World Cup Viewing Imperiled in Colombia in Fight Over TV Signals
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It’s not just the United States that sees popular channels blacked out in retransmission disputes: After a 16-year wait for their team to play in soccer’s World Cup, millions of Colombians may not be able to watch a single game at home.
In Colombia, the fight isn’t over how much pay-TV operators need to pay to carry the channels; it’s whether they’ll pay at all. So far they haven’t had to, but suddenly that may be changing — just as the World Cup begins.
A week before the tournament’s opening ceremony, pay-TV operators America Movil, Telefonica and UNE EPM Telecomunicaciones are determining whether they need to remove the games’ broadcasters from their channel lineups after a decision from Colombia’s antitrust regulator. The agency, known as SIC, said in a ruling this week that the operators need broadcasters’ permission to carry their signal.
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