Asymmetric regulation and “preponderance”

 Developments on competition for Broadcasting in Mexico

 It is evident that preponderance-related measures established for the Broadcasting sector have had a direct impact on the provision of services by the Preponderant Economic Agent (PEA), looking at immediate tangible results, particularly in the purchase of contents and advertisements. 

The reduction of the advertising market added to a decrease in television audiences has finally showed an adverse effect on the country's creative industry, resulting in a decrease of many hours of content-production nationwide. The country's creative industry clearly needs to be driven to regain the leadership that had some years ago at an international level. Therefore, it is essential that the broadcasting sector stops being subject to measures that tend to over-regulate it while making it less competitive with the effects we have seen over the last months in other sectors largely dependent on the broadcasting industry.

The IFT should not lose sight of the fact that the main function of the free-to-air broadcasting industry is to have the possibility of obtaining as many contents as possible in order to pass them on to audiences in a cost-effective manner while remaining free of charge. The competitiveness of the sector must therefore be based on strengthening the broadcasters in order for them to keep on serving their audiences, to whom they are their main source of contents, particularly because they come free of charge.