News Director of the Year: Helga Silva, WSCV, Miami
Helga Silva has made WSCV Miami the premier news station in its market, which is no small accomplishment for a Spanish-language broadcaster. Since January, WSCV has been tops in Miami regardless of language for 11 consecutive months among adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, Monday to Friday at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
VP of news and content Helga Silva has made Telemundo's WSCV a market leader regardless of language
Manuel Martinez, president of Telemundo Station Group, said WSCV was a frequent ratings winner for years, but under Silva's leadership, now it's every single newscast.
She just took it to the next level, he said.
Silva, VP of news and content, has established herself with more than 30 years of journalistic integrity, crossing print, radio and TV. Her TV news career blossomed after stints at Telemundo's WNJU and Univision's WXTV in New York.
She has worked hard to change the mindset at Telemundo 51 since arriving in 2011. It took easily two years to become the breaking-news machine we are today, where the reaction is automatic. It's what we do, Silva said.
More Local Heroes: Station Group of the Year | GM of the Year, Markets 1-25 | GM of the Year, Markets 26-50 | GM of the Year, Markets 51 | Multiplatform Broadcaster of the Year
Weather plays an integral part in Telemundo 51's coverage, so Silva made a commitment to people who have degrees in the field and are bilingual. For experienced meteorologists lacking TV experience, Silva trains them in an unofficial three- or four-month program before putting them on air.
We became the teaching station for meteorologists, Silva said.
It was Hurricane Dorian that put the full resources of Telemundo 51 and NBC sister WTVJ on display this year. Dorian hugged Florida's southern coast in early September. It was a very scary moment, Silva said.
Telemundo 51 anchors Daisy Ballmajo and Fausto Malave
Across 36 hours, WSCV sent reporters to more than a dozen locations. They had a presence from West Palm Beach to Orlando, and Cocoa Beach to Tampa-Fort Myers. Reporters also showed conditions in Mississippi and Puerto Rico.
WSCV didn't end its coverage when the storm pulled away. In the aftermath of the Bahamas' worst natural disaster, an anchor, reporter and photographer were dispatched to the islands for eight days to give viewers a first-hand look at the destruction.
Silva said Telemundo 51 separated itself from all the stations that did wall-to-wall coverage. The audience involvement with this station is a testament to the fact that we have built a serious station that you can't miss, Silva said. You have to watch our station if you want to be informed.
Eye on Immigration
The year 2019 has been a vital one for Telemundo, which has covered the gubernatorial upheaval in Puerto Rico and the immigration battle across the U.S.'s southern border, which has involved children stuck in detention centers in South Florida. Telemundo 51 covered the protests in Puerto Rico and the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rossell . People were glued here, Silva said.
Reporter David Rodriguez on location in Puerto Rico.
A main reason for the popularity of Telemundo 51, Silva said, is the depth in today's viewers, who range from monolingual to bilingual, and something she calls the third generation, who grow up involved and listening to TV that speaks another language.
Silva is proud that WSCV is recognized as a legacy station for Spanish-speaking families. Her staff is modern and tech savvy, with reporters able to use mobile devices and go live without heavy-duty equipment. When there is a crisis, the household will turn to us, Silva boasted. That's our strength.
The station is always keeping a keen eye toward future story ideas. [Silva] has the ability to look ahead and plan accordingly, Martinez said.
Mentoring and molding young talent make Silva stand out. Her expert knowledge in the news business is tapped into by Telemundo stations across the country. A lot of people come in through Miami just so that she can use her wisdom with them, Martinez said.
WSCV and WTVJ work closely together, producing customized sound bites in both languages from newsmakers in Miami. Silva works closely with WTVJ news director Migdalia Figueroa.
We're able to combine two languages, two stations, to make the most of it, Silva said.
Before TV, Silva wrote about politics for the Miami Herald. She said her newspaper experience helps her every day.
That's the best training any reporter can ever get, Silva said. In the heart of hearts, I am a reporter.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
News Director of the Year: Helga Silva, WSCV, Miami
