Colombia. During her first virtual meeting with the managers of the eight regional public channels, the Minister of ICT, Karen Abudinen, approved 28.4 billion pesos (about US$8 million) to strengthen the production of the contents of these channels from the regions, also helping them to protect jobs.
Given the situation generated this year by the COVID-19 emergency, the Minister decided that these resources will not be competitive, so they will be delivered -in equal parts- to each of the eight regional public channels ($ 3,550 million) and will be used to reactivate the production of programs that feed their grids and that creatively allow viewers to see attractive series and programs in them again.
"I believe in the importance of regional channels as builders of citizenship and as an instrument to promote healthy habits in times of pandemic. They are the pride of the region and in many cases the most popular signals because they interpret their viewers better than anyone else. That is why our commitment to support and strengthen them," said the ICT minister.
But Minister Abudinen goes further and, in addition, proposed a competitive exchange to support digital projects that boost connectivity, which is the master plan. There will be 2,112 million pesos to support the production of new digital series, based on artistic expressions: theater, dance, music, among others. So that Colombians can enjoy these shows from their homes, since they can not enjoy them in person.
MinTIC will also make an agreement with the TAL Network (Union of Public Televisions of Latin America), so that all regional channels can be part of it without having to pay their association contribution; access 200 hours of content to strengthen their grids; share and update knowledge and good practices through the 'TAL Academic' program, and be part of the prestigious TAL Awards, in which Colombia won six awards in the 2019 edition.
"This is the reiteration of the support that the Government of President Iván Duque is providing to our regional public television in the midst of the COVID-19 emergency, in which our media have been a fundamental tool, for example, bringing pedagogical content to the regions where only the television signal arrives," said the Minister.
Additionally, the channels will receive financial support to promote educational content through digital terrestrial television.
It is worth remembering that, in January 2020, President Duque presented the largest budget in the history of public television: $291.5 billion, which is part of compliance with the Law on modernization of the ICT sector (1978 of 2019) and which are being used for its strengthening and modernization.
