Pay-television broadcaster DirecTV has increased its subscriber base significantly in Colombia since the start of the year due to its coverage of the country’s top-tier football league, Liga Postobon.
DirecTV Colombia president Roque Lombardo told the Portafolio news website that 40,000 new customers had signed up in January and February. “We are doing very well. It was a good time to acquire these football rights,” Lombardo said.
The broadcaster had 473,000 subscribers by the end of February, according to the Comisión Nacional de Television, the country’s television watchdog.
DirecTV is currently the only major pay-television platform offering live coverage of the league. The Dimayor (División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano), the body responsible for the top two tiers, has been unwilling to sell the same rights to the three other main Colombian pay-television broadcasters: Une, Telmex and Telefόnica.
Last year, the Dimayor attempted to split the incumbent pay-television rights-holders, the Une-Telmex joint venture, by setting a price for each bidder related to the size of the operator’s customer base. Une, Telmex and Telefόnica have so far failed to meet the Dimayor’s asking price.
DirecTV acquired the non-exclusive pay-television rights from the Dimayor for five seasons, from 2012 to 2016, in May 2011.