Jorge Ramos, long recognized as the best-known anchor for Spanish-language TV viewers in the U.S., is departing Univision at the end of the year.
TelevisaUnivision said Monday in a statement that the company and Ramos “mutually agreed” to not renew the anchor’s contract.
Ramos, 66, has been on the most-watched Spanish language newscast, “Noticiero Univision,” for 38 years. His importance to U.S. Spanish-language TV viewers has been compared to that of Walter Cronkite to English speakers during his long tenure at CBS.
Ramos also served as moderator of “Al Punto,” Univision’s Sunday morning public affairs program.
“This is not a farewell,” Ramos said in a statement. “I will continue anchoring ‘Noticiero Univision’ until December, and afterwards I will share my professional plans. I am deeply grateful for these four decades at Univision and very proud to be part of a team that has established strong leadership over the years.”
Ramos will be the second major figure to depart Univision’s news division since it was taken over by Mexico-based Grupo Televisa. León Krauze, who served as anchor of Univision’s late-night news cast starting in 2022, left the network last November following unhappiness in the newsroom over a non-confrontational interview with former President Trump conducted by a Televisa journalist.
Ramos worked for Grupo Televisa early in his career on a magazine program. He told a journalist he quit the job after his editors censored interviews that were critical of the Mexican political system.
During his career, Ramos focused on immigration along the U.S. southern border and could be counted on to press presidential candidates on their plans to address the issue. He famously clashed with former President Trump on the matter when Trump first pursued the 2016 Republican nomination.
Trump refused to call on Ramos at a 2015 press conference in Iowa. But the journalist remained standing and proceeded to ask Trump about his promises to build a wall and deport millions of undocumented residents.
After Trump told Ramos to “go back to Univision,” a security guard ushered the journalist out of the room.
Ramos was returned to the press conference and allowed to ask questions after two journalists pressed Trump on why he kicked out of the most prominent Latino reporter in the U.S.
Ramos served as a moderator for several presidential primary debates, including one staged by ABC News in 2019.
“He has had an immensely positive impact on the lives of Spanish speaking Americans, who he served with the highest quality of journalism,” said Joe Peyronnin, who ran Univision competitor Telemundo’s news operation from 1998 to 2006. “Latinos will miss his powerful voice.”
Peyronnin tried unsuccessfully to bring Ramos over to Telemundo. “He decided to stay out of loyalty to Univision,” he said.
