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YourHub.com \\ Palm Beach Gardens \\ Stories \\ Business \\ General Business

José Uzal was named a South Florida Mover & Shaker

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Contributed by: Sheila Zayas on 10/13/2009

José R. Uzal has been honored by Business Leader magazine with a 2009 Movers & Shakers Award.

Uzal moved to the United States from Cuba with only $1 in his pocket on Christmas Eve of 1960. Now he owns Hispanic Media Works, Inc., a flourishing company that manages Spanish TV stations.

In 2004 the company signed a lucrative contract to manage Palm Beach County's first Spanish-language TV station WBWP Mega 57. This made Uzal the station's general manager and vice president.

Under his leadership, the station's advertising sales have increased by 300 percent. He also made it possible for the station to be viewed both over the air on channel 57, and on cable via Comcast channels 57.1 and 231.

"We have developed a successful method to make low power stations in the Spanish market profitable," said Uzal, who also writes a weekly column about issues concerning Hispanics that is syndicated in 17 Spanish-language publications across the United States and is read by tens of thousands of people.

Out of the eight Spanish-language TV stations in Palm Beach County, WBWP Mega 57 is the only one that continuously has local ratings, according to Nielsen.

Uzal has been central to WBWP Mega 57's growth over the last year, doubling the station's sales and viewers. The growth in sales and viewership has propelled the station to levels alongside market heavyweights WLTV Univision 23 and WSCV Telemundo on prime time in the local market area.

"The Spanish TV market is extremely difficult to manage because you're serving 16 percent of the population yet the costs are the same as if you're serving the majority of the market," said Uzal.

The station's website, www.canal57.com provides a community scroll featuring job openings, announcements and other important news. The scroll, which also appears on TV every hour, has proven to be so effective that nearly 125,000 people visit the website every month.

In addition to managing Mega 57, Uzal is a weekly guest on popular Spanish morning radio program "El Show de La Manaña" on WSPS 1190 AM. His authoritative and no non-sense style have attracted thousands of listeners to the show.

About WPWB Mega 57
WPWB Mega 57 is an affiliate of Mega TV and can be tuned in on Comcast channels 57.1 or 231. It is the longest-running and largest Hispanic-language TV station in Palm Beach, Martin andSt. Lucie counties. The station is located at 7354 Central Industrial Park Drive, Riviera Beach, FL 33404. For more information, please visit www.canal57.com or call 561-863-0417.

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