TV Azteca

{{Infobox company

| name = Televisión Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V.

| logo = Logotipo de TV Azteca.svg

| caption =

| trade_name = TV Azteca

| type = Sociedad Anónima Bursátil de Capital Variable

| traded_as = {{BMV|AZTECACPO|5730}}
{{BMAD|isin=MX01AZ060013|XTZA}}

| ISIN = {{ISIN|sl=n|pl=y|MX01AZ060013}}

| genre =

| fate =

| predecessor = Imevisión (1983-1993)

| successor =

| foundation = {{start date and age|1993|08|02}}

| founder = Hugo Salinas Price

| defunct =

| location_city = Mexico City

| location_country = Mexico

| location =

| locations =

| area_served =

| key_people = Benjamín Salinas Sada (CEO)
Ricardo Salinas Pliego (President)

| industry = Mass media

| products = Television broadcasting, radio and multimedia

| services =

| revenue = {{profit}} US$ 3.9 Billion (2012)

| operating_income =

| net_income = {{profit}} US$ 2 Billion (2012)

| aum =

| assets =

| equity =

| owner =

| num_employees = 6,000

| parent = Grupo Salinas

| divisions =

| subsid =

| homepage = {{URL|http://www.tvazteca.com}}

| footnotes =

}}

Televisión Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V., commonly known as TV Azteca, is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate owned by Grupo Salinas. It is the second-largest mass media company in Mexico after Televisa.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gruposalinas.com/en/tv-azteca|title=TV Azteca|website=Grupo Salinas}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.perfectsensedigital.com/tv-azteca-deportes-noticias-and-more-sites-replatform-on-brightspot|title=TV Azteca, Mexico's Second-Largest Mass Media Company, Replatforms on Brightspot|date=2019-08-26|website=Perfect Sense|language=en|access-date=2020-04-18}} It primarily competes with Televisa as well as some local operators. It owns two national television networks, Azteca Uno and Azteca 7, and operates two other nationally distributed services, adn40 and A Más+. All three of these networks have transmitters in most major and minor cities.

TV Azteca also operates Azteca Trece Internacional, reaching 13 countries in Central and South America, and formerly part of the Azteca América network in the United States. Its flagship program is the newscast Hechos.

History

=Formation=

Image:Torre-TV-Azteca-(1).JPG

In the early 1990s, the presidency of Carlos Salinas de Gortari privatized many government assets. Among them was the Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión, known as Imevisión, which owned two national television networks (Red Nacional 7 and Red Nacional 13) and three local TV stations. In preparation for the privatization, the Imevisión stations were parceled into a variety of newly created companies, the largest of which was named Televisión Azteca, S.A. de C.V.{{Cite book|last1=Peschard-Sverdrup|first1=Armand B.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvTdHGuBiBYC&q=tv+azteca+imevision&pg=PA281|title=Mexican Governance: From Single-party Rule to Divided Government|last2=Rioff|first2=Sara|date=2005|publisher=CSIS|isbn=978-0-89206-457-1|pages=281|language=en}}

With the exception of Canal 22, which was spun off to Conaculta, one bidder won all of the stations. On July 18, 1993,{{Cite journal|title = Political and mobile media landscape in México: the case of #yosoy132|last = Goggin; Albarrán|first = G.;C.|date = 2014|journal = Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies|volume = 28|pages = 28–42|doi = 10.1080/10304312.2014.870870|s2cid = 145301961}} Mexico's Finance Ministry, the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (SHCP), announced that Radio Televisora del Centro, a group controlled by Ricardo Salinas Pliego, was the winner of the auction to acquire the "state-owned media package", which also included Imevisión's studios in the Ajusco area of Mexico City. The winning bid amounted to US$645 million. The new group soon took on the Televisión Azteca name for the entire operation and soon challenged Televisa, turning what had been a television monopoly into a television duopoly. The two conglomerates held 97 percent of the commercial television concessions in the country.Mahan, E. (1985). Mexican Broadcasting: Reassessing the Industry-State Relationship. Journal of Communication, 35(1), 60-75.

=Expansion=

File:TV-Azteca,_Mérida,_Yucatán_(01).jpg

In 1998, TV Azteca announced an investment of US$25 million in XHTVM-TV, which was owned by Javier Moreno Valle through concessionaire Televisora del Valle de México, S.A. de C.V. Under the deal, Azteca restructured TVM and took control of ad sales and most programming duties, while Moreno Valle's CNI news service retained some primetime space. However, in 2000, Moreno Valle broke the contract with Azteca, alleging Azteca of filling up time allotted to CNI and not fulfilling the obligations in the contract. In December 2002, Azteca used private security guards to retake control of the XHTVM facilities on Cerro del Chiquihuite in Mexico City. However, the Mexican government stepped into the dispute and forced Azteca to relinquish control of XHTVM. In 2005, an employee strike that crippled CNI, Moreno Valle's mounting legal troubles, and a deal with the 5% owner of the concessionaire allowed Azteca to buy the remainder of the station and retake control of XHTVM, under the name Proyecto 40, in 2006.

Image:Aztecaqtroinstalaciones.jpg

On March 7, 2011, TV Azteca changed its name to Azteca, reflecting its growth into a multimedia company.{{cite web |url= http://www.tvazteca.com/capitulos/vengalaalegria/39479/azteca-se-renueva-para-ti |title= Azteca se renueva para ti ("Azteca renews for you") |author= TV Azteca |date= March 7, 2011 |language= es |access-date= March 14, 2011 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110717114705/http://www.tvazteca.com/capitulos/vengalaalegria/39479/azteca-se-renueva-para-ti |archive-date= July 17, 2011 }} However, in May 2016, the TV Azteca name was restored.

TV Azteca is the second largest mass media company in México after Televisa. These two big organizations control the 97% of mass media in Mexico. TV Azteca was funded in 1993 by Ricardo Salinas Pliego. TV Azteca has 31% of the 465 television concessions in México. The auction of the state channels and the granting of further concessions to TV Azteca further strengthen their connection. It also owns Azteca banks, Azteca insurance, Iusacell, programing pay television, cinemas, live theater, news channels, newspapers, Azteca music, an acting school, Azteca consumer products, Azteca internet, Azteca series, Azteca sports, stadiums, etc. TV Azteca is another company which also serves the government however to a much lesser extent than Televisa.Murphy, P. D. (1995, December). Television and cultural politics in México: Some notes on Televisa, the state and transnational culture. The Howard journal of communication, pp. pp. 250- TV Azteca also receives lucrative contracts from the Mexican government, and therefore the information that emits is also controlled by the actual government. The news that is normally emitted by TV Azteca is 25% news bulletins that come from advertising, and infotainment relying on celebrities and biased editorials.

On March 21, 2023, creditors for the company pushed the company into an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the U.S.{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/tv-azteca-creditors-push-involuntary-bankruptcy-court-filing-2023-03-21/|title=TV Azteca creditors push for involuntary bankruptcy -court filing|date=March 21, 2023|access-date=April 30, 2023|website=Reuters|language=en}} However, on April 26, TV Azteca asked the New York bankruptcy judge to dismiss its Chapter 11 case due to it being pointless to start reorganization proceedings for the company anywhere but Mexico.{{Cite web|url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1601552/mexico-won-t-recognize-us-ch-11-tv-azteca-says|title=Mexico Won't Recognize US Ch. 11, TV Azteca Says|date=April 26, 2023|access-date=April 30, 2023|website=Law 360|language=en}} On June 1, 2023, TV Azteca was suspended from the Mexico Stock Exchange.{{cite web|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/mexico-tvazteca/mexicos-stock-exchange-suspends-tv-azteca-trading-for-not-reporting-q1-results-idINL1N37T1DO|title=Mexico's stock exchange suspends TV Azteca trading for not reporting Q1 results|date= 1 June 2023|access-date=21 June 2023|work=Reuters}}

Sub-brands

=Azteca Noticias=

=Azteca Espectáculos=

=Azteca Deportes=

=Azteca Novelas y Series=

Services

=Terrestrial networks=

;In Mexico:

class="sortable wikitable" class="wikitable"
Network !Flagship !Programming
style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" \| Azteca Uno \| XHDF 1 \| general programming and news and first-run telenovelas
style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" \| Azteca 7 \| XHIMT 7 \| general programming, sports, and series
style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" \| adn40 \| XHTVM 40 \| news and informational shows

class="sortable wikitable" class="wikitable"

Network

!Flagship

!Programming

style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"

| Azteca Uno

| XHDF 1

| general programming and news and first-run telenovelas

style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"

| Azteca 7

| XHIMT 7

| general programming, sports, and series

style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"

| adn40

| XHTVM 40

| news and informational shows

;Outside Mexico:

class="sortable wikitable" class="wikitable"
Network !Flagship !Programming
style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" \| TV Azteca Guate \| N/A \| Guatemalan channel with programming from TV Azteca's three television national networks in Mexico and local news
style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" \| TV Azteca Honduras \| N/A \| Honduran channel with programming from TV Azteca's three television national networks in Mexico and local news

class="sortable wikitable" class="wikitable"

Network

!Flagship

!Programming

style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"

| TV Azteca Guate

| N/A

| Guatemalan channel with programming from TV Azteca's three television national networks in Mexico and local news

style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"

| TV Azteca Honduras

| N/A

| Honduran channel with programming from TV Azteca's three television national networks in Mexico and local news

=Formerly owned=

Azteca América: American broadcast network with programming from TV Azteca's three television national networks in Mexico and local news. The owner, HC2 Holdings, continued to use the Azteca branding under license.[https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/globe-newswire-tv-azteca-announces-the-sale-of-azteca-america-to-hc2-network-inc.html TV Azteca Announces the Sale of Azteca America to HC2 Network Inc.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320110116/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/globe-newswire-tv-azteca-announces-the-sale-of-azteca-america-to-hc2-network-inc.html |date=2018-03-20 }} - CNBC (released November 29, 2017; accessed March 19, 2018) Ceased operations on December 31, 2022.{{Cite web|title=Azteca America will cease operations after 22 years in the US Hispanic|url=https://www.produ.com/noticias/eng/azteca-america-will-cease-operations-after-22-years-in-the-us-hispanic|website=PRODU|date=21 October 2022 |language=es-US}}
KAZA-TV used to be the flagship of Azteca América from 2001 to 2018 but was sold to Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting, which stripped KAZA of its flagship status, and was replaced by MeTV as an O&O.

=Cable=

Az Noticias
Az Clic! (also broadcast as Azteca Clic)
Az Mundo
Az Corazón (also broadcast)
Az Cinema
Azteca Trece -1 hora
Azteca Trece -2 horas
Azteca Deportes
Romanza+ África - African channel

Disputes and controversies

On 5 January 2005, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused TV Azteca executives (including chairman Ricardo Salinas Pliego) of having personally profited from a multimillion-dollar debt fraud committed by TV Azteca and another company in which they held stock.[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/05/business/media/05azteca.html The New York Times > Business > Media & Advertising > Chairman of TV Azteca Is Charged With Fraud] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522153757/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/05/business/media/05azteca.html |date=2013-05-22 }}, Patrick McGeehan, New York Times, January 5, 2005. The charges were among the first brought under the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, introduced in the wake of the corporate financial scandals of that year.

The Federal Radio and Television Law (known as the Ley Televisa) was a bill concerning the licensing and regulation of the electromagnetic spectrum. The LFRT was favorable to both TV Azteca and Televisa (who together control 95 percent of all television frequencies) because it allowed them to renew their licenses without paying for them. According to The Economist, the Ley Federal de Radio y Televisión "raced through Congress confirming the country's longstanding television duopoly" and constituted a "giveaway of radio spectrum and a provision that allows broadcasting licenses to be renewed more or less automatically".{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/node/9257810|title=Court TV|date=2007-05-31|newspaper=The Economist|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212160355/http://www.economist.com/node/9257810|archive-date=2018-02-12}}

In February 2012, TV Azteca networks (Azteca 7, Azteca 13, and Proyecto 40) were dropped by Mexican cable-TV carriers representing more than 4 million subscribers in a carriage dispute over terms. Cable operators claimed that Azteca wanted to charge a fee by packaging its over-the-air stations with cable networks, such as news and soap opera channels, which potentially represented a higher cost to subscribers.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-02-14/tv-azteca-dropped-by-mexico-cable-carriers-over-pricing-dispute|title=TV Azteca Loses 4 Million Cable Viewers in Price Dispute|newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=14 February 2012|via=www.bloomberg.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808160746/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-02-14/tv-azteca-dropped-by-mexico-cable-carriers-over-pricing-dispute|archive-date=8 August 2016}} After a nine-month absence, TV Azteca returned gradually to cable operators.{{cite web|url=http://www.anmtvla.com/2013/02/mexico-tv-azteca-regresa-cable.html|title=Mexico: TV Azteca regresa a Cable - Anime, Manga y TV|website=www.anmtvla.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307022407/http://www.anmtvla.com/2013/02/mexico-tv-azteca-regresa-cable.html|archive-date=2013-03-07}}

In August 2018, American Tower's Mexican Unit, MATC Infraestructura sued TV Azteca for $97 Million in a New York court for defaulting on a loan from the company.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-azteca-idUSKBN1KU2OJ|title=American Tower feud 'not positive' for Mexico's TV Azteca, Fitch says|date=9 August 2018|via=www.reuters.com|newspaper=Reuters}}

Holdings

TV Azteca is part of the conglomerate Grupo Salinas, which includes the Grupo Elektra franchise of department stores, the Banco Azteca bank, and Seguros Azteca life insurance. TV Azteca also owns Liga MX soccer club, Monarcas Morelia.

=Acting school=

The network has set up an acting school, Centro de Estudios y Formación Actoral (CEFAT). Alumni include Iliana Fox, Luis Ernesto Franco, Adriana Louvier, Fran Meric, Bárbara Mori, Laura Palma and Adrián Rubio.{{cite web|url=https://www.tvazteca.com/cefat/|title=Centro de Formación Actoral CEFAT|website=tvazteca.com|language=Spanish|accessdate=2 March 2021}}

=Record label=

The network also owns a record label, Azteca Music,Billboard - 25 Oct 1997 - Page 54 "The theme song of TV Azteca's new telenovela "Demasiado Corazon" was written and performed by noted salsero Willie Colon, who is signed in Mexico to Azteca's record label Azteca Music." which was founded in 1996.Florence Toussaint Alcaraz, TV sin fronteras - 1998 - Page 136: "También en 1996, Televisión Azteca inició su incursión en el negocio de los discos. Azteca Music se llama la nueva compañía, que como primer título de su catálogo tiene Nada personal, tema de la telenovela del mismo nombre compuesto ...