Hemisphere Media Group, Inc. announced today that in partnership with leading Colombian content producers, Radio Television Interamericana S.A. (RTI), Compañía de Medios de Información S.A.S (CMI) and NTC Nacional de Televisión y Communicaciones S.A. (NTC), it will acquire the concession license for Canal Uno in Colombia.
Canal Uno is one of only three national broadcast television licenses in Colombia. The cost of the concession is approximately US$35 million payable in Colombian Pesos over a two-year period. The partnership is expected to begin operating the network on May 1, 2017.
“This is an exciting and rare opportunity to access one of Latin America’s largest economies and a very robust and attractive television advertising market. We have a proven track record of taking underperforming networks and making them best-in-class, including taking WAPA from #3 to #1 in Puerto Rico in only 2 years, and maintaining WAPA’s leadership position for 8 consecutive years. By capitalizing on our proven expertise and unique content offering, Canal Uno’s national broadcast coverage, and the content, expertise and infrastructure of our partners, we are in an excellent position to strengthen Canal Uno’s offering and meaningfully grow its market share. We are excited to bring Colombians a new and differentiated content offering, which we are confident they will find compelling. We believe that this is a terrific use of capital and will translate into strong returns for our shareholders over the long-term,” said Alan Sokol, president and Chief Executive Officer of Hemisphere Media Group.
RTI, founded in 1967, is considered the first television production company in Colombia. For over 40 years Patricio Wills has overseen RTI’s production activities, which has operations in Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico.
CMI, founded in 1991, is headed by Yamid Amat, one of the most renowned journalists in Colombia, and is one of the most respected news and information producers in Colombia. Canal Uno’s operations will be based in CMI’s facilities in Bogota.
NTC, founded in 1977, is considered the leading independent news producer in Colombia. NTC is headed by Daniel Coronell, who also writes Aldo, a highly respected weekly editorial in Colombia.