Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV and sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas) was a Venezuelan free-to-air television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo and owned by Empresas 1BC. Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) was inaugurated on 15 November 1953 by William H. Phelps, Jr.
Its radio counterpart was Radio Caracas Radio.
On 27 May 2007, President Hugo Chávez decided to shut down the channel by refusing to renew their broadcast concession, accusing the channel of being involved in the 2002 coup d'état in Venezuela, which briefly overthrew his government. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) upheld the National Commission of Telecommunications (CONATEL) decision. RCTV continued to broadcast via pay television on RCTV Internacional. In January 2010, RCTV was sanctioned with temporary closure. It rejected the Venezuelan media regulator's finding that it was a domestic media provider.
On 7 September 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the refusal to renew the concession was an "indirect restriction on the exercise of freedom of expression [...] aimed at impeding the communication and circulation of ideas and opinions", that the government violated the right to due process and that it must restore the concession for RCTV. The Venezuelan government has ignored the ruling.
In 2010, the Council on Foreign Relations described RCTV as "the most important independent television station in Venezuela".
History
1953 to 1960
Radio Caracas Televisión, C.A. was established on 18 August 1953 by the Corporación Radiofónica de Venezuela (more commonly known as Coraven, a subsidiary of the Grupo Phelps and RCA), whose mission was that of launching a television network.La televisión . Monografias.com (2007-05-07). Retrieved on 2013-03-20. In the month of September, Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) began test broadcasts on channel seven using the call sign YVKS-TV, and on 15 November, the network was officially inaugurated at 7:30 pm. RCTV was the third television network to begin operations in Venezuela after Televisora Nacional and Televisa, seen on channels five and four, respectively, and the second commercial network after Televisa.
On 8 October, during RCTV's testing phase, the inaugural game of the XIV World Cup of Baseball was broadcast. This game matched Cuba and Venezuela and took place at the recently opened stadium of the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas.
The official inauguration of RCTV took place at its studios located between the corners of Bárcenas and Río in Quinta Crespo, and had the presence of the Minister of Communications, Colonel Félix Román Moreno, the proprietors of the network, and a small group of special guests. In charge of the inauguration was William H. Phelps, Jr., the founding president of the new company, and his wife, Kathy Phelps.
The first program that was aired by the newly inaugurated network was the musical Fiesta, which hosted by Ramírez Cabrera and sponsored by Cerveza Caracas. Afterwards, RCTV aired a program titled El Farol, which was then followed by a program sponsored by Cigarrillos Alas that was directed by Peggy Walker which featured Alfredo Sadel (who had just returned from New York City in time for RCTV's inauguration).
The first voice that identified the network was that of Héctor Myerston.Radio Caracas Televisión RCTV. elobservador.rctv.net (April 19, 2009)
The following day, RCTV began transmitting its regular programming on channel 7 on the VHF band, presenting programs such as 'El Observador Creole', Cuento Musical Venezolano, Tontín y Tontona, the police adventures of Roy Martin, and the adventures of Kid Carson, to name a few. El Observador Creole was Venezuela's first regular newscast, presented by the Creole Petroleum Corporation (a subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey). At the start, Francisco Amado Pernía hosted the then new news program from Monday to Saturday and on Sunday the newscast had Cristóbal Rodríquez Pantoja as presenter. El Observador Creole remained on the air for almost twenty years, being replaced by El Observador Venezolano, and then relaunched as El Observador.
RCTV's first board of directors included José Marcano Coello, Peter Bottome, Armando Enrique Guía, Guillermo Tucker Arismendi, William H. Phelps, Jr., and Antonio Ortol.
In 1954, Anecdotario appeared. This was the first cultural program that theatrically represented great works of literature. It was directed by Margarita Gelabert and César Henríquez. Other cultural programs similar to Anecdotario included Kaleidoscopio, Teatro del Lunes, Gran Teatro, Ciclorama, Cuentos del Camino, and Candilejas.
Later that year, RCTV debuted their first telenovela, Camay, which was on at 9:00 p.m. As a result of Camay's popularity, RCTV began producing more telenovelas, which became an important part of the network's programming throughout the years. In the 1950s, telenovelas contained between 20 and 25 episodes, with each episode lasting 15 minutes (about three minutes were allocated to advertisements), and were televised live.
In December 1954, RCTV began broadcasting simultaneously on channels two, seven and ten.
In early 1955, RCTV began to transmit exclusively to Caracas, on channel two, from a new transmitting station located in the neighborhood of La Colina in which it remained the main frequency until the network's closure on 27 May 2007 after the government of president Hugo Chavez refused to renew the broadcasting license. In the month of July, RCTV began its regular service to the interior of the country. A repeater antenna was installed in Altamira, south of Lake Valencia, allowing RCTV to reach, by way of channel seven, Valencia, Maracay, and surrounding towns. Later, RCTV put into service their repeater antenna in Curimagua, Falcón State, so that their signal could reach the entire state and the Netherlands Antilles on channel 10. This station was one of the most modern stations in the moment of its installation.
Also in 1955, the morning show that projected Renny Ottolina to national fame made its national premiere. Lo de Hoy came on at 7:30 a.m. and lasted until 9:00 a.m. It was an adaptation of NBC's Today Show, and as a result of the record audience that it obtained, the show was extended to two hours. In 1958, Ottolina left Lo de Hoy, and went on to host his very own variety show, El Show de Renny. The speakers Francisco José Croquer, René Estévez, and Julián José Mariño Giménez were pioneers of early Venezuelan sports broadcasting. Long before RCTV dominated the TV screen, these three names built their massive reputations on the radio.
In March 1956, the operations of the repeater station of Isla de Toas commenced, by which, on channel two, RCTV's signal arrived in Zulia State. In September 1956, RCTV installed an antenna in Pariata, to serve what is now Vargas State.
In 1957, RCTV expanded their coverage to reach almost all of Venezuela, offering an uninterrupted signal of high quality.
In January 1957, RCTV improved their installations at Curimagua and were able to offer an uninterrupted and higher quality signal to the Falcon State and the Netherlands Antilles. The network also began service to the state of Lara by way of channel three, transmitting from Mount Manzano in Barquisimeto. On 31 October 1957, RCTV began its first service from Puerto La Cruz to cover the northeastern region of Venezuela on channel 3 via relay.
In 1958, after the fall of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez on 23 January of that year, RCTV began airing La Voz de la Revolución, the first political talk show to air in Venezuela. On 15 July 1958 Los Melódicos made their performance debut on RCTV programme Su Revista Musical.
In 1959, Tito Martinez Del Box, a producer from Argentina, created the comedy series La Gran Cruzada del Buen Humor, later known as Radio Rochela. In 2001, Radio Rochela made the Guinness World Records for being on the air for over five decades uninterrupted (it was seen every Monday at 8:00 pm).
By the end of the 1950s, there existed five television channels in Venezuela: the state channel Televisora Nacional and private channels Televisa, Radio Caracas Televisión, Televisa del Zulia, and Ondas del Lago Televisión.
1960 to 1970 By the 1960s, the American television network, CBS, had purchased a twenty percent stake in RCTV.
In 1961, RCTV, with the help of their radio counterpart, began their first experiments with stereo sound during the broadcast of a variety show.
On 17 September 1961, RCTV put into use their first videotape system, a technology which permitted the consolidation of recordings of sounds and images.
Also in 1961, a major fire affected eighty percent of the operating facilities of the network. As a result of this event, RCTV went on the air with an emergency programming.
Later in 1961, the network expanded its broadcasts to the city of Puerto Cabello from an antenna located at the naval base in that city.
In 1962, RCTV, in a resolve to demonstrating a technological advancement for the network, began producing its programs electronically through a locally manufactured editing machine for camera footage.
Also in 1962, RCTV began broadcasts to the state of Táchira and the Norte de Santander Department in Colombia from a transmitter located in the high barren plain of El Zumbador.
On 24 August 1963, RCTV was given the exclusive rights to broadcast the inauguration of the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge over Lake Maracaibo. On this day, RCTV launched their first transmission via microwave transmitters from the antennas in Curimagua and Maracaibo. The use of the electronic pointer was incorporated.
On every 17 December between the years 1963 and 1969, RCTV presented, and reran by popular demand, a made-for-TV movie that re-created the death of Simón Bolívar. Written by Alfredo Cortina, starred by the Peruvian actor Luis Muñoz Lecaro (Simón Bolívar), directed by José Antonio Ferrara, and presented by Ruben Darío Villasmil, El Ocaso de un Sol made its mark by being one of the first productions by RCTV recorded on videotape.
In 1964, RCTV began using their new transmitters located in the mountains southeast of Puerto la Cruz and Barcelona to offer a higher quality signal by way of channel three to Isla Margarita, Cumaná, Barcelona, Puerto La Cruz, and surrounding areas in the states of Sucre and Anzoátegui. Later, RCTV inaugurated the transmitters on Pico Terepaima, to the south of Barquisimeto, to serve with quality the states of Lara, Yaracuy, and Portuguesa by way of channel three, and the one in Maracaibo, covering with better image and sound the state Zulia. In November, from Pico Zamuro, Trujillo, RCTV began transmitting its signal to the towns of Trujillo, Valera, Biscucuy, Boconó, Guanare, and their surrounding areas.
In the 1960s, the number of episodes contained in each telenovela increased, with each one episode lasting between 30 and 60 minutes long, also telenovelas were no longer made live as a result of the arrival of the videotape technologies. By 1964, telenovelas with sole sponsors disappeared with the release of La Novela del Hogar (which came on at 2:00 p.m.), La Novela de Pasión (which came on at 2:25 p.m.), and La Novela Romantica (which came on at 2:55 p.m.). La Tirana (1967, created by Manuel Muñoz Rico), was the first telenovela to be aired on Saturdays.
On 16 May 1965, RCTV placed into service their transmitters at the Mérida cable car. Thanks to this equipment, RCTV's signal covered the entire Andean region of Venezuela.