Colombia. In recent days the Colombian government has had to face a strong controversy after announcing that it would extend for 40 months the concessions to the current operators of Canal Uno, a channel that except for two or three programs, its rating does not exceed zero.
Despite the criticism, the National Television Authority, ANTV, signed the extension by 40 months of the term of the concessions that expire on December 31, 2013 with Jorge Barón, Daniel Coronell and CMI Television, three leaders of journalism and television in the country who will continue to program the contents of Channel One.
According to the ANTV, with this determination it seeks to improve the quality of the channel's contents, increase the offer to viewers and prepare for the transition process from analog to digital television, which advances with the implementation of the Digital Television Network of national and regional public channels.
After 24 months of the expansion, the ANTV will analyze whether the technical and market conditions will allow at that time to open the bidding process to grant new concessions for Channel One.
The ANTV clarified that the Temporary Union RTI S.A. and Programar Televisión S.A., the fourth concessionaire of Canal Uno, has not yet expressed its position regarding the extension of the term. In case of not having the acceptance of the proposal, the public operator Señal Colombia will assume the programming of the spaces, which correspond to 25% of the channel's grid, with the high standard of content quality that has recently earned it numerous international and national television awards.
