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| Formerly | Galaxy Latin America Investments, LLC (1994–2000)[1] DirecTV Latin America, LLC (2000–2018) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1994; 31 years ago (1994) |
| Headquarters | , United States[2] |
| Products | Satellite television |
| Parent | Grupo Werthein |
| Subsidiaries | DirecTV Argentina DirecTV Chile DirecTV Colombia DirecTV Ecuador DirecTV Peru DirecTV Uruguay Sky Brasil Torneos (65%) |
| Website | vriocorp |
Vrio Corp. (formerlyDirecTV Latin America LLC; stylized asVгio) is an American-headquartered company that manages the commercial operations of the Latin American branch ofDirecTV (mostly known as DirecTV Latin America). It is owned byGrupo Werthein. It produces TV content, and owns several TV channels.[3]
As of 2018, DirecTV Latin America's legal name was changed to Vrio Corp.[4]
In 1994, Hughes Electronics Corporation and Venezuelan media companyGrupo Cisneros create a joint venture named Galaxy Latin America, a company intended to distribute DirecTV services in 27 Latin American countries, initially with an offer of 144 channels. In that same year, it enters the Chilean market and then it was launched in Mexico.
In 2000, Galaxy Latin America LLC was renamed as DirecTV Latin America LLC. On December 19, it announced its exclusive rights for both2002 and2006 World Cups, valid for Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay.[5] The following year, it announced the creation of a pop-up channel to cover the World Cup in full, with interactive functions, for Chile, Colombia and Uruguay, produced by Venevision International.[6] On September 24, 2001, it launched inUruguay.[7]
In 2005, Grupo Cisneros sold its 14% stake on DirecTV Latin America to The DirecTV Group Inc.[8]While in Mexico and Brazil it merged with rival Sky and disappeared, in South America it absorbed Sky as the latter struggled in the market.
On January 17, 2016, the Secretary of Environment ofBogotá, sanctioned DirecTV's Colombian subsidiary, Directv Colombia Ltda., with a sum of$118 million for placing advertisement without the proper permission from the city.[9] The company violated Decree 959, published in 2000, that regulates where companies can place public publicity.
On September 15, 2017,Reuters reported that AT&T, the owner of DirecTV's U.S. and Latin American divisions, had hired an advisor to consider offeringDirecTV Latin America on the public stock market. The principal motive was cited as the need to reduce the debt load AT&T would assume if it took overTime Warner as planned. Since that date, the U.S. Dept. of Justice filed suit to block that acquisition on antitrust grounds, a trial is scheduled to start on 19 March 2018 before Judge Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and a decision is not expected before June–July. However, even if the deal is blocked, AT&T might dispose of the division as not core to its business.[10] On April 19, 2018, the IPO was cancelled.
On May 19, 2020, the company ceased operations in Venezuela, due toUS sanctions against pro-Maduro TV channelsGlobovisión andPDVSA TV in 2019. These channels require mandatory transmission imposed by the telecommunications commission of Venezuela, CONATEL, while the US sanctions simultaneously block the transmission of these channels.[11]
On July 21, 2021, AT&T Latin America announced that they will sell Vrio toGrupo Werthein, which will include all DirecTV operations in Latin America andSKY Brasil (while keeping the broadband operations in Colombia and their stake atSky México).[12] The sale was completed on November 16, 2021.[13]
The Chilean subsidiary of DirecTV has operated in the country since 1994. It bought Sky Chile and absorbed it into its operations. It signed an agreement with GTD Manquehue to offer full telephone, television, and internet services throughout the country.
In 2012, it made an agreement with Club Deportivo Universidad Católica to carry the brand name DirecTV on their jerseys. In 2015, it made an agreement with Colo-Colo to also carry the DirecTV logo.
Club Deportivo Universidad CatólicaLiga Nacional de Básquetbol de ChileClub Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo
DSports is a group of sports channels that are exclusive to DirecTV subscribers, featuring primarily association football, basketball, cycling and combat sports.
DNews is a news channel that was launched in 2022, whose programming is based on newscasts and journalistic programs in partnership with other international outlets such asDeutsche Welle,BBC,AFP,Reuters andEuropa Press.[14]
On August 4, 2023, DNews would celebrate its first year of existence with an event held at the channels headquarters inBuenos Aires with involvement of high personality participating in the event.[15]
OnDirecTV is a entertainment channel that airs series, movies, documentaries, musical events andbeauty pageants exclusively for its subscribers.
DGO (previously known as DirecTV Go) and Sky+ are over-the-top video streaming services that includes both linear channels and video on demand. The service was launched in 2018 in Argentina, Chile and Colombia. In 2019, the service was expanded to Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay, then Mexico and Brazil in 2020. DirecTV satellite subscribers have free access to the service, but Sky Mexico and Sky Brazil subscribers do not. On October 11, 2022, DirecTV Go was rebranded as DGO.[16] On December 6, 2023, DGO was rebranded as Sky+ in Brazil.[17] Vrio retained the DGO name in Latin America outside of Brazil.