Cable Universal (Chile)

Cable Universal (officially Cable Universal SpA) is a Chilean telecommunications company of origin. It provides cable and satellite television services (HFC and DTH), IPTV, fixed and mobile telephony, fiber optics and Internet access nationwide. In addition to their main activities, they owned a long-distance carrier (765) that was discontinued in 2013, a video-on-demand service (Club VOD), a streaming platform with content from the channels on the platform (UniPlay), in addition to having exclusive channels such as UniSports (in addition to signals 2, Premium 1, 2 and 3), local channels such as TV Lagos and Temucovisión, and a future music channel called UniMusic.

Since June 2, 2011, its property has been 100% owned by the US group Postcom Enterprises, Inc.; until that date the company simply operated independently.

In June 2022, the company began offering an offer for new customers, which consists in the fact that if cable TV is contracted after this date, HFC (cable) and DTH (satellite) services are included, however, for customers old are offered a discount of 45% of the contracted plans.

Pre-history
It was originally born in 1997 as a small cable provider with about 15 channels (not counting national channels) under the name of La Caja Televisiva. However, it was not very successful, only lasting 10 months in operation.

Cable Universal and its beginnings
In mid-2001, the original founders of La Caja Televisiva decided to meet to launch a new cable television service under another name. Finally, Universal Cable was officially founded on October 3, 2001 as an analog cable operator that had 30 channels (not counting the national ones) and some premium channels.

On December 20, 2002, The Weather Channel Latin America ceased its broadcasts (obviously by decision of the channel itself), so on January 1, 2003 its space was taken over by the Venezuelan channel Globovisión (currently unavailable).

On May 24, 2006, Magic Kids ended its broadcasts by Pramer's decision, so since June 1, 2006 Disney Channel became a basic channel occupying the old space of Magic, while the VH1 Latino channel was integrated into the old Disney frequency.

In the middle of 2006 a new package of channels called digital expansion and the launch of a new product called Uni-Box (a digital decoder) began to be promoted. These novelties arrived on September 27, 2006, with new channels that at that time were new in Latin America (or more specifically in Chile).

Acquisition of Satellicom in Chile and subsequent relaunch
In May 2007 Cable Universal announced the acquisition of the operations of the company Satellicom in Chile (which had already announced its cessation of operations in South America), so that in mid-2007 Satellicom was absorbed by Cable Universal, becoming the service DTH of the last.

Reorganization of the channel grid
In August 2007 the channel grid (both analog and digital) was completely reorganized, adding several new channels to the digital package, moving some analog channels to the digital package and vice versa, among other things.

As of May 2008, HD channels began to be launched in what was then called the Expansion HD package.

In January 2010, CNN Chile, Canal 24 Horas and Tele13 Online joined the channel grid, causing a minor reorganization.

Takeover by Postcom and acquisition of Bellphone
In December 2010 Postcom began negotiations to acquire the operations of Cable Universal, which was completed on June 2, 2011.

In June 2012, Cable Universal began negotiations with the Bellphone company to absorb it and turn it into a division of Cable Universal itself called Unifono. The acquisition process was finalized on May 23, 2013 and the absorption was completed on July 1 of the same year, that same day the long distance carrier (765) was discontinued thanks to the fact that Bellphone had a single rate for nationwide calls.

On November 4, 2013, Utilisima and Fox Life became Fox Life and Mundofox respectively, however a few days later Cable Universal changed the channels back to their original frequencies.

As of January 2014, Cable Universal releases some HD channels for broadcast without the need for the Uni-Box, unlike VTR (whose channels of this style work with the ASTC standard) the channels can be tuned with the ISDB- t.

On November 3, 2014 Moviecity became Fox+, so a freepass was offered, however Universal Cable extended the offer by offering the package at 50% for 3 months if you subscribed during November.

In December 2014, the channel grid was reorganized again "organizing it by thematic neighborhoods" in both analog and digital (except HD). In June 2015, the HD channel grid was reorganized, also organizing it by thematic neighborhoods, and new HD channels were added.

On March 3, 2016, the Venezuelan channel Globovisión was removed from the channel grid due to problems between the channel and the cable operator. Globovisión was replaced by the TV Peru Internacional channel.

In June 2017, a new batch of HD channels was added, in addition the Mundofox HD channel was moved along with the children's channels due to the upcoming relaunch of the channel to Nat Geo Kids.

In December 2017, the design of the EPG was changed from Rovi to TiVo.

On January 1, 2019, the HBO Plus and Max Prime channels (West signals) stopped broadcasting by decision of HBO.

In May 2019 Cable Universal announces the launch of an OTT platform for its television service, which was launched in August of the same year, currently you can see the channel grid of the HFC and DTH services.

On April 30, 2020 Sundance TV stops broadcasting, being replaced by the A3Cine channel, on July 31 of the same year Capital TV stops broadcasting without a replacement, on August 5 MTV Hits is replaced by its European signal, on August 31 On August 14 Vh1 MegaHits is replaced by NickMusic, on September 14 Nick 2 and Nicktoons are replaced by TeenNick and on October 7 VH1 is replaced by its European network.

On November 3, 2021, the Via X, Zona Latina and ARTV channels are incorporated in HD thanks to an agreement with TVI Filmocentro.

On February 1, 2022, the channels of the Star Premium package cease their transmissions, being replaced by the Universal+ package. On April 1, 2022, the Star Life, Nat Geo Kids, Nat Geo Wild, Disney XD and FXM channels close their broadcasts, being replaced by Sony Movies, ZooMoo, Love Nature, DreamWorks Channel and D Película respectively.

On April 11, 2022, the grid is reorganized again after almost 8 years so that it has a coherent order, the reorganization was complete, from analog channels, through the digital grid, to HD channels.

On July 1, 2022, Mega Ficción is added on the occasion of the S.O.S. In addition to incorporating the CNBC channel on July 11.

In January 2023 the incorporation of the AMC Selekt 4K channel was announced for the most advanced plans, it was finally incorporated on February 3 of the same year.

Withdrawal of the regional networks of TVN and Canal 13
In January 2009, Cable Universal announced plans to withdraw the regional networks of TVN and Canal 13 since it did not consider them really relevant channels, this caused the displeasure of many users, who claimed that they liked to find out about what was happening in their region of origin (in the case of TVN, the regional network varies according to the affiliate while the national signal occupied the space of that regional network in the rest of the country). Subsequently, Cable Universal enabled the multi-channel option on TVN and Channel 13 in its DTH service in order to gradually change the signal to a regional network without occupying more frequencies.

Dispute between Cable Universal and Globovisión and withdrawal of the channel
In December 2015, Cable Universal reported that it had problems with the Globovisión channel, since it was considered that the channel "distorted" the information delivered. Globovisión responded to this by saying that Cable Universal was discriminating against them for being a medium from a "sovereign and decentralized Republic." In the end, it was concluded that Cable Universal refused to continue broadcasting the signal, so on March 3, 2016 Globovisión was removed from the programming schedule, being replaced by the channel TV Perú Internacional, later Globovisión took the company to court where Cable Universal was favored because cable operators can remove channels if required (obviously notifying customers one month in advance).

Hacking to television networks
In October 2004, a critical security flaw was discovered in the television networks which meant that anyone with basic knowledge of these issues could access the networks. The first attacks consisted of scrambling the grid of channels to warn the company about this vulnerability, however the news reached malicious people who intervened the signals to broadcast inappropriate content for minors to give the company a bad image, later the company apologized publicly saying that these security flaws were already being corrected, in the end it was rewrote all the security code and no incidents of this style were reported again.

Incorporation of Tele13 Online and subsequent withdrawal
In January 2010, Cable Universal incorporated the Tele13 Online signal to its channel offer. Initially, Canal 13 did not agree with the broadcast of the channel on said cable operator, however, Canal 13 changed its mind when it noticed the strong competition with CNN Chile and Canal 24 Horas, for which Canal 13 allowed Cable Universal to continue broadcasting the Tele13 Online signal, on January 6, 2011, Tele13 Online stopped broadcasting abruptly, initially the cable operator was blamed since it did not had announced the withdrawal of the channel, however later it was revealed that Channel 13 had stopped broadcasting the channel and that the cable operator had not found out until it happened, its space was taken over by Nuestra Tele Noticias 24 Horas (today NTN24).

HFC

 * Coaxial cable: allows access to a limited grid of channels which are available between channels 2 to 99.
 * Uni-Box: Basic decoder which can receive digital channels and audio channels, however these are unable to receive and transmit HD channels.
 * Uni-Box Pro: This decoder has some extra functions such as the ability to make DVR recordings, change the channel audio to SAP, among others.
 * Uni-Box HD: This decoder is capable of tuning HD channels, as well as being compatible with the ISDB-t standard, however the DVR recording option is not available.
 * Uni-Box Pro HD: This decoder is the most complete of all, since it includes several features such as making DVR recordings, connecting it to an old television through the Audio/Video ports, watching channels in 4K (2160p), changing the channel's audio, among other things.

DTH

 * Prepaid: It comes in a self-installation kit that includes the decoder, A/V cables, a prepaid card, a satellite dish, installation tools, and a manual. It is capable of tuning HD channels, being a prepaid decoder you must put a certain amount of money to be able to see the channels depending on the contracted plan.
 * Normal small: Unlike the prepaid decoder, this is contracted with a fixed plan, however, apart from this there are no major differences, it does not have HDMI ports.
 * Normal: This one is larger in size and comes with many more features such as the ability to record shows, connect via an HDMI port for a better experience, be able to change channels directly on this device, among other things.

HFC Service
See: List of channels avalible on Cable Universal (HFC, Chile)


 * Basic Analog ($12.990 CLP/month) - Includes only analog channels (2-99) and free-to-air channels
 * Basic Digital ($26.990 CLP/month) - Includes an Uni-Box and access to many channels over 100 (excludes some channels and HD channels)
 * Full Digital ($32.990 CLP/month) - Includes some extra channels, but no access to HD package
 * Basic Digital HD ($36.990 CLP/month) - Includes an Uni-Box HD and access to many HD channels, but no includes Full Digital channels
 * Full Digital HD ($39.990 CLP/month) - Includes access to all channels (except premiums) and an 4K channel

DTH Service
See: List of channels avalible on Cable Universal (DTH, Chile)


 * Plan Bronce ($7.990 CLP/month) - Includes access to some channels
 * Plan Plata ($13.990 CLP/month) - Includes access to more channes besides of the Plan Bronce channels
 * Plan Oro ($18.990 CLP/month) - Includes access to all channels avalible on the service (except premiums)

Premium Packages

 * Universal+ ($5.990 CLP/month) - It includes 5 channels in both SD and HD which are the following: Universal Premiere, Universal Crime, Universal Reality, Universal Cinema and Universal Comedy.
 * TNT Sports ($4.990 CLP/month) - It includes an SD channel and an HD channel, being the following: TNT Sports 2 (163 HFC and 141 DTH) and TNT Sports HD (547 HFC and 1141 DTH).
 * Fox Sports Premium ($11.990 CLP/month) - It includes two SD channels and three HD channels, being the following: Fox Sports 1 (156 HFC and 144 DTH), Fox Sports 2 (157 HFC and 145 DTH), Fox Sports 1 HD (550 HFC and 1143 DTH), Fox Sports 2 HD (551 HFC and 1144 DTH) and Fox Sports 3 HD (552 HFC and 1145 DTH).
 * UniSports Premium ($9.990 CLP/month) - It includes three SD and HD channels, being the following: UniSports Premium 1 (159 HFC and 146 DTH, HD: 555 HFC and 1146 DTH), UniSports Premium 2 (160 HFC and 147 DTH, HD: 556 HFC and 1147 DTH) and UniSports Premium 3 (161 HFC and 148 DTH, HD: 557 HFC and 1148 DTH).
 * Adrenalina Sports Network ($4.990 CLP/month) - It includes only one channel (SD and HD): Adrenalina Sports Network
 * Hot Pack: ($8.990 CLP/month) - It includes three SD channels and one HD channel, being the following: Playboy TV, Venus, Sextreme and Playboy TV HD.