day entertainment production practically ground to a halt. The court barely functioned without the king. Co-investment projects lost momentum, the launch of subsidiaries was delayed, and new programs piled up waiting for the green light. To the repeated frustration of its foreign partners, clients, and suppliers, the refusal to delegate decisions was emulated by executives across much of the company."

"“Televisa is the owner of the free time of Mexicans,” Monsiváis has said. And Azcárraga embraced that. For him, the goal of his family business was to be able to guarantee entertainment through television, radio, magazines, film, video, soccer, bullfighting, and even museums. He also believed he was the only one who could do it."

"When there were no elections, Televisa’s news pattern was very similar. International news took precedence over local conflicts when these made the government look bad. Protests by unions, peasants, teachers, or any civic organization were ignored, or only the traffic chaos they caused was reported; they were never given space to explain the reason for their protest. Televisa reaped growing animosity from part of the population, which translated into a loss of audience to radio and, more recently, to TV Azteca, the private company resulting from state privatization."

"Although there is no doubt he was a man of the system, Azcárraga never courted officials. He spoke with presidents as equals and handled his affairs with the top tier of the cabinet, not with ceremony or reverence, but as if he were closing yet another deal with some partner or client, and to some extent that is what it was: Televisa served the system and the system served Televisa."

"Mexico has become a nation of television viewers. The average number of hours per day that Mexicans spend in front of the television exceeds that of the United States and European countries. From the most educated sectors to those with the least resources, everyone receives the complex stimuli of the small screen, which for more than 20 years was practically monopolized by Televisa’s programming. Emilio Azcárraga’s company has been the main influence on the cultural, political, and economic attitudes of the majority of the Mexican population. The ruling party itself has had to use it to connect effectively with its potential voters."

"The Machiavellian nature of Azcárraga in handling people was evident in a joke he used to tell: “Two lions meet: one skinny, skinny, and the other robust and strong. The skinny one asks the robust one: ‘Hey, how do you manage to be like that?’ ‘By eating every day.’ ‘But that’s the problem! The way things are, how do you manage to eat every day?’ ‘It’s very easy. I go to Televisa, I eat a vice president and no one even notices that one’s missing!’”"

"Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, the most powerful businessman Mexico has seen, was very picky about badges. These credentials, without which no employee was admitted into Televisa’s facilities, had to be worn not only as identification but as a symbol of pride"