This article presents a comparative study of media policies in Chile and Mexico as members of the Pacific Alliance agreement, using media clientelism as an articulating concept, assuming that it takes a particular form in the neoliberal countries of the continent. For this, five dimensions are compared: a) decrees and the implementation of laws; b) distribution and allocation of broadcasting licenses; c) anti-concentration measures; d) official advertising expenditure and e) governance public media. The results suggest that the institutional structures and inertia that became entrenched under the Chilean dictatorship still perpetuate a clientelistic relationship between the political system and media owners, which is reflected in the government's media policies. In Mexico, despite the progress made in the institutional regulatory design and implementation of media policies, these remain in a state of tension between clientelist practices and liberal democratic design.