Colombia. During the fifth version of Expo ComuTV, the commissioner of the National Television Authority, Alfredo Sabbagh revealed the latest statistics on the preferences of Colombians when watching television, in which national productions continue to win over international channels.
He indicated that "Colombian watches Colombian television, 57.8% of viewers watch national open signal channels, while 37.9% watch closed television channels and 4.3% are users of other devices."
Currently in Colombia there are about 780 subscription television operators that are fighting customers. Among them, 44 are commercial operators that have approximately 85% of the market, while community television systems have 736 operators, which do not exceed 15% of the market.
And despite the fact that the number of subscription television operators is important, there is still 8% of the population in Colombia that does not have access to television services, that is, about 200 municipalities.
Alfredo Sabbagh commented that from the ANTV they are working on the social satellite television project, which seeks to bring television to these areas through an antenna, which would have a unique value of US $ 100 or US $ 120, which they hope will be subsidized for people with low economic resources.
He also pointed out that last week he closed a call for new operators of closed television in the country, an operation that had not been carried out for 10 years. A total of 22 proposals covering all areas were submitted. It is expected that on the fifth of October the award hearing will be advanced, in November contracts will be signed and six months later they must be operating.
Finally, before the audience of the community operators, he assured them that they will be able to access the money for the promotion of public television through program projects that must be approved by the ANTV.
