TV4 is the

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

serving the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

. It broadcasts on 30 total transmitters statewide and is operated by the Television Unit of Guanajuato (UTEG), which under its stated mission, provides educational programming, social and cultural television and healthy entertainment for children, youth and adults. TV4 is available statewide, covering 98% of the territory of Guanajuato in addition to statewide

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

carriage and

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

distribution via

Mexicanal Mexicanal is a Mexican-based Spanish-language pay television network launched the August 23, 2005 by Castalia Communications and Cablecom. The network's studios and broadcast center is based in the Mexican city of San Luis Potosí. Programming ...

and Canal Sur Mexico. In some form, TV4 programming reaches more than 3 million viewers both in Mexico and abroad, including in the United States.

History

In December 1979, the state government and the

Dirección General de Radio, Televisión y Cinematografía The ''Dirección General de Radio, Televisión y Cinematografía'' (General Directorate of Radio, Television and Film), known by its acronym RTC, is an agency of the Mexican Secretariat of the Interior (SEGOB). It rates films and television progra ...

(RTC), then in charge of the Televisión Rural de México network, agreed that TRM programming and broadcasts would be regionalized to deliver information oriented specifically to address needs of the local population. The result was that in various states, TRM built regional opt-outs into its programming schedule. Two years later, the first broadcasts through TRM's regional network provided local programming for one hour daily. This later increased as new infrastructure was constructed, with the first test broadcasts of channel 4 in 1983 and later supplemented by regional FM radio broadcasting (see XHJUA-FM). In April 1983, ''Radio y Televisión de Guanajuato'' (Radio and Television of Guanajuato, RTG) was created as a state-supported organization to broadcast social, educational and cultural programming. In 1999, the radio network was spun off and given to the

University of Guanajuato The Universidad de Guanajuato (in English language, English, the University of Guanajuato) is a university based in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, made up of about 33,828 students in programs ranging from high school level to the doctorate leve ...

. By then, it included stations in León, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende, all of which are now part of the university's radio network. The rest of the former RTG was then restructured, becoming in 2001 the ''Unidad de Televisión de Guanajuato'' (Guanajuato Television Unit or UTEG). In the 2010s, TV4 transitioned to digital and high definition. The León transmitter was the first to convert to digital, receiving its authorization in September 2011. Others were authorized in the years leading up to the Mexican digital transition in 2015. A reaward of all of TV4's concessions effective January 1, 2022, resulted in new call signs across the network.

Programming

TV4 produces around 48 percent of its program output, which includes kids' shows, educational programming, local sporting events, and newscasts covering Guanajuato. It fills the remainder of its broadcast day with

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

programs, as well as productions from the other state networks. TV4 also offers coverage of local cultural events such as the

Festival Internacional Cervantino The Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC), popularly known as ''El Cervantino'', is a festival which takes place each fall in the city of Guanajuato, located in central Mexico. The festival originates from the mid 20th century, when short play ...

Transmitters

TVCUATRO is available through a statewide network of repeaters located throughout

. There are 27 main stations and a further three translators of XHCPDQ (formerly XHLEG), the León transmitter. TV4 uses virtual channel 4 in all areas. , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - While all TV4 transmitters held authorizations at the time to broadcast in digital, and the León and Celaya transmitters were the first to broadcast as such, the León transmitter was the only one that shut off its analog signal on December 11, 2015. In March 2018, in order to facilitate the repacking of TV services out of the 600 MHz band (channels 38-51), ten transmitters of TV4 were assigned new channels for continued digital operations. XHGCO, XHLEG, and XHGTA were assigned channel 25; XHGJI and XHGSC were assigned channel 30; and XHGAC, XHDLG, XHATO, XHGHU, and XHGJR were assigned channel 35. TV4 programming is available to Guanajuatense audiences abroad via

and Canal Sur México; in the US, broadcasts are also available from

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

and though multicasting.

Digital subchannels

All TV4 transmitters are multiplexed, carrying two subchannels with programming primarily consisting of TV4 repeats: TV4 Media on channel 4.2 and TV4 Expresa on channel 4.3.

References

{{Mexican broadcast television Public television in Mexico Television channels and stations established in 1979 Television stations in Guanajuato