Torneos y Competencias
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|
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Key people |
Marcelo Bombau, President Alejandro Burzaco, CEO |
| Products | Television |
| Divisions | TyC Sports |
| Website | http://www.tyc.com.ar |
Torneos y Competencias (TyC, also referred as "Torneos") is an Argentine sports communications firm created by businessman Carlos Ávila, who has left the company. It is an important force in the world of Argentine sports, with interests in publications and radio and TV broadcasting.
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[edit]
TyC started its activities in the Argentine media in 1982, with a golf program. Since then it produced and aired successful programs in network television such as El deporte y el hombre, Tenis de Primera, Fútbol de Primera and La Magia de la NBA; the most successful of them being the weekly Fútbol de Primera, which summarizes each day of competition in the Argentine first division.
TyC current shareholders are: DirecTV Latin America (33.2%), the former Chief Executive Officer of CableVisión (Argentina) Fred Vierra (26.53%), Luis Nofal Sports Holding SA (by Luis Nofal, 23.53%), and the American investment firm DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (16.7%).[1]
[edit] Presence in the Media
Torneos y Competencias and the Clarín Group currently operate the domestic pay TV channel TyC Sports, as well as two international pay TV channels TyC Sports Latin America and TyC Sports USA. TyC also produces most sport shows for Fox Sports Latin America - South Cone, including the airing of Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Formula One and many others.
TyC also bought the rights for the transmission of the matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup from Germany, but reached an agreement with several open-air channels to broadcast the matches of the Argentina national football team.
[edit] Argentine Football and Monopoly
In 1992 the company Televisión Satelital Codificada (TSC, a joint venture between TyC and the Clarín group) signed an agreement with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) for the exclusive transmission of Argentine football (soccer) matches. All the official matches were available on the TyC Sports and TyC Max cable channels. This agreement would expire in 2014.
Many people, such as the journalist Víctor Hugo Morales, disagrees with the agreement, accusing it of being monopolistic. For example, no other media were allowed to broadcast images of Argentine Primera División soccer games –the most important league in Argentine Football– until the end of the programme Fútbol de Primera. It was very common that football matches played, for example, on Fridays, could only be seen as a 4 minutes-long resume on Sundays 12pm. The programme, with no other competition permitted to broadcast the games, was allowed to win the TV awards for best sport program for more than a decade.
[edit] Removal of First Division television rights
In July 2009, due to a economical crisis that affected several Primera División clubs, the AFA tried new ways of financing. The President of the AFA, Julio Grondona, requested TSC authorities to modify the contract for television rights in order for the AFA to receive 720 million Argentine Pesos. However, in the last season, TSC paid the AFA 230 million pesos, and the request was rejected by TSC.[2]
Later, Grondona received an offer from the Argentine Government in order for the National System of Public Media –the state-owned Channel 7– to replace TSC for broadcasting the games on TV.[3] It is worth mentioning that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's Government has a public confrontation against the Clarín group, a member of TSC.[4]
On August 11, 2009, the AFA broke the contract with TSC, accusing it of not fulfilling the agreement.[5] Then, the AFA sued TSC,[6] but TyC also tried an unsuccessful lawsuit against the AFA for cancelling the contract.[7] Evertithing Follow producing of the Second and Third Division.[8]
Since August 21, 2009, the television rights for Argentine Primera División belongs to Channel 7, which is owned by the Argentine state.[9]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Lerena, Ángela (August 12, 2009). "Aquella idea de Carlos Ávila" (in Spanish). Crítica de la Argentina (524). ISSN 1851-6378.
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.ole.clarin.com/notas/2009/08/04/futbollocal/01971526.html
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.losandes.com.ar/notas/2009/8/9/un-439587.asp
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/cultura_sociedad/2009/08/090811_argentina_futbol_grondona_rompe_gm.shtml
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.elargentino.com/nota-53419-La-AFA-rompio-el-contrato-con-TSC-y-reabre-el-juego-de-la-TV.html
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.perfil.com/contenidos/2009/08/14/noticia_0011.html
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.educacion.terra.com.ar/canales/politica/205/205014.html
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.elsitiodealmagro.com.ar/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1529
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.argentina.ar/_es/deporte/C2261-futbol-gratis-por-television.php
