| Azteca 7 | |
| Type: | Terrestrial television network |
| Country: | Mexico |
| Picture Format: | 1080i HDTV |
| Tvtransmitters: | see below |
| Headquarters: | Mexico City |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Owner: | TV Azteca |
| Terr Serv 1: | Digital terrestrial television (except Tijuana, Mexicali and Ciudad Ju谩rez) |
| Terr Chan 1: | Channel 7 |
| Terr Serv 2: | Digital terrestrial television (Mexicali and Ciudad Ju谩rez) |
| Terr Chan 2: | Channel 20 |
| Terr Serv 3: | Digital terrestrial television (Tijuana) |
| Terr Chan 3: | Channel 21 |
Azteca 7 (also called El Siete) is a Mexican network owned by TV Azteca, with more than 100 main transmitters all over Mexico.
Azteca 7 is available on all cable and satellite systems. Azteca 7 broadcasts entertainment series, movies, and sporting events targeting a general audience, and programs for children during the daytime. In programming, its main national competitor in open television has historically been Canal 5 of TelevisaUnivision.
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 15 May 1985, as the third of three Mexico City stations operated by public broadcaster Imevisi贸n, sister to XHDF-TV channel 13 and XEIMT-TV channel 22, and the flagship station of a second Imevisi贸n national network which featured 99 repeater stations, larger than any commercial network of the time, serving 72% of the population.[1] The new Spanish; Castilian: Red Nacional 7 (7 National Network) was positioned as targeting the working class and rural areas, whose programming would reflect "the national identity", while Spanish; Castilian: Red Nacional 13, based from XHDF, targeted a more middle- and upper-class audience.[1] Because the new network lacked its own building, initial operating costs were estimated to be of over US$1 million. Initial programming included educational programs during daytime hours, primetime entertainment and news updates every 30 minutes.[1]
However, financial mismanagement, economic troubles and other issues quickly signaled trouble for Imevisi贸n. The network had become a mere frequency with a limited transmitter farm, with seven hours of its programming on weekdays in 1990 (half of its weekday airtime) was still dedicated to high school educational programming (Telesecundaria). There were even talks of Multivisi贸n owner Joaqu铆n Vargas buying the network.[2] 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 1993, XHIMT was operating independently under Azteca as T煤 Visi贸n. 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.
Foreign shows aired on Azteca 7 include The Amazing World of Gumball, Bernard, Bluey, Dexter's Laboratory, Dragon Ball Z, The Fairly OddParents, FBI, The Good Doctor, Malcolm in the Middle, Milo, Plim Plim, Pok茅mon, The Simpsons, Smallville and The Smurfs and recently Dragons: Race to the Edge, , One Piece and .
See also: Azteca Deportes. After its privatization, Azteca 7 began carrying NBA basketball, though Televisa now holds these rights. Soccer rights on Azteca 7 include the Liga MX, as well as all official and friendly matches of the Mexico national soccer team. Azteca 7 also carries NFL games, boxing (Box Azteca) and lucha libre (Lucha Azteca).
Azteca 7 has 89 full-power transmitters that broadcast its programming; it also is carried, albeit in SD, as a subchannel of 14 additional Azteca Uno transmitters. Except in the border cities of Tijuana, Mexicali and Ciudad Ju谩rez, Azteca 7 is exclusively mapped to virtual channel 7 nationwide.
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