Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Craft Profile: Alex Martinez, Univision

16/08/2019

Q: Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

A: I'm the audio operator for Univision Noticias, the news wing of Univision Network, where I've had the privilege of working for roughly seven years. I mostly cover our live network news shows. This includes Primer Impacto, Noticiero Univision, Noticiero Univision en UniM s and Noticiero Univision Edicion Nocturna. I also work on the bigger special news events, such as U.S. State of the Union speeches, U.S. and Latin American election coverage and Papal visits around the globe, among many others.

Q: How did you get into the broadcast audio business? What made you realize this was the career path you wanted to take?

A: I got into broadcast because of my love of audio, our fast-paced schedules and the content we cover. I love working under pressure. Whether a breaking news event across the world or a presidential election here in the states, my team always seems to really shine in these scenarios; and I'm happy to be a part of that. I also gravitated to broadcast because I wanted to mix for a larger audience. The growth potential at the network level to go from live concerts to in-studio and live broadcast is huge, you can't get much larger than a network seen by so many in the U.S. and simulcast to so many other countries around the world.

But my foray into audio dates back to high school, when I was working for a friend of mine who was a DJ at a local radio station. Back then, I made $50 a night, mostly lugging record crates in and out of appearances, and got to hang with them during the events. That was my first experience seeing the power that audio has over listeners' emotions and their way of thinking. I was hooked. I wanted to learn how the recipe was put together. Soon after, I began an apprenticeship with a local club owner who, for the next decade, taught me signal flow, how to mix and even why circuitry behaves the way it does. Mixing live bands solidified my love for audio mixing and the technical prowess needed to do it properly. It was halfway through this apprenticeship that I decided to formally go for a second college degree, this time focused on audio.

Q: What lead you to Univision?

A: It was serendipitous, really. I was working for Avid's Pro Tools Certification School as a student advisor, and Univision called one day because they wanted to look into certifying their audio operators. However, they needed the instructor to be bilingual. The call came to me as I was the only on-site advisor who was bilingual. They invited me to their studios for a tour, and I fell in love with the fast pace and high energy on set. They just so happened to have been looking for a new audio operator, and I jumped at the opportunity.

Q: How have you seen audio technologies, and the way sound is captured, mixed and delivered, evolve over your career? How has this changed programming or the way you work?

A: When I started in audio, we were still using tape- and reel-to-reel, so I think it's safe to say that audio technology has evolved tremendously. The progression from recording in analog to recording on digital and non-linear editing has been the biggest change I've seen. Everything is instantly available to mix and edit. We're able to turn a recorded segment, edit it and send it to master within seconds. This has allowed us to now be able to update any relevant news within minutes and have it ready for the next airing on the next time zone.

On the delivery side, the current broadcast standard may no longer be accurate. The biggest change I've found is that now we're mixing more for on-demand audiences who are tuning in on different platforms. I foresee our format changing in the next few years and adapting to this as a norm. Similar to the way in which music migrated from CD-quality to MP3 formats, so, too, will broadcast evolve in the same manner. Audio engineers will have to overcome the challenge of its viewers tuning in from home theater setups in 5.1 and mono firing speakers from a smart phone streaming live from a social media site. Automating certain tasks will also become more frequent.

Q: What do you see as the biggest change to the way programs will be mixed in the next five years?

A: The biggest change is the immediacy of everything, and the quality it's sent in. The amount of signal loss and compression that occurs when something is streamed is going to be a huge factor in the upcoming years. Everything newsworthy will be based off social media and how quickly we can come on-air to inform our audiences. I just hope we don't lose the artform of mixing in the evolution to social media and automation. When you automate certain audio protocols, you lose that touch that makes our shows so engulfing and emotional. I can lead our audiences through the emotional highs and lows and transitions of our stories on-air and have them feel as though they watched one cohesive show - not just a bunch of random stories smashed together. This is only achieved with actual mixing within proper dynamic range.

Q: What is the workflow that you follow?

A: For most shows, I sit with the director and go through the rundown he created with the rest of production. Based on the show's needs, I'll then go meet with our floor manager and tell him which mics and combos I need, and what the show will require for each individual segment. Everything is dictated based off how much movement we have: how many guests, translation requirements, etc. Then I work with the technical production manager to discuss the live satellite feeds. At that point, we patch the live feeds into one of our Calrec consoles and clean them up as needed so that they are broadcast-quality and level. Lastly, we establish communication with our internal studio and any necessary external sources and fold-back mixe
LINK: https://calrec.com/news/craft-profile-alex-martinez-univision/...
See more stories from calrec

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

23/07/2026

Brian Jones Named NCTCs New CFO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Scripps Unites TV Operations Under Dean Littleton's Leadership

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

2D House is First North American Rental Facility to Offer...

David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...

23/07/2026

Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program

Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026 Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...

22/07/2026

ESPN's AutoMic Technology Pays Off at Wimbledon; Baker Credits Team, AELTC for Successful Fortnight

Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...

22/07/2026

Australian Sports Technologies Network Reports Industry Growth of 16% in 2026

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...

22/07/2026

Production Wins, Man!': Men in Blazers' Founder Roger Bennett on Winning the FIFA World Cup as a Digital Media Brand

From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...

22/07/2026

TMRW Sports Appoints Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football

TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...

22/07/2026

Stephen Arnold Music Creates Audio for FIFA World Cup Projection Mapping Display at Rockefeller Center

Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...

22/07/2026

Harmonic Donates $25,000 to Venezuela Earthquake Relief Through Global Empowerment Mission

Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...

22/07/2026

Telemundo Acquires Exclusive U.S. Spanish-Language Rights to UEFA Mens Club Competitions Beginning 2027/28

Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...

22/07/2026

The Rest Is Football Returns to Netflix for 2026/27 Premier League Season Through 2028 European Championship

The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...

22/07/2026

Sports Studio and TheSoul Group Announce YouTube and Social Distribution Partnership

Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...

22/07/2026

Daktronics Concludes 2026 High School Video Summit

Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...

22/07/2026

FOR-A America to Exhibit at MMCA 2026 with First U.S. HVS-Q12 Sale Announced

FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...

22/07/2026

New York Yankees Select Lumen Technologies for Stadium and Data Center Connectivity

The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...

22/07/2026

IBC 2026: Calrec To Exhibit IP Audio Ecosystem, Announce New Products

Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...

22/07/2026

Solid State Logic Appoints Algam EKO as Italian Distributor

Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...

22/07/2026

FloSports Launches Free Streaming Channel on Prime Video

FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...

22/07/2026

Savannah Bananas Deploys Calrec Audio Infrastructure for Banana Ball TV REMI Broadcasts

Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...

22/07/2026

SiriusXM and Audacy Announce Agreement To Add 42 Local Stations to SiriusXM

SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...

22/07/2026

Overtime, FOX One Partner on Social-First FIFA World Cup Series Race to Glory for the Creator Generation

The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...

22/07/2026

Green Bay Packers Escalate In-House Video Production With New Content Studio

At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...

22/07/2026

ERA II Vocal Codex from Eduardo Tarilonte

Library now available in Engine Player Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...

22/07/2026

Cloudvocals improved FlashTrack FT-15 DSP Microphone

All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...

22/07/2026

Electro-Harmonix launch the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2

The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...

22/07/2026

Clear-Com Delivers Integrated Communications for Fryderyk Awards Gala in Krakw

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

22/07/2026

IAB Tech Lab Updates Podcast Technical Measurement Guidelines

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/07/2026

FCC Adopts Plan for C-Band Auction in July 2027

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/07/2026

LTN surpasses 3000 satellite-to-IP migrations as FCC vote...

Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...

22/07/2026

Chaos Releases V-Ray 7 Update 4 Connecting Real-Time Work...

Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...

22/07/2026

An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app

An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app Marc Levoy July 22, 2026 0 Comments At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...

22/07/2026

RTS Chooses Custom Consoles Desks and MediaWalls for Stud...

Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...

22/07/2026

Graham Media's WDIV Opens Satellite Newsroom/Coffee Shop

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/07/2026

FCC Approves License Transfer of WTVQ-DT to Scripps

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/07/2026

Spectrum Reach Expands Operations in N.Y.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/07/2026

Miris spatial streaming platform adds support for glTF in...

Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...

22/07/2026

Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K

Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Brie Clayton July 21, 2026 0 Comments Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...

22/07/2026

AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back

AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026 0 Comments A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...

22/07/2026

From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Through Photos

From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...

22/07/2026

NVIDIA AI Supercomputer Comes Online at Naval Postgraduate School

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...

22/07/2026

Sky Documentaries announces The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door

A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...

22/07/2026

Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement with Spotify, SiriusXM, Triton Digital, Acast, and Libysn

Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...

22/07/2026

Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership

Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...