The television channels Canal 9 and América TV have made the unprecedented decision to resign from their membership in the Argentine Association of Broadcasters (ATA), an organization that groups the open television channels in the country. This decision was announced in a joint statement, where they expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of responses and the slowness with which ATA addressed the sector's concerns amid the crisis facing the audiovisual industry in Argentina.
In the statements issued, Sebastián Rolandi, general manager of Telearte, stated that the decision to resign from the association was based on the need to more effectively support the interests of its members due to the current situation. On the other hand, Carlos Vitanich, representative of América TV, mentioned that the resignation was decided after carefully analyzing the company's objectives and the decisions made by the chamber, concluding that it was necessary to seek other paths for the growth of the television sector.
Both channels indicated that ATA was not adequately representing their interests nor proposing effective solutions to the challenges facing open television today, such as the decline in advertising investment and competition with digital platforms. This decision leaves Telefe and El Trece as the only large commercial channels within the chamber, which has raised speculation about possible changes in the representation of the sector in future negotiations with the Government and regulatory bodies.
Canal 9, in its statement, emphasized that the lack of timely responses and the slow pace in addressing the main concerns of the television sector were decisive in immediately ending their link with ATA. Among the issues raised are the allocation of electoral spaces, regulatory asymmetries with digital platforms, the lack of adaptation of collective labor agreements, regulations related to collective rights management societies, and the situation of official advertising, without receiving the support or solutions expected from the association.
