Mexico watchdog sets rules for Televisa cable buy

Mexican entertainment company Grupo Televisa must share programming with other television stations as a condition for buying a stake in cable company Cablemas, anti-trust body CFC said on Sunday.

Televisa (TV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (TLVACPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research), which is trying to buy a 49 percent stake in Cablemas, has 90 days to comply with the ruling, the Mexican competition commission said in a statement.

"We guarantee Televisa will soon offer equal access to its content and networks," said commission head Eduardo Perez Motta. "With this we make sure consumers have the best number of options with open TV and the best prices on pay TV."

In February, the CFC set similar conditions over Televisa's bid to buy northern Mexican cable firm TVI. The commission has still not ruled on whether Televisa has complied in that case.

The watchdog said Televisa must carry a broad swathe of local programming on its satellite and cable networks before getting regulatory approval for its stake in Cablemas, which transmits to more than 700,000 subscribers in central Mexico.

Televisa is the world's top producer of Spanish-language shows. It has been trying to expand its grip on the Mexican subscription TV market by boosting cable holdings.

Source : http://www.reuters.com