RCN Televisión

What is RCN Televisión?

RCN Televisión is a Colombian free-to-air national television network belonging to the Organización Ardila Lülle. Its sports journalism and transmissions are published as Deportes RCN, which describes itself as covering the Selección Colombia, Fútbol RCN, cycling and other sports across the group's television, radio and digital outlets.^[1]

The network is also a shareholder in the subscription channel that carries the domestic league. La República reported on 30 November 2015 that, following a share purchase, RCN Televisión's holding in Win Sports stood at 50 per cent, with DIRECTV and Dimayor among the other shareholders.^[2] No more recent shareholder register for the channel could be retrieved, so that holding is reported here as of November 2015 and not as of 17 September 2026.

Deportes RCN carries standing Liga BetPlay, Selección Colombia, Clásico RCN and "otros deportes" sections.^[1]

What does RCN Televisión cover?

Two beats dominate. For football, PRODU reported on 5 December 2025 that Canal RCN was sublicensed 35 matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup from the rights holder DIRECTV, including all of Colombia's group-stage fixtures.^[3]

For cycling, RCN carried all 21 stages of the 2026 Tour de France on its open signal and its app between 4 and 26 July 2026, with most stage broadcasts beginning at 08:00 or 08:30 and the opening stage at 10:00.^[4] Deportes RCN also runs standing Liga BetPlay, Selección Colombia and Clásico RCN sections and an "otros deportes" desk taking in tennis, weightlifting, Formula One and the South American Games.^[1]

The network published the stage-by-stage Tour schedule in advance, listing start times for each of the 21 days, which is the kind of published transmission record that can be checked against a result afterwards.^[4]

What are RCN Televisión's reach and standing?

The network's measurable standing in sport is its rights position rather than a published rating, and no independent Colombian audience figure for the network could be retrieved for this page. Carrying 35 World Cup matches including every Colombia group game put it alongside Caracol Televisión as one of the two open-signal routes to the 2026 tournament.^[3]

In cycling the rights position is documented rather than characterised: Canal RCN published a stage-by-stage schedule for all 21 stages of the 2026 Tour de France on its open signal and app, 4–26 July 2026.^[4] Revista Mundo Ciclístico reported in 2026 that RCN Radio had accompanied Colombian cycling for 75 years, since the first broadcast of the Vuelta a Colombia, and that it carried the 2026 national road championships from Zipaquirá on 5–8 February across its Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cúcuta, Ibagué, Neiva and Villavicencio stations.^[5] That is a group claim about the radio network rather than a measured audience, and it is reported here as such.

Since when has RCN covered sport?

The dated anchor is the race the group created rather than the network's licence. Revista Mundo Ciclístico records that the RCN organisation created the Clásico RCN in 1961 and has sustained it since.^[5] El Tiempo reported on 17 July 2026 that the 66th edition was scheduled for 19 to 27 September 2026 over 1,272 kilometres and nine stages, from Mosquera in Cundinamarca to a time trial finishing at the Alto de Las Palmas above Medellín.^[6]

The date of RCN Televisión's own first sports transmission is a separate question from the founding of the radio network and of the race, and no primary source establishing it could be retrieved for this page. The shareholding in Win Sports is dated to the November 2015 report.^[2] The race's creation in 1961, the radio network's first Vuelta a Colombia broadcast 75 years before 2026 and the network's own licence are three different dates and are not run together here.^[5]

Why does RCN Televisión matter in Colombian sport?

RCN both reports a sport and stages it: the group organises the Clásico RCN and broadcasts the Tour de France, so its cycling archive is both editorial coverage and event record.^{[4] [5] [6]}

For sourcing, its position in the ownership map matters. RCN Televisión belongs to the Organización Ardila Lülle and was reported in 2015 to hold half of Win Sports, so material appearing on Canal RCN, on Deportes RCN and on Win Sports traces back to overlapping ownership rather than to independent newsrooms.^[1] [2]

Its open-signal position is the other reason it counts. Holding 35 World Cup matches including Colombia's group games meant the tournament reached households without a subscription through RCN and Caracol rather than through the pay channel.^[3] See broadcast rights.