• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 6, 2009

In May 2007, Univision CEO Joe Uva said the company would pursue $1 per subscriber in retransmission consent deals with cable and satellite operators. On Tuesday, Univision Communications announced its first retrans deal--an agreement with Comcast that allows the cable operator to carry Univision's owned-and-operated local stations and a cable network.

Whether the $1 goal was achieved is unclear--terms were not disclosed. But the deal is expected to be the first of many for Univision as it searches for another revenue stream--perhaps more important now than in 2007 as the ad market ebbs.

In lieu of cash, Univision may have received other concessions from Comcast, such as a commitment from the cable operator to purchase a specific amount of advertising on its stations. Or it may have negotiated some sort of arrangement involving other benefits.

The Comcast deal covers dozens of stations. In addition to the Univision O&Os for the flagship network Univision and TeleFutura networks, it also includes stations owned by Entravision and two other station groups that Univision negotiated for.

Comcast also obtains the rights to carry cable channel Galavision across its national footprint, as well as Univision and TeleFutura in some other markets.