Darfield takes up the role of executive vice president of research and strategic insights and will be responsible for bringing together all consumer, media and marketplace intelligence to make strategic recommendations to the company’s leadership.

He reports to both Telemundo chief operating officer Jacqueline Hernández and Tony Cardinale, executive vice president of brand planning and strategic insights within parent company NBC Universal.

Darfield has been senior vice president of multicultural measurement within Nielsen since 2007 and before that he was SVP of Hispanic services. Prior to Nielsen, he held research roles at Hispanic Broadcasting and Univision.

Hernández said: “As a research-focused media organisation operating in a high-growth market, Doug’s expertise is extremely valuable to help us better serve our clients and strategically drive our decisions-making process at a critical time in our industry.”