a+ is a regionalized television service in Mexico operated by TV Azteca. It launched in five cities on March 20, 2017, and it expanded to 34 additional cities on April 7, 2017. a+ is broadcast as the second digital subchannel of the Azteca 7 transmitters in each area.
History
Regional programming on TV Azteca prior to a+
From the privatization of Imevisión in 1993, the new Televisión Azteca immediately began seeking alliances with content partners to provide local and regional news and programming for air on its networks. In 1995, TV Azteca took on Síntesis, a successful local newscast in Tijuana, as a partner after Síntesis had been forced off of its previous broadcast home. In the state of Veracruz, it set up Veravisión, and it also established local news and programming operations in other cities including Mérida and San Luis Potosí. While many of these produced few programs outside of local news and were later subsumed into TV Azteca itself, Azteca Noreste, the division in Monterrey, remained a high-volume program producer, airing local Info 7 newscasts seven days a week in the morning and early afternoon as well as locally produced entertainment and sports shows.
Launch of a+
a+ was announced on March 13, 2017, coinciding with the relaunch of Proyecto 40 as adn40 that same day. On March 8, the Federal Telecommunications Institute approved the change in program identity, as well as multiplexing of additional transmitters to provide the a+ service. The service began operation in five cities—Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Toluca and León—while expansion to 21 additional cities was initially planned by the end of the second quarter of 2017 and a third expansion phase slated for the second half of the year, 35 transmitters serving 34 cities were authorized for the service on March 22, 2017, with programs beginning on April 7, 2017; in August 2017, TV Azteca was further cleared to add a+ to 11 Azteca 7 transmitters, mainly in northeastern Mexico. The goal of the channel is to be a national service with programming tailored to the viewing preferences and needs of each local area. Programming for the a+ channels was developed in consultation with local businessmen and influencers in each area, through focus groups headed by Ninfa Salinas, sister of TV Azteca director generalBenjamín Salinas. Efrén Páez, an economic analyst with Mediatelecom, told Expansión that "although there have always been local stations, public and private, none of them have had the capital and resources of TV Azteca". On December 13, 2017, the IFT deemed that with coverage of 60% of the population of Mexico, carriage of a+ should be made mandatory for satellite providers.
Programming
a+ features a program schedule that includes a mix of national and regional programs. It includes a base national program schedule that is "100% blockable" for locally produced programs in the different cities where it is broadcast. All a+ areas will offer a 9pm local newscast and 10pm local sports program. Depending on the size of the city, local production will vary across the different a+ channels. a+ also carries non-local programs, such as music videos from Exa TV and cartoons from Mondo TV, as well as rebroadcasts of some of TV Azteca's more popular shows, including Venga La Alegría and Ventaneando.
Transmitters
a+ is available on 54 transmitters. In each of them, it is available as the second subchannel of the Azteca 7 transmitter. In Tijuana, Mexicali and Ciudad Juárez, Azteca 7 does not have virtual channel 7 and so it is carried as virtual channel 20.2, 21.2 and 20.2, respectively.
