The Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión (Mexican Television Institute), known commercially as Imevisión after 1985, was a state broadcaster and federal government agency of Mexico.

At its height, Imevisión programmed two national networks and additional local stations in Mexico City, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Guadalajara, Mexicali, Tijuana and Monterrey.

As the Mexican government moved toward privatization, and in light of financial sustainability issues, most of Imevisión was sold in 1992 to Grupo Salinas, which came to be known as Televisión Azteca.

On March 23, 1983, the Mexican government created three new federal corporations for mass media: IMER (Instituto Mexicano de la Radio) for radio, IMCINE (Film Institute of Mexico) for film, and the Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión (Mexican Television Institute, or IMT), for television nationwide.

Many of these, inherited from the TRM days, sowed the seeds for the eventual establishment of state-owned television networks in states such as Chiapas, Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí.

The Imevision network was the only national channel that remained on the air moments after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake interrupted broadcasts of Televisa, which has studios and offices in the capital.

[11] Additionally, Imevisión and Televisa competed in coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympics, as well as covering the World Cup and Formula One racing.

On January 26, 1991, they wrote a letter to President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, asking that one of the stations be reserved for a new cultural television entity.

On June 23, 1993, XEIMT returned to the air from a more powerful transmitter located on Cerro del Chiquihuite, under the auspices of Conaculta and with its new cultural format.

These had to be converted into commercial licenses, or concessions, to allow their sale, with the concessionaires being a series of state-owned businesses, the largest of which was called Televisión Azteca.

On July 18, 1993, the winner was announced: Radio Televisión del Centro, a group headed by Ricardo Salinas Pliego, owner of the Elektra electronics chain.