Mexico: Televisa avoids asymmetric regulation in pay TV

Mexico’s telecommunications regulator has ruled that broadcaster Grupo Televisa does not have market power in pay television, meaning the company avoids being hit with new tougher rules.

The investigative arm of the Federal Telecommunications Institute provisionally said in March that Televisa did have “substantial market power”, causing its shares to dip at the time.

But a vote by the IFT board on Wednesday rejected that finding because the company, the world’s largest provider of Spanish-language TV content, has been losing market share, the IFT said in a statement on Friday.

Last year, as part of a wider sector reform in telecoms and broadcasting, Televisa was declared dominant in the free-to-air TV market, forcing it to allow pay TV rivals to show its free content, among other measures.

Full content: The Wall Street Journal