El Espectador
The El Espectador newspaper is owned by the Valorem S.A. holding company, controlled by the Santo Domingo family which also controls the Canal Caracol, and the Cromos and Shock magazines. It is the oldest newspaper in Colombia. It circulates nationally and reports general current affairs. It was founded by the journalist Fidel Cano Gutiérrez.
It has been associated since its foundation with the defense of liberal ideas. Its is considered to have amongst the best content due to its independence, credibility, and objectivity. Its current motto is "Opinion is news", which seeks to emphasize its orientation towards opinion and analysis over and above news reporting.
El Espectador circulated as a weekly from September 2001 to 2008 because of budget problems. During this time El Tiempo was the only paid daily newspaper circulating in the country reporting general current affairs. El Espectador returned as a daily newspaper on 11 May 2011 with a new format that remains unchanged today.
Its MOM ranking is seven, based on it’s being one of two newspapers with national reach, the second most read (behind El Tiempo--in fourth place on the ranking), its general news content, and the fact that it is a paid newspaper. Both national newspapers are surpassed for readability by the popular newspapers such as Q'hubo and free products like DNA.
Audience Share
4 %
Ownership Type
Private
Geographic Coverage
National
Content Type
Paid Content
Media Companies / Groups
VALOREM S.A.
Ownership Structure
Since 12 November 1997, Valores Bavaria S.A.(currently Valorem S.A.) has been the owner of El Espectador. It bought the newspaper’s majority stock. The Cano family, founders of the newspaper, retained a small percentage of the newspaper that today amounts to less 1%.
Voting Rights
No Data
Company
Group / Individual Owner
Primeother S.A.S.
This is a company belonging to Valorem S.A. The PrimeOther S.A.S. property structure is as follows:
Valorem S.A. (86.09%)
PrimeFinanzas S.A.S., in liquidation (13.91%)
Familia Cano
The newspaper’s founding family.
General Information
Founding Year
1887
Founder
Fidel Cano Gutiérrez | Journalist and politician from the departament of Antioquia.
Ceo
Wilson Santiago Díaz Castro | He has been General Manager of Comunican S.A. since 2006.
Editor-In-Chief
Fidel Cano Correa | He is the great grandson of the founder of the newspaper, Fidel Cano Gutiérrez. The Cano family ran the newspaper during its first 110 years until its sale in 1997 to Valores Bavaria (hoy Valorem S.A.). The appointment of Fidel Cano as
Other Important People
He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota. He was advertising manager for the El Tiempo S.A. publishing house from 1996. In 2002 he was named general manager of the El Tiempo publishing house:
He is a Colombian American, heir to the business empire of his father Julio Mario Santo Domingo. He is the owner of Valorem S.A., the business holding through which the group manages its investments and companies:
He is cousin of Alejandro Santo Domingo Dávila. He is a member of the board of directors of Caracol Televisión S.A. He was manager of Canal Caracol. He is the son of Carlos Pérez Norzagaray, an important former director of Avianca. He is an economist and politician
He is President of Canal Caracol. Among other positions he has served as director of Cadena 3 television, manager of the Compañía de Informaciones Audiovisuales production company, vice president of programming for Caracol Television, editor of Cromos magazine, and member of the board of directors of Caracol Radio and Caracol Television:
He is President of Valorem S.A. and member of the board of directors of Caracol Televisión S.A., Biofilm, Almagran S.A., Almacenar S.A., Ditransa S.A. and of Compañía Eléctrica de Sochagota:
He is Vice President of Quadrant Capital Advisors, Inc. in New York. He is a member of the board of directors of Valorem S.A. and also of Linio Colombia S.A.S., a online commerce company that forms part of the holding Valorem S.A:
Company Auditor:
Contact
Dirección: Av. Eldorado No 69-76 / Bogotá D.C. Teléfono: (1) 4232300Sitio web: www.elespectador.com
Financial Information
Revenue (in Mill. $)
USD $19.136.600 / COP $ 56.133 millions
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
USD $ - 3.772.220 / COP $ - 11.065 millions
Advertising (in % of total funding)
USD $ 8.043.210/ COP $ 23.593 millions
Market Share
No Data
Further Information
Meta Data
Financial information: exchange rate: 1 USD = 2.933,28 COP
Highly transparent.. The Valorem S.A. Webpage contains financial information about the companies that belong to the holding company.
Sources
Cámara de Comercio. (2015). Certificado de existencia y representación legal. Comunican S.A. de 10-04-2015
Supersociedades. (2015). Registro. Comunican S.A. de 12-09-2015
Registro Único Empresarial y Social RUES (2015), Registro Mercantil, Comunican S.A. de 12-09-2015.
Registro Único Empresarial y Social RUES (2015), Registro Mercantil, Primeother S.A.S. de 12-09-2015.
Cámara de Comercio. (2015). Extracto del Acta No. 104 Asamblea Ordinaria de Accionistas de Comunican S.A de 25-03-2015
Registro Único Empresarial y Social RUES (2015), Formulario de renovación de la matrícula mercantil. Comunican S.A. de 2015
Revisor Fiscal (2014), Certificación sobre los accionistas, 31-12-2014
Valorem S.A. (n.a), Reporte Situaciüon de control de Koba.
Valorem S.A. (n.a), Reporte Situaciüon de control de San Francisco Investments S.A.S .
Registro Único Empresarial y Social RUES (2015), Formulario de renovación de la matrícula mercantil. Valorem S.A.
Cámara de Comercio. (2015). Deposito Estados Financieros y Balance General de 2014 Valorem S.A. de 25-21-04-2015
Cámara de Comercio. (2015). Extracto No. 29 Asamblea General de Accionistas Valorem S.A. de 27-03-2015
Cámara de Comercio. (n.a). Acta No. 25 Asamblea General de Accionistas PrimeOther S.A.S.
Registro Único Empresarial y Social RUES (2015), Formulario de renovación de la matrícula mercantil. PrimeOther S.A.S.
