Colombia turns down tender for third TV network

Colombia's State Council has cancelled the tender it started back in 2009 to launch a third private TV national network. According to elmundo.es, 17 of the council's members voted in favor of the annulment, while only six voted against it. The reason for this was that Spanish company Planeta was the only participant, after Cisneros Group and Prisa both backed down. The council's president, Gustavo Gómez, stated that "the decision can't be made through a tender if there's only one company participating, since we can't choose the best price without any diversity." This doesn't mean the council doesn't want a new private network; it just wants several offers in order to choose the best one. The decision to cancel the tender was also supported by Caracol Televisión and RCN Televisión, who were both against the arrival of the new network.