Despite a warning from the National Communications Agency (Enacom) to the Buenos Aires city government regarding the privatization of its public media outlets, the city's chief of government, Jorge Macri, announced this Tuesday that he will proceed with the call for bids for the Canal de la Ciudad and the AM 1110 (Radio de la Ciudad) and FM 92.7 (La 2x4) radio stations. "We will move forward with the bidding process for the operational management of the city's TV and radio stations. It is not the right time to finance, with the taxes of the residents of Buenos Aires, something that the private sector can manage without costing the residents a single peso," Macri said in a brief message on the social network X. In this context, the city's chief ignored the formal letter sent to him by Enacom, as the sale of the public media outlets could be incompatible with the National Law on Audiovisual Communication Services (26.522), which prohibits the delegation of the exploitation of audiovisual licenses. The regulatory body pointed out that the analysis of the administrative specifications reveals a "conflict with the current regulatory framework," particularly with the principle of non-delegation established in Article 44 of the national law. The observations arose after the city proceeded with the publication of the call for bids in the official gazette of Buenos Aires last March. The process, identified as public bidding BAC N° 1002-0321LPU26, aims to "grant the operational management, for a fee, of the operation of the city's cable and radio stations" for a period of five years, and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance and Public Finance. In the letter sent by Enacom, the agency's director, Juan Martín Ozores, warned that the current law establishes that the exploitation of audiovisual communication services must be carried out by its owner, and that the total or partial delegation of that function constitutes a serious offense, subject to sanctions that may include the revocation of the license. In this context, he clarified that, if the bidding process continues in the terms presented, the agency "will be obliged to initiate the corresponding sanctioning process." The point of conflict revolves around the scope of the "operational management" that the city seeks to grant. According to Law 26.522, the following actions will be considered as delegation of exploitation, among others: the cession of programming spaces, the conclusion of exclusive contracts for the production of content, or the execution of legal transactions that allow the replacement of the owner in the operation of the medium. Public media outlets of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The concession period will be five years from the signing of the service commencement agreement. The total estimated amount for the 60 months is $645,225,000 for the television signal and $73,740,000 for the radio signals. Currently, the two radio stations and the television channel have a total of approximately 500 employees. In addition, Radio de la Ciudad (formerly known as Radio Municipal and since 2013 as La Once Diez) is the oldest public radio station in Argentina and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in May 2027. According to a statement issued by the city government, the bidding process requires guaranteeing a quality service, with the following key points: The city justified the call for bids based on Law 2095 on Purchases and Contracts of the city of Buenos Aires, and its implementing decree, a local regulatory framework that governs bidding processes and administrative concessions. However, the audiovisual sector is subject to a national law of public order, which establishes that radio and television licenses and authorizations are under federal jurisdiction. To date, the city government has not publicly responded to the observation made by Enacom, nor has it reported whether it plans to modify or suspend the bidding process. The official schedule indicated that the opening of bids was scheduled for April 20th. If the process proceeds in its current form, the conflict could lead to a legal dispute between the city government and the national agency. Media: television and radio. Jorge Macri.