What El Tiempo does

El Tiempo is Colombia's leading news media company, legally constituted as Casa Editorial El Tiempo S.A., a privately held public limited company headquartered in Bogotá. Founded in 1949, the company operates a multi-platform media ecosystem anchored by the ELTIEMPO.com digital news portal and a traditional print newspaper, with eight wholly owned subsidiary portals covering distinct verticals: Portafolio (business/economy), Futbol Red (football), CityTV (television), Diario ADN (urban lifestyle), Aló (women's content), Motor (automotive), and El Empleo (employment). The product portfolio extends beyond news into video streaming (El Tiempo Play), podcasts, six themed newsletters, an educational platform (Cursos El Tiempo), an e-commerce merchandise store (Tienda El Tiempo), digital catalogs for advertisers, and a subscriber loyalty program (Club Vivamos). AI-powered features include the Noti IA chatbot for conversational search and AI-generated article summaries with audio narration.

The company generates revenue through five streams: digital subscriptions (tiered monthly and annual plans), advertising (El Tiempo Ads platform plus print), physical newspaper sales and home delivery, events and special publications (Foros & Eventos), and Club Vivamos membership fees. The go-to-market is primarily B2C self-serve for subscriptions and B2B direct sales for advertising, with distribution across iOS, Android, and Huawei mobile apps, web, social platforms, and physical retail. El Tiempo serves the general Colombian audience as its primary segment, with secondary vertical segments in government/politics, business/economics, and entertainment/lifestyle. The company is a member of GDA, IAB, WAN, INMA, AMI, and The Trust Project, and is supervised by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC).

The company maintains 1001-5000 employees and has no disclosed external funding, parent company, or M&A activity in the source data. Recent strategic activity centers on AI feature deployment and vertical expansion into education, e-commerce, sports betting content, and digital catalog advertising, signaling a defensive digital transformation of a mature legacy media business.

Name

El Tiempo

Legal name

Casa Editorial El Tiempo S.A.

Website

https://eltiempo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

El Tiempo is Colombia's leading privately held news media company, operating a multi-platform ecosystem centered on the ELTIEMPO.com digital portal, a print newspaper, and eight subsidiary portals covering business, sports, lifestyle, and employment. It serves the general Colombian audience through subscriptions, advertising, events, and a subscriber loyalty program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Newspaper Publishing

akta.pro primary industry

News Agencies & Wire Services (General & Specialized) (MPAJADAE)

Keywords

• Daily news publishing
• Digital news media
• Investigative journalism
• Newspaper subscription
• Online news platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Bogotá

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Revenue generated from digital subscription plans offering unlimited access to eltiempo.com content, exclusive articles, podcasts, video content, and digital magazines. Subscription tiers include digital-only access with various benefit levels.
2. Advertising: Revenue from digital advertising through El Tiempo Ads platform and traditional print advertising in the newspaper. Includes sponsored content, display advertising, and classified ads.
3. Print Newspaper: Physical newspaper sales and print advertising revenue from the traditional newspaper product.
4. Events and Special Publications: Revenue from special events, forums (Foros & Eventos), paid special editions, and commemorative publications.
5. Club Vivamos: Subscription-based loyalty program offering benefits, discounts, and exclusive experiences to members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

El Tiempo is a leading Colombian media company that publishes a daily newspaper and operates a multi-platform digital news ecosystem anchored by eltiempo.com. It delivers breaking news, investigative reporting, political analysis, economic coverage, sports, culture, and multimedia content (video, podcasts, newsletters) to Colombian readers, monetized through digital and print subscriptions, advertising via El Tiempo Ads, events, and the Club Vivamos subscriber loyalty program.

Product overview

El Tiempo is Colombia's leading digital media company operating a multi-platform news and content ecosystem. The core product is ELTIEMPO.com, a comprehensive news portal offering breaking news, investigations, and analysis across politics, economy, sports, culture, technology, and justice. The platform operates on a freemium model with premium digital subscriptions (El Tiempo Digital Subscription) providing unlimited access, exclusive content, and subscriber benefits. Adjacent offerings include Club Vivamos loyalty program, El Tiempo Play video streaming with documentaries and games, Podcasts featuring audio and video shows, Juegos Mentales mental games, Boletines newsletters (six themed editions), and Catálogos Digitales. The company also maintains an extensive portfolio of specialized sub-brands including El Empleo (jobs), Motor (automotive), Portafolio (business), CityTV (television), FutbolRed (football), Diario ADN (urban lifestyle), and Aló (women's content), alongside retail store Tienda El Tiempo and educational platform Cursos El Tiempo. AI-powered features include the Noti IA chatbot for conversational search and AI-generated article summaries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• El Tiempo Play: Video and multimedia content platform featuring documentaries and entertainment
• Club Vivamos
• Juegos Mentales
• Unidad Investigativa
• Unidad de Datos
• Lecturas Dominicales
• El Tiempo Audio

Products and services

• ELTIEMPO.com Digital News Platform Comprehensive Spanish-language news website offering breaking news, investigations, analysis, and multimedia content for Colombian general readers.
• El Tiempo Print Newspaper Daily printed newspaper distributed through newsstands, home delivery, and physical retail outlets across Colombia.
• El Tiempo Digital Subscription Tiered digital subscription service (monthly and annual plans) providing unlimited access to eltiempo.com content, exclusive articles, podcasts, videos, and digital magazines for individual readers.
• El Tiempo Play Video-on-demand streaming service featuring documentaries and multimedia entertainment content for consumers.
• Club Vivamos Membership loyalty program for subscribers offering exclusive content, discounts at partner businesses, and special experiences.
• El Tiempo Podcasts Audio and video podcast content covering news, sports, current affairs, and editorial columns for general audiences.
• Portafolio Specialized business and economic news portal providing coverage of financial markets, companies, and economic analysis for business professionals and investors.
• CityTV Television news channel and digital video platform offering breaking news, sports coverage, and entertainment content.
• FutbolRed Dedicated football and soccer news portal providing Colombian and international football coverage for sports fans.
• Motor Automotive news, reviews, and industry coverage portal for car buyers and automotive enthusiasts.
• El Empleo Online job search portal and employment marketplace offering job listings and career resources for job seekers and employers.
• Diario ADN

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Grupo de Diarios de América (GDA)coreOthersEl Tiempo is a member of Grupo de Diarios de América, a prestigious association of leading newspapers across Latin America. This membership provides content syndication, industry collaboration, and representation in international media discussions.
• Interactive Advertisement Bureau (IAB)minorOthersEl Tiempo is a member of IAB, the industry organization for digital advertising standards and best practices.
• World Association of News Publishers (WAN)minorOthersEl Tiempo is a member of WAN, the global association for news publishers, providing international representation and collaboration.
• The Trust ProjectminorOthersEl Tiempo participates in The Trust Project, an international consortium of newsrooms working to build public trust in journalism through transparency standards.
• International News Media Association (INMA)minorOthersEl Tiempo is a member of INMA, a global network of media companies focused on innovation and best practices in news media.
• Asociación Colombiana de Medios de Información (AMI)coreOthersEl Tiempo is a member of AMI, the Colombian association of media outlets, providing local industry representation and collaboration.
• Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC)minorOthersEl Tiempo is supervised by SIC (Superintendence of Industry and Commerce), the Colombian regulatory body overseeing commercial activities and consumer protection.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Vanguardia: Colombian regional newspaper based in Bucaramanga (Santander) with national digital presence. Competes with El Tiempo in news, opinion, and digital subscriptions across overlapping Colombian regions.
• El Colombiano: Major regional Colombian newspaper headquartered in Medellín with national digital reach. Comparable freemium digital subscription, regional edition, and advertising-supported business model.
• El Espectador: Colombia's other historic national newspaper, founded in 1887, offering print and digital news, opinion, and investigations. Closest direct competitor to El Tiempo in the Colombian daily-news market.
• Revista Semana: Colombia's leading news and investigative magazine, competing with El Tiempo on national political coverage, investigations, and premium digital subscriptions.

Regional players

• Folha de S.Paulo: Brazil's largest-circulation newspaper with a paywalled digital subscription model. Closest regional peer outside Colombia for newspaper-led digital subscription strategy and multi-format newsroom economics.
• Grupo Clarín: Argentina's leading newspaper and media conglomerate with print, digital subscriptions, TV, and radio. Comparable multi-platform media group structure and LATAM Spanish-language audience strategy.
• El Mercurio: Chile's leading newspaper with national digital presence and paywall. Operates a comparable freemium digital subscription model in another core LATAM Spanish-language market.

Broad incumbents

• Caracol Televisión: Leading Colombian broadcaster and digital news operator. Overlaps with El Tiempo in news, streaming video, and digital advertising, but operates as a TV-led incumbent rather than a press-led publisher.
• Prisa (El País): Spanish-language global media group behind El País. Comparable multi-platform newspaper-plus-content-business model with international LATAM ambitions and digital subscription emphasis.
• RCN / Grupo RCN: Major Colombian media conglomerate spanning broadcast television, news, and digital. Competes with El Tiempo's City TV and broader Casa Editorial portfolio across video news and national coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/eltiempo
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/citytvbogota
• Facebookfacebook.com/eltiempo
• Instagraminstagram.com/eltiempo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about El Tiempo