Venezuela: Globovision was excluded from the Open Digital Television

February 21, 2013
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Hours after the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a scathing report submitted to the UN in ensuring that by 2012, “the government continued its campaign against the press systematically reviewed by legal initiatives, threats and regulatory measures, the private broadcaster Globovision only television channel critical of Hugo Chávez continues its emissions still claimed the government sentenced ‘to death’ by not including it among the channels transmitted from last Wednesday through the Open Digital Television”.

The main Venezuelan cities began to receive free signal of eleven channels in digital format, including all the state media and private channels Venevision, Televen and Meridian, to begin the testing period of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) or TV Digital Open.

Antela Ricardo, one of the lawyers for the station told EFE: “Venezuelans who have the digital decoder can see the open signal, where Globovisión is not included as it continue in analog mode, but when it finishes it could be the end of Globovision”.

“While the government has said in the past that the digital switchover will take place in 2018, didn’t confirm it today and could take place in 2015 or 2014.”

“The real danger of this decision is that, when we walked from now in a transition phase in which lives the analog signal, which contains Globovision, and digital, where Globovision is not included, this discrimination persists.”

Globovision officials said they “never been invited to any meetings between the National Telecommunications Commission and the media to discuss the details of DTT, despite asking repeatedly. This means that Globovision was intentionally discriminated against and will be forced to continue transmitting (only) in analog mode, at a distinct disadvantage with the rest of the media also do via DTT “.