Cadena Tres, a Mexico City based network with affiliates elsewhere in Mexico, will cease operations and shut down on Friday according to a report. The channel has broadcast CMLL’s Tuesday night shows on Saturday nights since late in 2007. They’ve also aired Todo x el Todos shows in the past.
PublicMetro has the story based on a RadioFormula report earlier today. Cadenas Tres has not confirmed the story, and did not tell anything to it’s employees, but did indicate the shut down date to others. Employees are now hinting at the upcoming end and hoping it’s not the end, and there’s always at least a shot at reversal until they shut it off.
CadenaTres is currently CMLL’s only show transmitted over the air in Mexico City. CMLL’s only Mexico City television presence in their home town would be on cable networks 52MX and which are not available on all cable/satellite systems. CMLL’s reach in Mexico City is not good and this greatly reduces it.
These shows are all the ones which air on Time Warner Sportsnet Deportes in the US. That US company appears to buy bunches of episodes from C3. Those episodes will still be sitting in a vault somewhere, so maybe some one in some parent company will still be around to sell them, but it’s most likely the TWSD show will soon go into reruns before vanishing.
This news is surprising to me and seems like it must’ve surprised people involved. CMLL’s test stream for Tuesday night included the CadenaTres announcers calling the show as if normal, for a show which is not going to air unless plans change. (This story would’ve been known when CMLL Informa was on the air today but, as is usual, they did not acknowledge it.)
Cadena Tres was the only CMLL show not produced by CMLL itself. It’s possible this weekly card will no longer be transmitted on any network, though it’s likely they’ll continue recording it. They could have the Tuesday show take over the Claro Sports “Titanes en el Ring” broadcast (currently airing Sunday matches, which it’s expected to drop when Elite takes over that live event.) Alternatively, it’d probably be easier for everyone to YouTube stream the Tuesday Arena Mexico shows than the Monday Arena Puebla ones. Or they could just find another network to take the show; there’s a lot of little networks willing to take lucha libre if you can keep producing it.
Tuesday shows have been the least exciting CMLL shows for quite a while, but there’s still a few good matches which sneak thru. This is two hours less of lucha every week.
current CMLL TV situation
Monday Puebla: airs on YouTube live, airs on 52MX on twelve day delay
Tuesday Guadalajara: airs on Televisa Guadalajara (canal 2 on Thursdays, Canal 4 on Saturdays)
Tuesday Mexico: currently homeless, Tuesday lightning might still be posted. Time Warner Sportsnet Deportes may continue to air months old epsiodes, but new episodes would not be produced. (Even if CMLL takes over the show, the deal appears to be with CadenaTres.)
Friday Arena Mexico: airs live on ClaroSports, airs on two week + one day delay on TV Azteca in the US
Saturday Arena Coliseo: does not air (no longer taped?)
Sunday Arena Coliseo Guadalajara: does not air (believed not to be taped)
Sunday Arena Mexico: airs on ClaroSports on 6 day delay, airs on LATV on a three or four week delay (some episodes missing); expected not to air once Elite takes over this spot.
I think Cadena3 is going to go national with the digital tv deal they got with the gov. earlier in the year, they probably are shutting down the regional (Mexico City) network so that they bring a new deal and fees for their producers and adverticers on the national network. The local channel was, iirc, originally “Canal 28” and then went on to become C3, and now is going to be known as “Excelcior TV” owned by the same group, so maybe CMLL will keep the show there -or go national.
Excelsior TV is an existing network – they’re not renaming it as much as someone else is taking over the frequency, I think. (They are still be owned by the same people, but Excelsior is an all news station right now.) They could take the show, but C3 was producing the programming and someone would have to do that now. It could be the same people who are doing it now, just changing shirts, but the article says only a few people from the news department are being moved over.
Well, at least it does not seem to be a case of C3 going out of business (unless the national network deal was cancelled at some point and I’m missing on it), if the lucha show is profitable, they might want to keep it (it is a big IF, with the youtube feed having 12 people tuning in), if they are moving to a bigger thing, one would expect them making a huge press conference, which has not happened…
It sucks many people are losing their jobs, which might be they bringing in new management with experience with national network, likely, former Televisa dudes, so it probably means a new deal would have to be agreed. which CMLL likely won’t take (pay to air), maybe an opportunity for Naucalpan or Lopez Mateos? – CadenaTres sure needs new programing, they had Bewitched reruns last time I checked
-Chui