Marcos Obadia

Marcos Obadia is a distinguished media technology executive with a career spanning over
four decades, marked by innovation, leadership, and significant industry contributions.
Born and educated in Caracas, Venezuela, he graduated from the Universidad Simón
Bolívar in 1978, having benefited from a unique educational exchange with MIT that
emphasized research-driven learning and mentorship.
Obadia’s early career included a formative internship designing a post-production center
in Caracas, where mentorship played a pivotal role in shaping his approach to innovation
and talent development. He later contributed to significant global live events, including
several sporting events, such as the Super Bowl and the U.S. production of the 1985 Live
Aid concert in Washington, D.C.
In the late 1980s, Obadia was instrumental in developing the world’s first component
digital (D-1) visual effects post-production center at Limelite Video, earning an Emmy
Award for Technology Achievement in 1989 for his work on Gloria Estefan’s “Live for Loving
You” music video. He also contributed to industry standards through active involvement
with the SMPTE committee on the digital representation of HD video, delivering speeches,
and publishing technical papers.
Obadia’s leadership roles expanded in the 1990s, including spearheading business
development and technology innovation at Click 3X, where he developed a distributed
rendering application to optimize production workflows. In 1997, he was recruited by
Discovery Communications to establish and lead The Discovery Television Center in
Miami, a joint venture with the BBC. He pioneered the industry’s first hybrid server and
videotape-based multichannel playout facility, introducing groundbreaking operational
innovations, such as FTP-based global content delivery and a universal clock system,
particularly during the post-9/11 crisis when traditional videotape-based program
distribution was disrupted.
Following Discovery, Obadia launched an entrepreneurial phase, consulting for leading
media and technology companies, including MobiTV, Encompass Digital Media, Spanish
Broadcasting Systems, NBC Local Media, and HBO Latin America.
In 2011, Obadia joined Univision Communications, where he led the launch of Univision
Deportes Network. He currently serves as SVP of Global Engineering and Media
Technology for TelevisaUnivision, overseeing a division of 150 employees across the US
and Mexico, responsible for production and distribution technologies, media asset
management, and cloud infrastructure.
Throughout his career, Obadia has consistently demonstrated a commitment to
mentorship, innovation, and operational excellence, earning recognition as a
transformative leader in the media technology industry.