For Jessi Rodríguez, Roberto Hernández, and Arana Lemus, TU Conexión is more than a new weekly entertainment show. It is a vote of confidence from TelevisaUnivision in a younger generation of hosts ready to shape how the company speaks to its audience.
"There won't be a teleprompter like there is on television, because it is a little more unscripted, more like a podcast," Despierta América's Rodríguez said. "It has that YouTube feeling. It's a fusion of all the things we like: television, radio, podcasts, and social media."
The new program premieres Saturday, Sept. 12, at 3 p.m. ET on Univision and will serve as a lively, conversation-driven guide to the company's broader universe, from Univision and UNIMÁS to TUDN and ViX. But in an interview with this reporter, its three hosts described the project as a chance to bring a more spontaneous, digital-minded, and distinctly personal voice to the network's Saturday lineup.
"I think this is proof of what we are feeling," Lemus said when asked whether the leading Spanish language TV-network in the U.S. is opening the screen to its next generation of talent. "This is literally like a prize for us. We all have our own projects, but this project, as you said, is our baby. We're going to defend it tooth and nail."
The trio will break down the week's buzziest moments across TelevisaUnivision programming, including telenovelas, reality shows, entertainment news, sports, ViX series and digital content. But their ambition is larger than a recap show. They want to create the place where the network's on-air moments meet the candid, rapid-fire discussion happening on viewers' phones.
That formula reflects a larger shift in Spanish-language television, where a program's impact has always paid attention to how it travels beyond the broadcast. The hosts said TU Conexión will make room for audience comments, direct messages, and viral moments while retaining the communal energy that has long defined Univision programming.
Hernández said the series was created to acknowledge that television, radio and social platforms now feed one another.
"Without radio, television would not be successful. Without television, social media would not be a subject of conversation," he said. "With TU Conexión, I think that connection is being achieved between those three markets."
For the hosts, the opportunity is also personal. Lemus has built his profile through the network's entertainment ecosystem, Rodríguez is a familiar face to Despierta América viewers, and Hernández brings experience across television, digital media and a constant presence in El Gordo y la Flaca. They had worked separately within the company for years, but the chemistry that became central to TU Conexión was discovered when they filmed a commercial together.
"We always had this gold and never paid attention to it," Hernández said. "But the exact moment arrived."
Their presence in a new original Saturday slot also signals that TelevisaUnivision is giving younger talent more room to define a new on-air language, one that is less formal, more interactive and comfortable with the unpredictable rhythm of social media.
"It's not only youth. It's the freshness that we have, the way we talk, which is completely different from what can be seen in our other programs," Lemus said. "It's good to integrate other elements that enrich everything that we are as TelevisaUnivision.
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That does not mean the hosts are looking to challenge the network's established shows. Hernández said TU Conexión will instead work as a connector, using moments from programs including Despierta América, El Gordo y La Flaca, Desiguales, and Siéntese Quien Pueda to create anticipation for what comes next.
"It won't be a recap of everything that happens," he said. "We're going to try to give more strength to what is coming the following week."
For Rodríguez, the biggest appeal is that the trio will be able to speak more freely and allow viewers to see another side of them. "The idea is that people at home have a good time, laugh with us, share anecdotes, read comments on social media and talk about them in a very colloquial way," she said.
With TU Conexión, TelevisaUnivision is not simply launching another entertainment program. It is handing three familiar voices a larger platform and asking them to help define what the network's next chapter looks and sounds like.
