Canal 13

What is Canal 13?

Canal 13 is a Chilean free-to-air television channel. It describes itself as “parte de una sociedad de multimedios integrada por las señales de televisión abierta Canal 13 y T13 en Vivo” and names a dedicated sports service, Deportes13, at its own address.^[1]

Its own history page gives the beginning as a university broadcast: “transmisión universitaria que se inició el 21 de agosto de 1959, realizada por estudiantes de la Universidad Católica de Chile”, with an initial reach of about four kilometres.^[2] On ownership the same page states: “A partir de noviembre de 2017, Canal 13 tuvo un cambio en su propiedad y actualmente pertenece en un 100% al empresario Andrónico Luksic.”^[2] Both statements are the channel's own.

Reporters Without Borders names T13 among what it calls “the main TV channels” in Chile and states of the market that “Although the mass media seems to offer a degree of diversity, most of the outlets are owned by the same business groups”; RSF places Chile 70th of 180 with a score of 60.84 in its 2026 Press Freedom Index.^[3]

What does Canal 13 cover?

Sport has been part of its output from early in its history: the channel's own account names its coverage of the 1962 FIFA World Cup, staged in Chile, as an early milestone, “ejecutada con sólo cuatro cámaras”.^[2]

Its current football carriage is dated and contractual. On 22 January 2026 the channel announced an agreement with TNT Sports to carry one first-division match a week on free-to-air television and on its platforms — 13.cl, Deportes 13 and the T13 En Vivo second signal. Cristián Núñez, the channel's executive director, is quoted saying “Nuestro canal tiene una larga y completa historia de transmisiones deportivas…buscamos entregar el mejor contenido deportivo, manteniendo así nuestro firme compromiso con la transmisión de grandes eventos”.^[4] Gustavo Minaker, Country Manager de WBD Chile, is quoted in the same announcement saying the alliance “viene a complementar ese trabajo, ampliando audiencias y fortaleciendo la visibilidad del campeonato”.^[4]

The competition it carries under that agreement is the Liga de Primera, announced by the ANFP on the same day as the Liga de Primera Mercado Libre for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, with sixteen clubs.^[5] The announcement describes the free-to-air window as carried on the channel itself and on 13.cl, Deportes 13 and the second signal T13 En Vivo, so the same rights reach the audience on more than one platform of the same company.^[4]

How large is Canal 13's audience?

The audited figure is the regulator's. The Consejo Nacional de Televisión's Anuario Estadístico de Oferta y Consumo de TV 2025, built on Ibope's cross-media panel of 1,078 households and 3,259 people, gives Canal 13 a 2025 household rating of 4.3 points, against 5.1 for Mega, 4.8 for Chilevisión and 3.0 for Televisión Nacional de Chile.^[6]

The same yearbook reports 822 hours of television a year per person and an average of three hours forty-two minutes for the main channels in 2025, and carries no breakdown for sport as a genre; no audited audience figure for the channel's sport output could be retrieved.^[6] The weekly free-to-air match under the January 2026 agreement had not been measured separately in any retrievable source.^[4]

Since when has Canal 13 existed?

The channel's own history dates the first broadcast to 21 August 1959 and attributes it to students of the Universidad Católica de Chile.^[2] That is the channel's own account; no independent primary source for the date could be retrieved for this page.

Its ownership date is separate and is also the channel's own statement: from November 2017 the station states it belongs entirely to Andrónico Luksic, having been connected to the Pontificia Universidad Católica until then.^[2] Founding, transfer of ownership and current corporate structure are three different dates and are kept apart here.

Why does Canal 13 matter in Chile's sport?

Because from 22 January 2026 it is the free-to-air window on the league whose rights sit with a subscription broadcaster: one first-division match a week on open television and on the channel's own platforms.^[4] That arrangement is dated and its term is the 2026 season as announced.^[4]

Its measured position among the free-to-air channels in the regulator's 2025 yearbook was 4.3 household rating points, on a panel of 1,078 households and 3,259 people projected to 5,498,000 households and 16,668,000 individuals.^[6] Its own history records television coverage of the 1962 World Cup in Chile.^[2] It operates a standing sports service, Deportes13, alongside the main channel.^[1]