Audiovisual entertainment giant Paramount (Skydance) has completed its exit from the Chilean Free-To-Air TV market. As it did a few weeks ago in Argentina when it sold Telefé, the company has just reached an agreement to sell Chilevisión. The purchaser is Vytal Group, a company led by majority shareholder Tomás Yankelevich, an Argentinian, along with Jorge Carey and Edgar Spielmann, both Chileans. As a result, Paramount is no longer the owner of any Free-To-Air channels in Latin America.
The news came to be known as a result of an internal announcement sent by Paramount to Chilevisión employees. According to the notice, signed by Paramount International Division President Kevin MacLellan, “the buyer is a holding company controlled by Tomás Yankelevich, who will lead the project together with Jorge Carey and Edgar Spielmann.” Several Chilean media outlets have reported that Yankelevich owns 75% of Vytal shares and that Carey is to be appointed as Chilevisión new CEO.
The staff was also informed that until pertinent regulatory authorizations are obtained and the whole acquisition process is concluded, the Chilean Free-To-Air channel will go on operating “under its current administration”.
Tomás Yankelevich, an executive who has wide experience in the audiovisual industry, held the position of Programming Director at Telefé and until 2023, he served as Chief Content Officer at Warner Bros. Discovery, Latin America. It is worth mentioning that his father is TV and theater producer Gustavo Yankelevich and that his great-grandfather was Jaime Yankelevich, a radio businessman who played a pioneering role in the introduction of television in Argentina.
Both Carey and Spielmann have had extensive careers in the audiovisual media. The former served at Warner Bros. Discovery, while holding a leading position at Chilevisión and is currently the owner of news channel CNN Chile. As regards the latter, he worked for Chile’s Channel 13, VTR and Fox Latin America and he is now the owner of channel and content distributing and consulting company 2BeNamed.
