Editorial Television, S.A. de C.V., sometimes referred to as Edivisa, is the publishing subsidiary of Grupo Televisa, S.A. de C.V., the largest media company in Latin America. It is the leader in the publication and distribution of magazines in Mexico and world leader in the publication and distribution of magazines in the Spanish language, in terms of circulation. The Mexican magazines are edited in Mexico City; the ones destined for other Spanish-speaking countries and Hispanics in the United States are edited from Miami. Editorial Televisa plays an invaluable role for the parent company by publicizing its television, radio, and film-distribution businesses, as well as professional soccer teams.

Editorial Televisa’s roster of publications began with Vanidades. Designed as a quality monthly, it was the first to introduce–in the Spanish language–avant-garde society to French and American fashions in the 1930s. It was Cuba’s most popular women’s magazine until the owner and publisher, Francisco Saralegui, Jr., moved to New York in 1960, shortly after Fidel Castro came to power. Saralegui reintroduced his magazine to Latin America in 1961 and moved his company to Miami in 1966. The following year the Saralegui family sold the business to Armando de Armas, a Venezuelan who was also a leading Latin American newsstand distributor. De Armas made Vanidades available throughout Latin America and began adding other Spanish-language magazines to the roster of his company. Beginning in 1965 De Armas started turning out Spanish-language magazines under license from The Hearst Corporation. The first of these was Buenhogar, a version of Good Housekeeping. This was followed by Spanish-language editions of the Hearst magazines Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Popular Mechanics, and Ring. GeoMundo, a monthly similar toNational Geographic, was launched in 1977.

De Armas’s venture became Hispanic Magazine Network, U.S.A. in 1982. Customers traditionally bought the magazines at newsstands, but in 1984 the company was experimenting for the first time with subscription sales. In all, Hispanic Magazine Network claimed 252,800 sales per issue for its combined 15 magazines. Each magazine had its own editorial staff, although about half the editorial content of the magazines published under license was being picked up from their U.S. counterparts.Harper’s Bazaar en Espanol, for example, sent its own fashion writer and photographer to European collections to provide the Hispanic reader with the most current information. Meanwhile, Grupo Televisa, S.A. de C.V., under the direction of Emilio Azcarraga Milmo, had come to dominate Mexican television, particularly through its wildly successful telenovelas– romantic dramas, often lavishly produced, aimed at female audiences and running for a period of weeks or months. Televisa established Editorial Provenemex as an editorial subsidiary to exploit itstelenovelas by publishing TV y Novelas, which became Mexico’s best-selling magazine. Tele-Guia, a weekly television guide, became the most popular in its field. Provenemex also published Tu, a monthly aimed at teenage girls; Eres, a biweekly also aimed at the adolescent market but emphasizing entertainment; Eres Novia, a bimonthly for young brides; and Somos, a biweekly aimed at young adults. All four were originated by Laura Diez Barroso (later Laura Laviada), a niece of Azcarraga.