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Rolando Santos

Mr. Santos is a Senior Vice President at Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Latin America, Inc. and Senior Vice President and General Manager of CNN which is a joint venture between CNN Worldwide and VTR. CNN Chile, the first 24/7 network in the country, has been specifically designed for the Chilean .

Before joining CNN Chile, Santos played a fundamental role in the development and support of related business around the world for the CNN News Group. As Senior Vice President for Affiliate Relations for CNN International, Santos worked closely with the global development team of Turner Broadcasting. His role was to identify new platforms and editorial alliances, and then follow through with new business launches or mergers of existing businesses. During this time he created editorial ties with sister networks including IBN in India and CNN in Turkey.

Relying on his 18 years of experience at CNN and nearly 40 years in broadcasting, Santos has had lead roles as an efficiency expert, as well as brand and change management expert throughout CNN and Turner in Europe, Latin America and the United Sates.

Prior to his employment with CNN International, Mr. Santos was an Executive Vice President and General Manager of HLN. He was the first Hispanic in charge of a 24 hour news cable network. Additionally, Mr. Santos was the Founder and President of CNN en Español and of CNN en Español Radio. He also has played important roles in the development and launch of new international channels. These channels include CNN Plus and CNN Turkey. Under Mr. Santos’ direction a complete team of bilingual personnel was developed in , GA. This created a worldwide network of Spanish speaking correspondents in eight offices including , New York, Washington, , , , and .

Santos has been with CNN since 1993. His first duties were as an Executive Producer. He later became the News Director for CNN en Español, a division that produced international news in Spanish. In 1996 he was appointed as the Vice President of CNN en Español and Special Projects. The following year he was promoted to Executive Vice President and later to President.

Mr. Santos’ entire professional career has revolved around the development of news and content across platforms. He has served as executive producer of Telemundo and as news director of KVEA channel 52 TV Los Angeles, belonging to and operated by Telemundo. In these positions he was directly responsible for the coverage of international news for Telemundo, United States. During his time with Telemundo, the station won an Emmy in 1992 as best news channel. This was the first time a news channel in Spanish Language had won an Emmy in Los Angeles competing against English Language stations.

Additional work credits to Mr. Santos include news director, news anchorman, reporter, news editor and producer. These positions have been held with companies such as KTTV FOX Los Angles, KPIX-TV , KSL TV Salt Lake City and KMOL-TV San Antonio, among others.

Mr. Santos was born in Eagle Pass, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University in with a degree in journalism. He has been twice named as one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States by Hispanic Magazine.

An internationally recognized motivational speaker, Mr. Santos has done speeches around the world on how to successfully do business across borders and cultures.

While attending Texas A and M, Santos was a member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, serving as a Battalion staff officer for the White Band. He serves on the President’s International Advisory Board and is a member of the Texas A and M Journalism Hall of Fame.

Away from Turner Broadcasting, Mr. Santos is the current President of the Intentional Brotherhood of Magicians. This is the oldest and largest magician´s organization in world. He also a member of The Magic Circle in London where he was recently awarded the title of Member of the Inner Magic Circle in a ceremony in London.