For the first time, neither of Mexico’s two broadcasting giants, Televisa or TV Azteca, will be showing live coverage of the Olympic Games.
Back in 2013, telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim paid more than $US1.3 billion for the Latin American rights to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and 2016 summer games (excluding Brazil). It had been expected that he would reach a deal with at least one of this country’s two major broadcasters to bring this year’s games to the widest number of people.
However, there is no love lost between Slim and the two media conglomerates, which have been battling the world’s richest man for a number of years as the telephone and television markets in Mexico increasingly converge.
No deal on the Olympics was ever reached, and instead Slim’s own network, Claro Sports, will transmit the games in Mexico via its own channels and website, as well free-to-air on public television stations Canal Once and Canal 22.
Canal 22 is operated by Mexico’s Secretariat of Culture, formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts (Conaculta), while Canal Once is run by Mexico City’s Instituto Politécnico Nacional.
In addition, Canal 44, owned by the Universidad de Guadalajara, has reached an agreement with Claro Sports to show 200 hours of Olympic scheduling in Jalisco.
Cable networks Fox Sports and ESPN will also be broadcasting selected events during the games.
Undoubtedly, the widest coverage of the games will be on Claro Sports, part of Slim’s massive American Movil corporation, the world’s fourth largest mobile network operator.
Claro Sports can be seen in Mexico through satellite operator Dish Mexico, as well as cable companies Megacable and Axtel TV.
For the first time in Mexico, complete coverage of every sport in the games will be available without charge on the Claro Sports website via a downloadable app, which will allow as many as 34 channels to be viewed simultaneously. This service will be available throughout Latin America.
Some analysts have suggested that the Mexican public is likely to snub the games without the participation of the nation’s traditional networks.
On the contrary, America Movil Director Arturo Elías Ayub believes Rio 2016 will be viewed by more Mexicans than ever before due to the increased number of options now open to them.
Claro Sports is sending a team of 150 correspondents to Rio de Janeiro in a bid to counter claims they will be unable to match the experienced professional coverage of the country’s two major broadcasters.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics begins with the opening ceremony Friday, August 5, 6 p.m.