Canal 1 Cancels Respected Colombia Weekend News Show “Noticias Uno”

Plural Comunicaciones S.A.S, concessionaire of Canal 1, after a financial review and after exploring numerous alternatives together with its partners, has decided to cancel the popular weekend news program Noticias Uno. Well liked by viewers, Noticias Uno has been consistently recognized as the best newscast in Colombia almost every year since 2010, though like many “serious news programs” elsewhere in the world, the show never achieved dominance in the ratings. The newscast is well respected for its independence and thorough journalism.

Canal 1 has had an unprecedented success in its two years of existence, (Noticias Uno predates the establishment of Canal 1) obtaining a daily share of up to 13% with peaks of 22% and 28% in its most successful shows. However the broadcaster faces significant financial hurdles, attributing these as the reason to remove the Saturday and Sunday news from the schedule, along with other changes in programming.

Canal 1 is also embroiled in a legal spat with competitor Caracol over what it claims are “anticompetitive” and monopolistic practices in advertising contracts.

“This has been an extremely difficult decision after the amount of capital invested during the last two years to maintain afloat the weekend news, but the financial situation of this stripe is not economically sustainable, furthermore than the well-known worldwide challenges in the media industry, since we face a particular situation with the competition-limitation practices found in the open tv industry. We reiterate our commitment to offer professional news and quality entertainment for our audience”, said Ramiro Avendaño, president of Canal 1.

Canal 1 is a member of the Inter-American Press Society – SIP and the Media Association – AMI, and reiterates its commitment to freedom of expression and the press, as well as recognizes and defends the role of journalism in democracy. Canal 1 says it will continue to invest vigorously in Colombia.

Plural Comunicaciones is made up of four partners: Colombian television operator RTI, Colombian news producers CM& and NTC, and entertainment focused US media group, Hemisphere Media. Hemisphere bills itself as the only U.S. media company targeting high-growth Hispanic and Latin American markets with leading cable tv and streaming platforms and digital content. It is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and operates five US cable networks, two Latin American cable networks and a broadcast television network in Puerto Rico.

Noticias Uno won the India Catalina Prize for “Best Newscast in the Country” 10 times, including 7 years straight from 2010 to 2016, and also this year, 2019