Television in Brazil has grown significantly since the first broadcasts on 18 September 1950, with the (now defunct) Rede Tupi by Assis Chateaubriand, becoming one of the largest and most productive commercial television systems in the world. Its biggest network, TV Globo (founded by Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965), is the largest commercial network in South America, and is one of the major television exporter globally, particularly of telenovelas, having become popular in many countries. There are more than 90 free-to-air television networks (national and regional), as well as satellite channels broadcasting throughout the country.
History Early years In Brazil around the same time, the concessions for the first television broadcast network were decreed and distributed by President Eurico Gaspar Dutra's administration, and a cornerstone was placed for the very first transmitter in Brazil for the first commercial network, Rede Tupi. It was initially located in the municipality of Morro do Pão de Açúcar, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. By 1949, a group of technicians and engineers arrived in Brazil and visited the planned location for the broadcast tower for the first time only to find that due to the topography in Rio, the planned broadcast tower site wouldn't be the ideal place for its installation. As media mogul Assis Chateaubriand was interested in the opening of the first broadcast television network in Brazil and Latin America and already knew that the US was crucial in sponsoring the first TV broadcast in Cuba on Christmas Day of 1950, he decided to transfer to São Paulo for the inaugural broadcast, and the government gave the concession of channel 3, given by Radio Difusora in order to start Rede Tupi's operations.
Then, Chateaubriand ordered the broadcasting equipment necessary, for the station had already been built, just in time for this installation. In July 1950, the equipment arrived by ship in Port Santos and was accompanied to the capital by one of the many artists of the Emissoras Associadas group in São Paulo via motorcade. The motorcade was a hit, and crowds gathered to see the equipment being driven to the new station, a preview of what the new station would offer.
Finally, on the 18th of September, 1950, network television in Brazil made its official debut in São Paulo with TV Tupi on channel 3, in an historical ceremony that was considered simplistic for the occasion in one question away. And Chateaubriand, owner of the new channel, had transmitters built across the city so that the people of the so-called Paulista would know what television is, as many people still didn't even know about TV at all. A number of TV sets were given to restaurants, bars and other places so that those who have not yet brought TVs would see the new medium themselves. It was the first Lusophone or Portuguese-speaking country to introduce television, even before the home country of Portugal with RTP (1955). It was also the fifth nation in the world to have a television station with daily broadcasts, behind the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Mexico. The first television show on Tupi was first broadcast on the eve of September, and is considered the first Brazilian television program, TV na Taba, in an allusion to the indigenous people, who were already inhabited the Brazilian lands in the pre-Cabral era.
The network's symbol, a small Indian boy with an antenna on his head, appeared with the opening message: "Good evening. You are in the open TV station in Brazil," considering to be the first line of Brazilian television, starring the young actress Sonia Maria Dorce, then aged 6.
Another characteristic of television productions of this early period was live impromptu, as there was no videotape. The high costs of TV sets, which were imported, restricted the access of the media to the urban elites of major cities. Technical resources were primary, offering broadcasters just enough to keep the stations on the air. It was during that period that TV news and telenovelas were established.
The advent of videotape around 1960 brought imported programs to Brazilian television.
Expansion, Rede Globo's beginnings
Television became a mass medium in Brazil earlier than in most developing countries. The military dictatorship which took power in 1964 saw audiovisual communication as a tool for creating a stronger national identity, a broader consumer economy, and controlling political information. The military pushed television deeper into the population by subsidizing credit for set sales, building national microwave and satellite distribution systems, which prompted the growth of Rede Globo, which they chose as a privileged partner.Shah, Angilee. "Network-Builder Describes Role in Brazil's TV Globo" . UCLA International Institute.
Globo, launched a few months after the 1964 coup, created the first true national network by the late 1960s. Censorship of news was extensive under the military governments between 1966 and 1978, but it also encouraged national television program production. In the early 1970s, several government ministers pushed the commercial networks to develop more Brazilian programming and reduce reliance on imported programs, particularly those with violent and sexual content. While Globo adopted an international model for operations, 90 percent of its content was produced in Brazil.
The 1960s represented a formative period for television development. Telenovelas had largely been patterned after those in other Latin American countries, even using imported scripts, but during that decade they were developed into a considerably more sophisticated genre, specifically after the airing of Beto Rockfeller, a well-produced story about a Rio de Janeiro good-lifer, in 1968 by Tupi. By the 1970s, telenovelas were the most popular programs and dominated prime time on the major networks, Globo and Tupi. Globo, in particular, began to attract major writers and actors from both film and theater to work in its telenovelas. The Brazilian telenovelas became good enough, as commercial television entertainment, to be exported throughout Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. Brazilian exports reached over a hundred countries and the programs have often proved to be great international hits. This is particularly the case with historical telenovelas such as Escrava Isaura.
Alongside telenovelas, the show de auditório (a form of variety show) was carried over from radio, which often featured a mix of entertainment, music, comedy, and game show segments. These shows appealed heavily to the lower- and middle-classes, and often featured content that was considered sensational and vulgar for the period—leading to them falling out of favour by the late-1960s due to the military government.
The rise of Rede Globo From the early 1970s to late 1980s, Globo dominated both the audience and the development of television programming. It had a 60-80% share in major cities at any given time. As television researcher Joseph Straubhaar declared, "even people who might have had questions about the news almost always accepted the Globo novelas". During this period, Globo was accused of being the mouthpiece of the dictatorship, mainly because of its omission in covering the Diretas Já movement, in which thousands of Brazilians gathered on public squares to demand a direct election for president.
With Globo dominating the ratings, other broadcast television networks found themselves pursuing smaller, more specific audience segments largely defined by social class. SBT targeted lower middle class, working class and poor audiences, mostly with variety and game shows, in addition to soaps imported from Mexico's Televisa. This strategy gained it a consistent second place in ratings for most of the 1980s and 1990s. On the other hand, Manchete initially targeted a more elite audience, with news, high budget telenovelas, and imported programs, but found the segment too small to gain an adequate advertiser support. Bandeirantes tended to emphasize news, public affairs and sports. All three ultimately wished to pursue a general audience with general appeal programming, such as telenovelas, but discovered that such efforts would not generate an audience sufficient to pay for the increased programming costs.
In 1984, Globo initially supported the military government against Diretas Já, a popular campaign for the direct election of a civilian government, while other television networks, most notably Manchete, supported the change. Perceiving that it might literally lose its audience to competitors, Globo switched sides and supported the transition to a civilian regime, which was indirectly elected in a compromise situation. The new political circumstances immediately reduced political censorship and pressure on broadcasters.
Audience decline, Globo versus Record
Rede Globo ratings at 9 p.m. (2000–2015) Year Telenovela Share (*) +/- 2000–2001 Laços de Família 44.9% - 2001 Porto dos Milagres 44.6% -0.3% 2002 O Clone 47.0% +2.4% 2002–2003 Esperança 38.0% -9.0% 2003 Mulheres Apaixonadas 46.6% +8.6% 2003–2004 Celebridade 46% -0.6% 2004–2005 Senhora do Destino 50.4% +4.4% 2005 América 49.4% -1.0% 2006 Belíssima 48.5% -0.9% 2006–2007 Páginas da Vida 46.8% -1.7% 2007 Paraíso Tropical 42.8% -4.0% 2007–2008 Duas Caras 41.1% -1.7% 2008–2009 A Favorita 39.5% -1.6% 2009 Caminho das Índias 38.8% -0.7% 2009–2010 Viver a Vida 35.8% -3.0% 2010–2011 Passione 35.1% -0.7% 2011 Insensato Coração 36% +0.9% 2011–2012 Fina Estampa 39% +2.00% 2012 Avenida Brasil 39% - 2012–2013 Salve Jorge 34% -5.00% 2013–2014 Amor à Vida 36% +2.00% 2014 Em Família 30% -6.00% 2014–2015 Império 33% +3.00% 2015 Babilônia 25% -8.00% (*) 1% comprises approximately 62,000 households in the Greater São Paulo area. Source: UOL The 2000s saw the decline of television audience in the country, as internet access grew rapidly. Tomazzoni, Marco. "Internet bate TV aberta como passatempo nacional". Último Segundo. August 31, 2010. The daily average of TV sets turned on dropped from 65% in 1982–1991 to 42% in 2008."Audiência das novelas da Globo" . Veja, November 2008. In the decade, the top five TV networks in the country lost altogether 4.3% of their share. SBT lost 44% of its viewership in the prime time, while Globo lost 9%. Feltrin, Ricardo. "SBT perde um terço de telespectadores na década". Folha de S. Paulo. December 18, 2009. The biggest decline for Globo were in its showcase telenovelas, aired at 9 p.m., which reached an all-time low during the decade. The network's latest telenovela in the time slot, Viver a Vida, scored the lowest ratings of the past ten years. Prado, Antonio Carlos. "Viver a vida é trair". Istoé. February 12, 2010. According to Renata Pallottin, a professor at University of São Paulo's Art and Communication School, this happens because recent telenovelas, which has the same basic story sketches since the 1970s, has proven to be unappealing to younger audiences, who watch American television series on cable TV or surf the web instead. As such, telenovelas audience grew significantly older and richer in the past decade.