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Television in Colombia
Television in Colombia or Colombian television is the main mass media outlet in Colombia. It is characterized for broadcasting telenovelas, series and TV news. There are two privately owned TV networks and three state-owned TV networks with national coverage, as well five regional TV networks and dozens of local TV stations. There are numerous cable TV companies operating in Colombia under each Colombian department statutes. These cable companies also develop their own channels, in addition to a variety of international channels. Television in Colombia has always relied on technological advancements from developed countries importing almost all the equipment.
History
Television in Colombia was inaugurated on 13 June 1954 during the government of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, who become impressed with the new invention during a visit to Nazi Germany as a military attache. Rojas imported the equipment and used Cuban technicians to set up a TV station.
Initially television in Colombia was public, with emphasis on education and cultural topics until the government developed a system of concessions, in which the state was in charge of the television infrastructure and gave programming slots in the channels for private companies known as programadoras, similar to the syndication system that is still used in the United States. Networks and TV channels broadcast TV programs that were not produced by them. In 1969 the government then tried to privatize the sector with Teletigre channel, but the channel did not last long after financial problems.
In 1979 colour television was introduced in Colombia. During the early 1980s a regional TV network set up illegally in Valledupar went to become Telecaribe and moved to Barranquilla. Another regional networks for other regions of Colombia, such as Teleantioquia and Telepacifico were created, by the then Minister of Communications Noemi Sanin.
During this time the Colombian national television had three national networks: Cadena Uno, Cadena Dos and Cadena Tres. The first two worked under the concessions system while the Cadena Tres (later renamed to Senal Colombia) remained under complete government control and focused on cultural and educational programming.
The 1992 bid triggered competitiveness a previous step for privatization. Cadena Uno became Canal Uno, Cadena Dos became Canal A and the programming companies, 24 at the time, received from this point slots in one channel to compete among each other for ratings.
In 1998 the government gave away licences to set up privately owned television networks. These licences were granted to Cadena radial colombiana (Caracol TV) and Radio Cadena Nacional (RCN TV), which had started as radio networks and were in the hands of the main economic groups of Colombia. Both private stations began functioning as TV networks on 10 July 1998.
The recession of the Colombian economy during the late 1990s weakened the state-run networks and in early 2004 the only production company in the Canal A was transferred to Canal Uno. The production companies or programadoras had continued working independently as programmers for the same channel and never grouped to establish a better programming against the newly organized privately owned networks. Canal A then was turned into the Canal Institucional and became under total control of the government.
See also
Media in Colombia
List of Spanish language television channels
[[:Category:Colombian television actors]]
[[:Category:Colombian telenovelas]]
[[:Category:Colombian television presenters]]
[[:Category:Colombian television journalists]]
[[:Category:Colombian television networks]]
External links
Luis Angel Arango library - History of Colombian television
"Television starts" article by Oscar Collazos
EL TIEMPO: 50 years of Colombia
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Television in Colombia
