Martín Fierro is the name of the most prominent awards for Argentine radio and television, granted by APTRA, the Association of Argentine Television and Radio Journalists. The awards were first given in 1959, limited to television. The next year, the awards adopted its current name, after José Hernández' epic poem Martín Fierro

Martín Fierro

Martín Fierro is a 2,316 line epic poem by the Argentine writer José Hernández. The poem was originally published in two parts, El Gaucho Martín Fierro and La Vuelta de Martín Fierro . The poem is, in part, a protest against the modernist tendencies of Argentine president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento...

(considered by some as the national epic

National epic

A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation; not necessarily a nation-state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with aspirations to independence or autonomy...

 of Argentina). It was embodied on a statuette of a gaucho

Gaucho

Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...

, by sculptor Luis Perlotti, weighing over 2 kilograms (4 lb). Before 1967, all awards were given to Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

' media, but nowadays there is a special rotating venue, honoring the winners from the Provinces

Provinces of Argentina

Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...

.

Because of the censorship and persecution of artists carried over during the 1976-83 military dictatorship, the membership of APTRA dwindled and the awards were suspended. It was not until 1988 that a newer edition was granted. Since 1990, it has also included special productions for cable networks

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 and -in 1992- the Golden Martín Fierro was added to honor the "best among the best ones".

Special awards

In 1991 APTRA created a special award, the Golden Martín Fierro award. It is given to a single person or production in the annual ceremony, and it's intended as a prize to trajectory or to outstanding quality. The first winner was the host show "Fax", and the most recent one the TV series Tratame bien

Tratame bien

Tratame bien is an Argentine TV series made by Pol-Ka. It was awarded with seven Martín Fierro Awards in May 2010, including the Golden one.-Plot:...

. A second main prize, the Platinum Martín Fierro Award, was added in 2009, per the 50th anniversary of APTRA. The first winner of it was Mirtha Legrand

Mirtha Legrand

Rosa María Juana Martínez, better known by the stage name Mirtha Legrand is an Argentine actress and television personality and twin sister of the actress Silvia Legrand.-Early life:...

.