Bilai Joa Silar Named Senior VP of Programming & Production at NBC Universo

NBC UNIVERSO, the modern, general entertainment cable channel for Latinos, today announced the appointment of Bilai Joa Silar to Senior Vice President, Programming & Production, starting April 27. She will report to Rubén Mendiola, President, NBC UNIVERSO.

In this role, Silar will lead the development and execution of NBC UNIVERSO's programming strategy to foster the network's continued growth, and drive all facets of content acquisition, development and production for the channel. In addition, she will align with NBCUniversal's Hispanic Enterprise and Content, as well as NBCUniversal, on strategic programming opportunities.

"Bilai is an impressive business executive with deep roots in our industry, and possesses a strong track record of successfully programming TV networks," Mendiola said. "Her extensive experience and strategic approach targeting Hispanics will strongly benefit NBC UNIVERSO, as we continue our evolution towards being the top cable destination for world-class sports and entertainment for U.S. Latinos," Mendiola said.

Silar has 20 years of years of experience in television programming and production. Most recently, with Discovery Communications, Inc., she served as Vice President, Content, Discovery U.S. Hispanic Networks. In this role, and in her previous position as Vice President, Channel Director, she was responsible for setting the overall brand direction, as well as planning and overseeing the execution of all programming, scheduling, marketing, communications and promotional strategy for Discovery en Español and Discovery Familia in the United States; as well as for Discovery's Factual portfolio in Latin America. Silar also implemented and led the launch strategy of Discovery Kids, a top preschool channel in Latin America. She began her television career with Discovery Communications in 1995.

Silar earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., with an emphasis in Film Production and English Literature. She also graduated from NAMIC's Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) at University of California, Los Angeles, The Anderson School of Management.