Initial years of operation The concession for XHDF-TV was awarded in 1968 alongside that of
XHTM-TV channel 8. The two stations were intended to come on in time for the
1968 Summer Olympics. While the first programs were broadcast on September 1 with the transmission of the fourth government report of President
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, full programs began with the opening of the Olympic Games on October 12. XHDF was owned by
Organización Radio Centro through concessionaire Corporación Mexicana de Radio y Televisión, S.A. de C.V. The station had studios and a transmitter at the
Torre Latinoamericana along with a second facility on Calle Mina in the historic center of Mexico City, but XHDF primarily broadcast filmed series with fewer resources than its Mexico City competitors.
Nationalization In 1972, due to debts owed to the state-owned (Mexican Industrial Credit Society or SOMEX), XHDF and Corporación Mexicana de Radio y Televisión was 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 July 14, 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 Alemán 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 , but the former Televisión de la República Mexicana, with its
channel 22 station, and a new network known as 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 , with Alejandro Aura, and several programs with the journalist Jorge Saldaña.
Privatization 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. == Technical information ==