After several weeks of financial analysis, the decision has been that Argentina will no longer support the public pan-American signal.

Launched in 2005, Telesur was originally designed in Venezuela by Hugo Chávez's government, then becoming a multi-state-owned network in which Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Argentina participated.

In Argentina, following a ruling of the audiovisual authority, the channel's distribution was mandatory for all pay-TV platforms and was included as a free-to-air (FTA) network in the country's DTT.

Although it is still available, Telesur will soon stop broadcasting on both pay-TV and DTT channels. “Our country had no decision about content or the signal's management. This move follows our plurality and austerity plans for public media,” commented Hernán Lombardi, Argentina's minister for media and public content.

The move hasn't surprised the Venezuelan authorities, which were expecting a decision along these lines due to the poor political relationship between both governments.

Since Argentina's new government was established in December 2015, it has carried several reforms in the media and telecoms sectors.