Establishment of XHDF Azteca Trece took its historic channel number (13) from XHDF-TV, which signed on in 1968 on channel 13. It was owned by Francisco Aguirre's
Organización Radio Centro through concessionaire Corporación Mexicana de Radio y Televisión, S.A. de C.V. The station had fewer resources compared to its Mexico City competitors,
Telesistema Mexicano and
Televisión Independiente de México, and relied on foreign films and series, supplied primarily by
Eurovision, to fill out its broadcast day. In 1972, due to debts owed to the state-owned
Sociedad Mexicana de Crédito Industrial (Mexican Industrial Credit Society or SOMEX), XHDF and concessionaire Corporación Mexicana de Radio y Televisión were nationalized. The first director of the government-owned Canal 13 was Antonio Menéndez González, and after his death, he was succeeded by
Enrique González Pedrero, senator of the state of Tabasco from the
PRI. Corporación Mexicana de Radio y Televisión, along with another state-owned enterprise, Tele-Radio Nacional, began receiving new television concessions as part of a national expansion of the Mexico City station into a national television network. One of the first orders of business for Canal 13 was a relocation. On 14 July 1976, Canal 13's new facilities in the
Ajusco area of Mexico City were formally inaugurated by President
Luis Echeverría. The event was attended by various figures from the political and business sectors of the country, including Secretary of the Interior
Mario Moya Palencia and Secretary of Communications and Transportation
Eugenio Méndez Docurro, as well as
Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, Romulo O'Farrill and
Miguel Aleman Velasco, who served as directors of
Televisa. In 1983, the Mexican government reorganized its broadcast holdings. The result was the creation of the Mexican Television Institute, which changed its name to
Imevisión in 1985. Imevisión comprised not only Canal 13, now known as
Red Nacional 13, but the former Televisión de la República Mexicana, with its
channel 22 station, and a new network known as
Red Nacional 7 and broadcast in Mexico City by the brand-new
XHIMT-TV channel 7. During the Imevisión years, Red Nacional 13 continued to broadcast commercial programming, although it featured some programs with a cultural focus, such as
Temas de Garibay,
Entre Amigos with Alejandro Aura, and several programs with journalist Jorge Saldaña.
Privatization for 13 In 1990, Imevisión collapsed the 7 and 13 national networks into one, retaining the stronger channel 13 branding. At this time, the first of two attempts to privatize Imevisión was made, meeting with no bidders. In 1993, the administration of
Carlos Salinas de Gortari auctioned off Imevisión and some other government-owned media ventures in various packages. Radio Televisión del Centro, headed by electronics store owner
Ricardo Salinas Pliego, bought all of the TV stations. The result was the creation of Televisión Azteca, which took its name from the holding company created for the largest of the packages: the Red Nacional 13, including XHDF. ==Programs==