Type | Terrestrial television network |
---|---|
Branding | Azteca 7 |
Country | Mexico |
Availability | Nationally |
Slogan | Menos Bla Bla (Less Bla Bla) |
Licence area
|
Nationally |
Headquarters | Mexico City, Mexico |
Broadcast area
|
Nationally |
Area | Mexico |
Owner | TV Azteca |
Launch date
|
18 May 1985 |
Channel 24 | |
SKY México (Mexico)
|
Channel 107 |
Dish México (Mexico)
|
Channel 107 |
Cablevision (Mexico)
|
Channel 107 |
Channel 107 (Standard), Channel 108 (1 Hr Delayed), Channel 109 (2 Hr delayed) | |
Callsigns | XHIMT |
Callsign meaning
|
XH Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión (Mexican Television Institute, former owner for 8 years) |
Affiliation | TV Azteca |
Official website
|
Azteca 7 |
Azteca 7 is a Mexican network owned by TV Azteca, with affiliate stations all over Mexico all of which are owned and operated by TV Azteca. Azteca 7 uses Mexico, DF's XHIMT as its flagship station and its channel as part of its name. Azteca 7 programming is available in Mexico through SKY México.
To bring a channel 7 to Mexico City, which had channels 2, 4, 5, 8, 11 and 13, a channel shuffle had to be made. This channel shuffle converted Televisa's station XHTM-TV channel 8 to channel 9. Two Puebla stations, XEX-TV channel 7 and XEQ-TV channel 9, moved to channels 8 and 10; XEQ took on the XHTM callsign that was discontinued in Mexico City. In Toluca, channel 7 (XHGEM-TV) was moved to channel 12, and XHTOL-TV moved from channel 9 to 10. XHIMT-TV took to the air on May 15, 1985, as the third of three Mexico City stations operated by public broadcaster Imevisión, sister to XHDF-TV channel 13 and XEIMT-TV channel 22, and the flagship station of a second Imevisión national network which featured 99 repeater stations serving 72% of the population. The new Red Nacional 7 (7 National Network) was positioned as targeting the working class and rural areas, while Red Nacional 13, based from XHDF, targeted a more middle- and upper-class audience.
However, financial mismanagement, economic troubles and other issues quickly signaled trouble for Imevisión. In 1990, XEIMT and XHIMT were converted into relays of XHDF, and the next year, the government of Mexico announced it was selling XHIMT and XHDF to the private sector. The sale of these two networks in 1993 formed the new TV Azteca network.
By October, XHIMT was operating independently under Azteca as Tú Visión. The programming of Azteca 7 since then has largely consisted of children's programs, sports, foreign series and movies, serving as a competitor to Televisa's Canal 5.