Emilio Nicolas Sr.

Born in Frontera, Coahuila, Mexico on October 27, 1930, to parents Constantino and Miriam Nicolas. Emilio Nicolas, Sr. was one of five children. The family moved to Rosita where his parents started and ran a general store, a men’s clothing store and a bridal store. They raised their three daughters and two sons in the living quarters above the stores. Nicolas and his father would spend many hours listening to radio broadcasts and in particular news reports from the USA concerning Allied advances during WW2. His father urged him to learn English, so after graduating from high school in 1948, Nicolas emigrated to the United States to pursue his studies. He attended St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, where he graduated in 1951 with a bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry and a minor in math. In 1952 he went on to earn a master's degree at Trinity University in San Antonio before going to work for the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research as a researcher on arteriosclerosis and the polio vaccine. [1][2][3]

In 1953 Nicolas married Irma Alicia Cortez. They had 3 children; Emilio Jr., Miriam and Guillermo. They would remain married for 67 years until Nicolas’ death in 2019. In 1955, Nicolas left the Southwest Foundation to devote himself fully to KCOR-AM and KCOR-TV, America's first full-time Spanish-language radio and TV stations, founded by his father-in-law Raoul A. Cortez. He became a producer and director of news; by day overseeing the news department and by night, producing live programming. At the same time as he worked at the television station, Nicolas supplemented his income by producing commercials and jingles for national advertisers.[2]

During his six years at KCOR-AM and KCOR-TV, Nicolas was swiftly promoted, eventually becoming the station's president. In the mid-sixties he also handled the Spanish advertising and production for clients of Pitluk Advertising, San Antonio’s largest agency at that time.[4]

In the early days, about half of the programs on KCOR-TV were live variety and entertainment shows, featuring some of the best available talent from Mexico. KCOR-TV was a popular station among the Mexican and other Spanish-speaking residents of San Antonio; it was however unprofitable in its early years because advertisers did not acknowledge this market and failed to use it for promotions.  At the time, Hispanic viewers were not accounted for in the standard ratings services. Moreover, many viewers were cautious about acknowledging their heritage or disclosing their exposure to Spanish language media, for fear of discrimination. Another obstacle was that KCOR-TV broadcast in UHF, which not all TV sets at the time were equipped to receive. The station had been assigned channel 41 on UHF because once the war ended, most of the spare VHF bandwidth was soon taken up by a rash of new channels. The FCC wanted to open up UHF to accommodate further increases in demand. Unfortunately, receiving KCOR-TV required the installation of an additional tuner, an expensive purchase at that time. Many promotions were held in which UHF-equipped TV sets were given away was prizes, in order to expand the audience. [5]

In 1961, despite spending heavily on live talent, revenue from the advertising continued to be insufficient so Cortez sold KCOR-TV to a group of investors, including Nicolas and Mexican entertainment mogul Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, owner of Mexico-based Telesistema Mexicano (forerunner of Televisa). Nicolas held a 20% stake and remained as president and general manager for three decades, renaming the station KWEX-TV. Nicolas had wanted the new call letters for KCOR-TV to be “KXEW”, in honor of Azcarraga’s first radio station in Mexico City, fondly known as "La XEW", but those call letters were already taken in the states, so KWEX was chosen instead. The call letters for KCOR-AM were kept for the radio station and it continued to broadcast Spanish-language programming.[2] Soon after this, they opened KMEX-TV in Los Angeles and a few years later they launched the 'Spanish International Network' (SIN), an affiliate network of Spanish-language TV stations.[5] Emilio Nicolas Sr. and Rene Anselmo set up Spanish International Communications Corporation (SICC), which owned seven TV stations across the country, as that was all that was allowed by law. They also had TV stations in separate companies like Los Cerezos in DC, Seven Hills in Phoenix, Bahia de San Francisco in SF and others.

In the following decade, Nicolas and his partner Rene Anselmo successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress to mandate that all television sets be equipped to receive both VHF and UHF signals. In 1961, Congress passed the All-Channel Receiver Act, authorizing the FCC to impose that requirement.[6]

A tireless advocate for Latino rights and for betterment of the Latino community as a whole, in 1975, Nicolas launched the Teleton Navideno, a televised drive to raise money for the less fortunate in San Antonio during the holidays and one which continues to do so today.[2][4][1]

In 1976, Nicolas initiated the first national broadcast of a Catholic mass, as a public service for its predominantly Catholic viewers on the SIN Television Network. This mass continues to be broadcast from the cathedral in San Antonio on Univision stations.[2] In the same year, Nicolas made KWEX and San Antonio the center of operations for the first satellite interconnected television network in the United States, under the auspices of SIN, distributing content across the country via satellite, a totally innovative technique at that time and one that would later be replicated by CNN and Fox News. SIN grew exponentially and began airing the national Spanish-language television newscast in 1981. In his role as president of SICC, Nicolas helped the network of television stations around the nation grow to more than 280 affiliates.[7]

Following concerns about FCC rules regarding foreign ownership of US media, the FCC and the U.S. Justice Department eventually encouraged a sale of the network between 1986 and 1987. Hallmark Cards was the highest bidder offering $301.5 million. The sale was orchestrated by Nicolas and after the deal was complete he stepped down. Hallmark Cards chairman at that time was Irvine Hockaday and he hosted a gala evening honoring Nicolas for his leadership over a 40 year career.[2] The network later became Univision, which is currently the most-watched Spanish-language network, reaching more than 95% of Hispanic households in the U.S, in over 60 markets and bringing in revenues of over $1 billion per year.[8]

Once their two-year non-compete agreement with Hallmark was over, and after spending precious leisure time traveling throughout France with his wife Irma and son Guillermo,[4] Nicolas combined forces with Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, son of Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta and a pioneer of radio and television in Mexico, to launch Galavision broadcasting group, the third Spanish-language television network in the United States. Nicolas Communications Corporation (NCC) was formed to affiliate with Galavision. In 2003, Nicolas went into semi-retirement, selling his remaining TV stations to Univision, Entravision and Pappas Telecasting.[2]

In a 2005 address to the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, (D-San Antonio), remarked, “In this age of mass communication, some say if you can't see an event on television, it does not actually happen, so a pioneer like Mr. Emilio Nicolás Sr. was crucial for Latinos.”[1]

Nicolas received numerous awards for his efforts in advertising, television, civic causes and more. He received a Ford Foundation Award for work advancing literacy, an OHTLI award (Mexico’s highest honor to a Mexican citizen living abroad), the Corazon award from Univision, the Texas Medal of the Arts Award (TMAA), the Spirit of Broadcasting Award from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), an Emmy and a Telly Award.[9]

Nicolas is credited for his national editorials on matters affecting the Spanish-speaking people of the United States. These editorials aired on SIN and called national attention to U.S. immigration laws and discrimination, among other issues. Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros said "Nicolas could be credited with instigating two crucial U.S. Congress conference meetings, which resulted in the killing of the latest immigration reform bill. (S.A.Express News from an article 10/17/84 by Wilfredo Ramirez.)[10]

In 2006, the National Association of Broadcasters jointly honored Nicolas and Cortez for their pioneering work in bringing Hispanic programming to America.[7]

Nicolas was chairman of the National Association of Spanish Broadcasters and served on the boards of the University of the Incarnate Word, Trinity University, the Southwest Foundation, the Moody College of Communication, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.[2]

In 2019, the headquarters of Texas Public Radio was named in honor of Nicolas and his wife, Irma.^.[11]

Nicolas is also recognized for his contribution to American media in "American Enterprise," an exhibit at the Smithsonian's American History Museum, which traces the country's growth from a small, dependent nation to a major global economy.[12]

On October 12th, 2019 Nicolas died at his home in San Antonio at the age of 88.[6]