RCTV
Encyclopedia
Radio Caracas Televisión Internacional (RCTV Internacional) is a Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n cable
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...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
headquartered in the Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
neighborhood of Quinta Crespo. It was sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas. Owned by Empresas 1BC
Empresas 1BC
Empresas 1BC , is a privately owned Venezuelan corporation which operates diverse media enterprises such as Radio Caracas Televisión, Etheron, Radio Caracas Radio, 92.9 tu FM, Sonográfica, FonoVideo, Recordland, and Radionet, to name a few...
, RCTV Internacional was inaugurated as Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) on 15 November 1953 by William H. Phelps, Jr.. Its radio counterpart was Radio Caracas Radio
Radio Caracas Radio
Radio Caracas Radio is a Venezuelan radio station. It is owned by Empresas 1BC, Venezuela's second largest privately-owned media corporation, which also owns Radio Caracas Televisión, a popular and controversial cable and satellite channel.-Background:...
.
On 27 May 2007, RCTV made headlines when the Government of Venezuela
Politics of Venezuela
|The politics of Venezuela occurs in a framework explained in Government of Venezuela.There are currently two major blocs of political parties in Venezuela: the incumbent leftist bloc United Socialist Party of Venezuela , its major allies Fatherland for All and the Communist Party of Venezuela ,...
decided not to renew their radio broadcast license
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
for what it said was the station's role in the 2002 coup which briefly overthrew Venezuela's democratically elected government. The Supreme Court of Justice
Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela)
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice is the highest court of law in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is the head of the judicial branch.The Supreme Tribunal may meet either in specialized chambers or in plenary session...
(Tribunal Supremo de Justicia or TSJ) upheld the decision by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) not to renew RCTV's broadcast license. RCTV continued to broadcast via satellite and cable as RCTV International.
In January 2010 RCTV was sanctioned with temporary closure for failing to respect Venezuelan media law. It rejected the Venezuelan media regulator's finding that it was a domestic media provider, and refused to broadcast speeches by Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
.
1953 to 1960
Radio Caracas Televisión RCTV, C.A.
Radio Caracas Televisión RCTV, C.A. is a media and entertainment company in Venezuela that owns Radio Caracas Televisión, now known as RCTV Internacional, a popular Venezuelan cable and satellite television channel. It is a subsidiary of Empresas 1BC....
was established on 18 August 1953 by the Corporación Radiofónica de Venezuela (more commonly known as Coraven, a subsidiary of the Grupo Phelps
Empresas 1BC
Empresas 1BC , is a privately owned Venezuelan corporation which operates diverse media enterprises such as Radio Caracas Televisión, Etheron, Radio Caracas Radio, 92.9 tu FM, Sonográfica, FonoVideo, Recordland, and Radionet, to name a few...
and RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
), whose mission was that of launching a television network. In the month of September, Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) began test broadcasts on channel seven using the call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
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
Televisora Nacional
Televisora Nacional was the first television station to begin operations in Venezuela. It broadcast from 1952 to 1989.-History:On 22 November 1952, the first television station in Venezuela was inaugurated: Televisora Nacional , channel five, was a state-owned television station which was...
and Televisa
Televisa (Venezuela)
Televisa , officially known as the Televisión Independiente, S.A. became the first privately-owned television station to begin operations in Venezuela. It was the second television station to begin operations after the state-owned Televisora Nacional...
, 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
World Cup of Baseball
The Baseball World Cup is an international tournament in which national baseball teams from around the world compete. It is sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation . Along with the World Baseball Classic, it is one of two active tournaments considered by the IBAF to be a major world...
was broadcast. This game matched Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and took place at the recently opened stadium of the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
The University City of Caracas is the main Campus of the Central University of Venezuela. It was designed by the Venezuelan architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000...
.
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
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
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 president of the 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
Alfredo Sadel
Alfredo Sadel was a popular Venezuelan singer and actor. Born Alfredo Sánchez Luna in Caracas, Venezuela, Sadel was affectionately called "The Favorite Tenor of Venezuela" . He adopted his stage name by combining the first syllable of his surname with the last syllable of the surname of his...
(who had just returned from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in time for RCTV's inauguration).
The first voice that identified the network was that of Héctor Myerston.
The following day, RCTV began transmitting its regular programming on channel seven, 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, which remained on the for almost twenty years, being replaced by El Observador Venezolano, and then El Observador
El Observador
El Observador is the Spanish language newscast of Radio Caracas Televisión . It is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela.-History:El Observador is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela...
.
RCTV's first board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
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
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. 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
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
, Camay, which was on at 9:00 pm. 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 to 25 episodes, with each episode lasting 15 minutes (about three minuted were allocated to advertisements), and were televised live.
Also in 1954, RCTV began airing El Show de las Doce with Víctor Saume. It was one of the first variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
s to air in Venezuela. Celebrities such as Pedro Infante
Pedro Infante
José Pedro Infante Cruz , better known as Pedro Infante, is the most famous actor and singer of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and is an idol of the Latinamerican people, together with Jorge Negrete and Javier Solís, who were styled the Tres Gallos Mexicanos . He was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa,...
, Libertad Lamarque
Libertad Lamarque
Libertad Lamarque was an Argentine-Mexican actress and singer. Originally from Argentina, she reached fame throughout Latin America while living in Mexico and working in Mexican cinema.-Career:...
, Magdalena Sánchez
Magdalena Sánchez
Magdalena Sánchez, was a Venezuelan singer, better known like the Queen of the Venezuelan song.- Early career :...
, Lucho Gatica
Lucho Gatica
Luis Enrique Gatica Silva, better known as Lucho Gatica, is a Chilean bolero singer, film actor, and television host. It is estimated that Gatica has released more than 90 recordings. He has toured a vast portion of the world, having made concerts in Europe, the Middle East and Asia...
guest starred.
In December 1954, RCTV began broadcasting simultaneously on channels two and seven.
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 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
Lake Valencia
Lake Valencia is the third largest lake in Venezuela, exceeded in size only by Lake Maracaibo and Lake Guri. It occupies one of the so-called Aragua valleys, enclosed between the parallel mountain ranges of the Cordillera de la Costa, the Maritime Andes. One part is within the limits of Carabobo...
, allowing RCTV to reach, by way of channel seven, Valencia, Maracay
Maracay
Maracay is a city in north-central Venezuela, near the Caribbean coast, and is the capital and most important city of the state of Aragua. Most of it falls under the jurisdiction of the Girardot Municipality. The population as per the 2001 census was 750,000...
, 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
Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
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
Renny Ottolina
Renaldo José "Renny" Ottolina Pinto was a Venezuelan-born producer and entertainer. His mother died when he was two years old. At the age of six his father moved him to Caracas with his paternal grandmother, for he was going to Germany...
, arrived. Lo de Hoy came on at 7:30 a.m. and lasted until 9:00 a.m. It was an adaptation of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
'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.
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 the national level, 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
Lara (state)
Lara State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital is Barquisimeto.Lara State covers a total surface area of and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 1,795,100.- Municipalities and municipal seats :...
by way of channel three, transmitting from Mount Manzano in Barquisimeto
Barquisimeto
Barquisimeto is the capital city of the State of Lara located in west central Venezuela, halfway between Caracas and Maracaibo on the Turbio River.-Overview:...
. On 31 October 1957, RCTV began its first service from Puerto La Cruz
Puerto la Cruz
Puerto la Cruz is a port city located in Anzoátegui State, in Venezuela. It is the seat of the Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality. The city has road connections to the state capital, Barcelona, to Lecheria and to Guanta, and has the potential to become the largest and most important metropolitan...
to cover the northeastern region of Venezuela on channel three.
In 1958, after the fall of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was a soldier and Presidents of Venezuela from 1952 to 1958.-Career:Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was born in Michelena, Táchira State. His father, Juan Pérez Bustamante, was a farmer; his mother, Adela Jiménez, a schoolteacher...
on 23 January of that year, RCTV began airing La Voz de la Revolución, the first political talk show to air in Venezuela.
In 1959, Tito Martinez Del Box, a producer from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, created the comedy series La Gran Cruzada del Buen Humor, later known as Radio Rochela. In 2001, Radio Rochela made the Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
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: Televisora Nacional, Televisa, Radio Caracas Televisión, Televisa del Zulia, and Ondas del Lago Televisión.
1960 to 1970
By the 1960s, the American television network, NBC, had purchased a twenty percent stake in RCTV. Although today, NBC no longer owns any part of RCTV, RCTV is affiliated with TelemundoTelemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
, NBC's Spanish-language network.
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
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
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 offered their first service to the city of Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State about 75 km west of Caracas. As of 2001, the city has a population of around 154,000 people. The city is the home to the largest port in the country and is thus a vital cog in the country's vast oil...
from an antenna located at the naval base in that city.
In 1962, RCTV began using the first selector of images that was fabricated entirely in the country, demonstrating a technological advancement for the network.
Also in 1962, RCTV began its first service to the state of Táchira
Táchira (state)
Táchira State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal.Táchira State covers a total surface area of 11,100 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 1,177,300....
and the Norte de Santander Department in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
from an antenna 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
General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge
The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge is located at the outlet of Lake Maracaibo, in western Venezuela. The bridge connects Maracaibo with much of the rest of the country...
over Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at . It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo. It is commonly considered a lake rather than a bay or lagoon, and at 13,210 km² it would be the...
. On this day, RCTV realized their first transmission via microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
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
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
movie that re-created the death of Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
. Written by Alfredo Cortina, starred by the Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian 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 creations by RCTV recorded on videotape.
In 1964, RCTV began using their new transmitters located in the mountains southeast of Puerto la Cruz and Barcelona
Barcelona, Anzoátegui
Barcelona is the capital of Anzoátegui State, Venezuela and was founded in 1671. Together with Puerto La Cruz, Lecheria and Guanta, Barcelona forms one of the most important urban areas of Venezuela with a population of approximately 950,000.-History:...
to offer a higher quality signal by way of channel three to Isla Margarita
Isla Margarita
Margarita Island is the largest island of the state of Nueva Esparta in Venezuela, situated in the Caribbean Sea, off the northeastern coast of the country. The state also contains two other smaller islands: Coche and Cubagua. The capital city of Nueva Esparta is La Asunción, located in a river...
, Cumaná
Cumaná
Cumaná is the capital of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located 402 km east of Caracas. It was the first settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland America, in 1501 by Franciscan friars, but due to successful attacks by the indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times...
, Barcelona, Puerto La Cruz, and surrounding areas in the states of Sucre
Sucre (state)
Sucre State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Cumaná. Sucre State covers a total surface area of 11,800 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 916,600.-Municipalities and municipal seats:...
and Anzoátegui
Anzoátegui
Anzoátegui State , is one of the 23 component states of Venezuela, located in the northeastern region of the country. Anzoátegui is well known for its beautiful beaches that attract many visitors. Its coast consists of a single beach approximately 100 km long...
. Later, RCTV inaugurated the transmitters on Pico Terepaima, to the south of Barquisimeto, to serve with quality the states of Lara, Yaracuy, and Portuguesa
Portuguesa (state)
Portuguesa State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela.The state capital is Guanare, founded in 1591.Portuguesa State covers a total surface area of 15,200 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 873,400.-Municipalities:...
by way of channel three, and the one in Maracaibo
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...
, covering with better image and sound the state Zulia. In November, from Pico Zamuro, Trujillo
Trujillo (state)
Trujillo State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Its capital is Trujillo. The state is divided into 20 municipalities and 93 parishes. Trujillo State covers a total surface area of 7,400 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 711,400....
, RCTV began transmitting its signal to the towns of Trujillo, Valera
Valera
Valera is a city in Trujillo State in Venezuela, situated between the rivers Momboy and Motatán. The mayor is Temístocles Cabezas, who has had that post since 2009. The city is home to Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Colombian and Spanish communities...
, Biscucuy, Boconó
Boconó
Boconó is a city in the Venezuelan Andean state of Trujillo. Founded in 1560, this city is the shire town of the Boconó Municipality and, according to the 2001 Venezuelan census, the municipality has a population of 79,710.-History:...
, Guanare
Guanare
Guanare is the capital city of Portuguesa State, Venezuela. It is where la Virgen de Coromoto is said to have appeared to a Coromoto Indian.Located at the edge of the Southwestern floodplains, near the Andes foothills, Guanare is in a region known for livestock and agricultural production...
, and their surrounding areas.
In the 1960s, the number of episodes contained in each telenovela increased, with each one episode lasting between 30 to 60 minutes long, also telenovelas were no longer made live as a result of the arrival of the videotape. By 1964, telenovelas with sole sponsors disappeared with the release of La Novela del Hogar (which came on at 2:00 pm), La Novela de Pasión (which came on at 2:25 pm), and La Novela Romantica (which came on at 2:55 pm). 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
Mérida cable car
The Mérida Cable Car was the world's highest cable car. Its base is located in the Venezuelan city of Mérida at an altitude of , and its terminus is on Pico Espejo, at . The whole system was opened to the public in 1960; it was closed indefinitely in 2008, with a declaration that it had reached...
. Thanks to this equipment, RCTV's signal covered the entire Andean region of Venezuela.
By 1967, there were seven television networks on the air in Venezuela. They included Radio Caracas Televisión, Venevisión, Cadena Venezolana de Televisión (CVTV), Canal 11 Televisión, Televisora Nacional in Caracas, Teletrece in Valencia, and Canal 11 in Maracaibo. Because of the exaggerated number of channels, both for the audience and the national publicity market, this number, at the beginning of the 1970s, was reduced to four (two private and two official).
In 1968, RCTV launched Sabado Espectacular, a variety show created and hosted by Amador Bendayan
Amador Bendayán
Amador Bendayán [ben-dah-IAN] was a Venezuelan actor and entertainer.The son of Moroccan Jewish immigrants, Bendayán was born in Villa de Cura, Aragua, and was raised and educated in Caracas...
. The show later moved to Venevision
Venevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
, where it was renamed Sabado Sensacional and is currently known as Super Sabado Sensacional hosted by Leonardo Villalobos.
On 17 July 1969, RCTV brought to their viewers the first international broadcast: a news conference
News conference
A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides.-Practice:...
with the American astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s that were traveling to the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
the next day. On 20 July, RCTV broadcast live and direct the arrival of these astronauts to the moon. Armando Enrique Guía, Hernán Pérez Belisario, and Gustavo Rada were in charge of the transmission which counted on a channel of microwave transmitters and a submarine cable.
1970 to 1980
1970 FIFA World Cup
The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(the same World Cup where Venezuelans were able to see Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
make his one thousandth goal). Unfortunately, by pressure from the government, the network was obligated to use electronic filters.
On 16 November 1971, Producciones Cinematográficas Paramaconi, C.A., a company affiliated with RCTV that specializes in cinematography, was established.
On 30 August 1973, RCTV inaugurated a transmitting station in Punta de Mulatos, between La Guaira
La Guaira
La Guaira is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Vargas and the country's chief port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during the December 1999 floods and mudslides that affected much of the region...
and Macuto
Macuto, Vargas
Macuto is a city in Vargas state, Venezuela.Macuto was founded in August 1740 on the site of an indigenous village called Guaicamacuto . It is known for its beaches, and for the town of Galipán, famous for its flowers....
, to offer a better signal in the region.
On 23 June 1974, RCTV began service to Ciudad Bolívar
Ciudad Bolívar
Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolivar State. It was founded with the name Angostura in 1764, renamed in 1846, and, as of 2010, had an estimated population of 350,691....
on channel three, and in July to Puerto Ordaz
Puerto Ordaz
Puerto Ordaz is a planned city which, together with the older settlement of San Felix, forms Ciudad Guayana in Bolívar State, eastern Venezuela. Puerto Ordaz is located at the confluence of the Caroní and Orinoco Rivers and is the site of the Llovizna Falls. There are bridges across the Caroni and...
, on channel two.
In 1974, the miniseries Doña Bárbara began airing. In just 48 episodes of two hours, José Ignacio Cabrujas brought to television the classic novel authored by Rómulo Gallegos
Rómulo Gallegos
Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. For a period of some nine months during 1948, he was the first cleanly elected president in his country's history....
in 1929 and later creating into a trilogy with Canaima and Cantaclaro. Under the direction of the Argentine producer Juan Lamata and with César Bolívar in charge of photography, eighty percent of this production was filmed outdoors (mainly in the llanos
Llanos
The Llanos is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the Flooded grasslands and savannas Biome....
of the Apure State
Apure
Apure State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial authorities. In 1824 the Department of Apure was created, under...
). Although it was filmed in color, it was broadcast in black and white. This was the first Venezuelan miniseries projected in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the first program dubbed into another language.
In the mid 1970s, RCTV created the 2 de Oro award as an incentive for the network's artists and talents. The most recent 2 de Oro was held on 15 April 2007. The 2 de Oro 2004 was held 7 November 2004, and the 2 de Oro 2003 was held on 7 November 2003 (there was no 2 de Oro awards in 2005 and 2006). Other (defunct) award shows that aired on RCTV were the Ronda and Meridiano.
In 1975, RCTV began selling broadcasting rights to some of its programs to television companies overseas, with some of them being translated and dubbed into more than 15 languages and transmitted in more than 40 countries. The three hundred episode telenovela, La Usurpadora, was RCTV's first telenovela seen abroad.
Also in 1975, RCTV launched Alerta, a controversial program that took a look into various social situations in Venezuela. Shortly after Luis Herrera Campins
Luis Herrera Campins
Luis Antonio Herrera Campins was President of Venezuela from 1979 to 1984. He was elected to one five-year term in 1978. He was a member of the COPEI party.- Early Life and career:...
assumed the presidency in 1979, Alerta was taken off the air as a result of a highly controversial report that was conducted on the children's mental hospital located in Catia La Mar
Catia La Mar
Catia La Mar is a city and port in the municipality of Vargas, in the State of Vargas in Maiquetía, Venezuela. It is Maiquetia's neighbor to the west.Catia la Mar is about 10 minutes from Simón Bolívar International Airport ....
. Alerta, as well as Primer Plano and A Puerta Cerrada (the latter to a lesser extent), would make a come back, get cancelled, make another come back, and get cancelled again before making another comeback. The latest reincarnation of Alerta began airing on 27 October 2006 and is hosted by Alexandra Belandia. Alerta was originally hosted by Eladio Larez, the future president of RCTV.
On 31 March 1976, RCTV's transmissions were suspended for 72 hours by the first government of Carlos Andrés Pérez
Carlos Andrés Pérez
Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez , also known as CAP and often referred to as El Gocho , was a Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993. His first presidency was known as the Saudi Venezuela due to its economic and social prosperity thanks to...
for issuing "false and tendacious news", in regard to the kidnapping of the American businessman William Niehous, then president of Owens-Illinois Venezuela
Owens-Illinois
Owens-Illinois Inc. is a Fortune 500 company that specializes in container glass products. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of packaging products, holding the position of largest manufacturer of glass containers in North America, South America, Asia-Pacific and Europe...
. This was RCTV's first shut down by the government.
In 1977, the "cultural telenovela" appeared with La Hija de Juana Crespo and then La Señora de Cárdenas, with both of them captivating their audience with stories that went from the wish of over coming economically and professionally, to infidelity and turbulent marriages.
On 5 January 1978, there was another major fire at RCTV's studios. Fortunately, this fire was nowhere near as damaging as the fire of 1961.
On 15 November 1978, the Fundación Academia de Ciencias y Artes del Cine y Televisión (the Academic Foundation of Sciences and Arts of Film and Television) was founded by William H. Phelps. This academy allowed RCTV to give the opportunity to prepare and train their artists and workers.
The government of Luis Herrera Campins
Luis Herrera Campins
Luis Antonio Herrera Campins was President of Venezuela from 1979 to 1984. He was elected to one five-year term in 1978. He was a member of the COPEI party.- Early Life and career:...
(1979), by decree, began permitting the use of color in television and the American color system, NTSC-M
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
, was adopted. On 1 December 1979, RCTV entered the era of color. Unfortunately, this decree allowed only cultural productions to transmit under this format. Estefanía was RCTV's first production broadcast in color.
1980 to 1990
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Gómez I and Gómez II. Although they were both a phenomenon, creator José Ignacio Cabrujas and RCTV were sued for 15 million bolívares
Venezuelan bolívar
The bolívar fuerte is the currency of Venezuela since 1 January 2008. It is subdivided into 100 céntimos and replaced the bolívar at the rate of Bs.F. 1 = Bs...
(about 13 billion bolívares just before 2008, which converts to 13 million bolívares fuertes) because of its historical errors and "injuring the moral patrimony of the descendants and family of General Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón was a military general and de facto ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He was president on three occasions during this time, and ruled as an unelected military strongman for the rest of the era.-Early years:Gómez was a barely literate cattle herder and...
".
Also in 1980, RCTV was closed for a 36 hours by the government of Luis Herrera Campins for airing "sensationalist narrations", "risqué pictures", and "news stories lacking facts".
Television networks in Venezuela, whom were already prepared for the change and had occasionally transmitted in this format, made the complete switch-over to color on June 1, 1980.
In 1981, RCTV was closed for 24 hours (by the government of Luis Herrera Campins) for airing "a segment of pornographic film".
According to an article published in the Caracas daily newspaper, El Nacional
El Nacional
El Nacional is a Venezuelan publishing company under the name C.A. Editorial El Nacional, most widely known for its El Nacional newspaper. It, along with Últimas Noticias and El Universal, are the most widely read and circulated daily national newspapers in the country, and it has an average of...
, dated 27 September 1981, RCTV was admonished by the national government for having announced prematurely the death of ex-president Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello , known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was President of Venezuela from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of Accion Democratica, Venezuela's dominant political party in the 20th century...
. The Minister of Communications, Vinicio Carrera, by instructions of President Luis Herrera Campins, was in charge of admonishing RCTV "very severely".
The government of Luis Herrera Campins, by way of decrees 849 (published in the Official Gazette
Gazette
A gazette is a public journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.In English- and French-speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name Gazette since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers bear the name The Gazette.Gazette is a loanword from the...
number 32,116 dated 21 November 1980) and 996 (published in the Official Gazette number 32,192 dated 20 March 1981) prohibited, for reasons of public health, television and radio stations to advertise, directly or indirectly, the consumption of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and other tobacco products.
In 1984, RCTV was admonished for ridiculing "in a humiliating way" President Luis Herrera Campins and his wife.
It was in 1986 that the private television networks in Venezuela began using satellite dishes to "download" foreign television signals for their use.
1986 was also the year of Cristal, a telenovela of 246 episodes which broke audience records both inside and outside of Venezuela. In Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Cristal was aired since 1988 to 1993 on seven different time periods. Later that year, RCTV launched another major production, called La Dama de Rosa, which in 1991 was seen by seven million people in Spain alone. As a result, RCTV made a record US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
12 million from the sales of their telenovelas overseas.
Also in 1986, Expedición, the first ecological and conservationist series produced in Venezuela began airing, which converted RCTV into a pioneering network in this genre. This series was exported to other countries, particularly the United States, Spain, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Expedición aired until 1998 and contained a total of 48 episodes.
On 27 May 1987, RCTV's broadcast license was renewed for 20 years by the government of Jaime Lusinchi
Jaime Lusinchi
Jaime Ramón Lusinchi is a Venezuelan politician who was the President of Venezuela from 1984 to 1989. His term was characterized by an economic crisis, growth of the External debt, populist policies, currency depreciation, inflation and corruption that exacerbated the crisis of the political...
.
On 13 August 1988, William H. Phelps, Jr., RCTV's founder and first president died at age 85. He had served as RCTV's president for 34 years, retiring from the network only a year before his death.
In 1989, RCTV was closed for 24 hours by the second government of Carlos Andrés Pérez for airing advertisements for cigarettes.
1990 to 2000
Maria Conchita Alonso
María Conchita Alonso , better known as María Conchita, is a Venezuelan Grammy Award-nominated singer and actress.- Early life :...
), Volver a Ti (with Ruddy Rodríguez
Ruddy Rodríguez
Ruddy Rosario Rodríguez de Lucía is a Venezuelan actress, model and Businesswoman. Born in Anaco, Anzoátegui, daughter of Venezuelan Pedro José Rodríguez and Italian Rita de Lucía...
), and Buen Corazón (with Coraima Torres
Coraima Torres
Coraima Alejandra Torres Díaz was born on June 6, 1973 in Valencia, Venezuela. She started her acting career in Venezuela, in the late '80s. Her first roles were in the telenovelas "Gardenia" and "Alondra". She got her first leading role in 1992, in the famous telenovela "Kassandra", which was...
), among many others.
In 1991, RCTV began using computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
to present their logo.
On 1 August 1991, the Venezuelan government forced RCTV not to air a sketch in Radio Rochela, called "La Escuelita", due to its controversial nature. This decision was ratified by the Supreme Court.
By 1992, RCTV had lost much of its audience to its main rival, Venevisión, but after the launch of Por Estas Calles
Por Estas Calles
Por Estas Calles was an iconic telenovela, broadcast by Radio Caracas Televisión between 1992 and 1994. It was extremely popular in Venezuela, due to its very realistic approach to the day-to-day life of the country and local tone...
, RCTV became by far the number one television station in Venezuela in terms of viewer ratings. This resulted in Venevisión to cancel its contract with Marte TV (Channel 12; now La Tele
La Tele
La Tele is a regional television network in Venezuela. It can be seen on the cable and satellite systems of DirecTV , Supercable , Intercable , and Net Uno .-History:La Tele...
), and as a result Marte TV nearly entered bankruptcy.
Also in 1992, Kassandra
Kassandra (TV series)
Kassandra was a Venezuelan telenovela, written by Delia Fiallo and directed by Grazio D'Angelo and Olegario Barrera, involving a gypsy maiden marrying into a rich family. She does not realize, however, that she is the granddaughter of the man in the house...
was the first Venezuelan telenovela that arrived in the Japanese market. This production was translated in eighty languages and was placed into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most sold telenovela.
In 1993, for the first time, RCTV combined cartoons with real actors in one of their productions. Created by Mariela Romero, the telenovela Dulce Ilusión
Dulce Ilusión
Dulce Ilusion was a Venezuelan telenovela that was produced by and seen on Venezuela's Radio Caracas Televisión. It was written by Mariela Romero. This telenovela lasted between 198 and 92 episodes and was distributed internationally by RCTV International...
was converted into a modern version of Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
.
In 1994 and 1995, with the objective to obtain the best sharpness and resolution of colors, RCTV inaugurated the first studio that utilized video component technology. Also in 1996, RCTV switched from using an analog signal
Analog signal
An analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
to using a digital signal
Digital signal
A digital signal is a physical signal that is a representation of a sequence of discrete values , for example of an arbitrary bit stream, or of a digitized analog signal...
.
In 1997, RCTV was the first network in Latin America that automated their informative services (from the making of its contents until its airing), in which they adopted the format DVC Pro
DV
DV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
.
In 1999, RCTV purchased the Digital Betacam
Betacam
Betacam is family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself....
, which allowed the use of cinematographic techniques in the illumination of outdoor shots.
On 15 November 1999, RCTV had been on the air for a total of 16,000 days.
On 4 December 1999, the testing phase began for Vale TV
Vale TV
Vale TV was formerly a state-owned educational channel in Venezuela called Televisora Nacional. It is currently run by Asociación Civil, a non-profit association that is owned by the Roman Catholic Archbishopric of Caracas and is supported by the leading private television networks Radio Caracas...
(Valores Educativos Televisión), a non-profit private enterprise that united the Archbishopric of Caracas and the three leading private television networks in Venezuela, RCTV, Venevisión, and Televen
Televen
Televen is a private Venezuelan national television network headquartered on the Caracas neighborhood of Horizonte. For this reason it's also called Canal de Horizonte. Televen was inaugurated as the ‘’TELEVEN Corporation’’ on July 3 1988 by Omar Camero and Radioven, S.A...
.
2000 onwards
El Observador
El Observador is the Spanish language newscast of Radio Caracas Televisión . It is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela.-History:El Observador is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela...
(all three daily emissions), La Entrevista
La Entrevista
La Entrevista is a Spanish-language television news program aired by Radio Caracas Televisión in Venezuela. It is presented daily by journalist Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, and the invited interviewee, which are often either political personalities or other journalists...
, and other special programs of information and opinion. The president of Empresas 1BC
Empresas 1BC
Empresas 1BC , is a privately owned Venezuelan corporation which operates diverse media enterprises such as Radio Caracas Televisión, Etheron, Radio Caracas Radio, 92.9 tu FM, Sonográfica, FonoVideo, Recordland, and Radionet, to name a few...
and general director of RCTV, Marcel Granier
Marcel Granier
Marcel Granier Haydon is a Venezuelan businessperson. He is the President and CEO of Empresas 1BC and the General Director of Radio Caracas Televisión , which until becoming a cabel TV-channel on May 27, 2007, was the most watched television channel in Venezuela.-Biography:Marcel Granier was born...
, and the president of RCTV, Eladio Larez, were present at its inauguration. It is located in Quinta Crespo, a neighborhood in central Caracas where Radio Caracas Televisión's other studios can be found.
On 17 June 2006, the Autonomous Service of Intellectual Property (SAPI), issued an administrative resolution in which it cancelled the use of the trademark "Radio Caracas Televisión", arguing that RCTV has not used this name for at least three consecutive years (they preferred to identify themselves as just RCTV) and thus should no longer have the right to it. This resolution came about when RCTV was being sued by the cable channel, Caracas TV, for having trademarked the name Caracas TV three months after Caracas TV went on the air (RCTV was also known as Radio Caracas TV, and claimed that there was too much of a similarity). Caracas TV would later be relaunched as Canal de Noticias, a 24-hour cable news network.
On 15 December 2006, Tu Tienda RCTV
Tu Tienda RCTV
Tu Tienda RCTV is a gift shop located inside the Recordland at the Sambil Mall in Caracas, Venezuela. It was inaugurated on December 15, 2006, and offers items such as hats, pens, coffee mugs, and key chains, to name a few...
, a gift shop
Gift shop
A gift shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs....
which sells various products containing the logo of RCTV, ¿Quién Quiere Ser Millonario? (the local version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
), and the telenovela Te Tengo en Salsa, opened in the Recordland
Recordland
Recordland is one of Venezuela's largest music and video store chains. It is owned by Empresas 1BC, which is the same owner of Radio Caracas Radio and Radio Caracas Television . Recordland first opened its doors in 1982 and now operates 22 stores located throughout the country...
at the Sambil Mall
Centro Sambil
Centro Sambil Caracas, located in Caracas, Venezuela, is the fourth largest shopping mall in South America. It was completed in 1999 and has over 500 stores in approximately 3 million square-feet . This mall has five levels: Autopista, Libertador, Acuario, Feria, and Diversión...
in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
.
In 2006, RCTV was sued for broadcasting advertisements of phone services with images of a "high sexual content" during late night programming. The Supreme Court ordered the station to stop carrying such forms of publicity.
2007 - end of terrestrial broadcast license
TVes
TVes is a Venezuelan public television channel. Its name is short for Televisora Venezolana Social and is pronounced , meaning you see yourself. It replaced the signal of Radio Caracas Televisión on Channel 2 on Monday, May 28, 2007, and began broadcasting at 12:20 am local time...
station, which commenced transmissions the next day after RCTV was shut down. RCTV has denied any wrongdoing and argued that no trial had been conducted that linked the network to the coup attempt.
The week after the closure, RCTV started broadcasting its newscast to Latin America throughout the Colombian network "Caracol" and since then to other countries around the world. On 7 June, RCTV started broadcasting its newscast El Observador on Globovisión
Globovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website...
.
Background
Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela
The Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela is a federation of labor unions in Venezuela. It has close links to the Democratic Action party....
—the country's largest trade-union federation—called for a two-day strike in support of the recently fired executives and managers of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)—Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Fedecámaras
Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce
The Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce or Fedecámaras is composed of chambers of commerce in twelve basic trade groups: banking, agriculture, commerce, construction, energy, manufacturing, media, mining, ranching, insurance, transportation, and tourism.In practice, the intended...
—the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce—joined the strike/lockout and called on its affiliated member businesses to shut 48 hours.
The opposition general strike was covered extensively by the privately-owned news media. During this time, the government used its powers under article 192 of the telecommunications law to requisition all radio and TV stations to broadcast numerous speeches by President Chávez, other government officials, and other programming favorable to the government. To sidestep this requirement, the television channels began to broadcast their own news at the same time as the government addresses by splitting their screens.
On 11 April 2002, after three days of demonstrations, anti-Chávez and pro-Chávez demonstrators clashed at the Miraflores Palace
Palacio de Miraflores
The Palacio de Miraflores is the official workplace of the President of Venezuela. It is located on Urdaneta Avenue, Libertador Municipality in Caracas....
. The government ordered the suspension of broadcasting by the privately-owned TV channels Televen
Televen
Televen is a private Venezuelan national television network headquartered on the Caracas neighborhood of Horizonte. For this reason it's also called Canal de Horizonte. Televen was inaugurated as the ‘’TELEVEN Corporation’’ on July 3 1988 by Omar Camero and Radioven, S.A...
, Venevisión
Venevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
, Globovisión
Globovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website...
and RCTV at around 4 p.m., shortly after they refused to carry a speech by President Chávez exclusively and used split screens to broadcast live pictures of the opposition demonstration being broken up at the same time as the president’s speech. Only the state-owned Venezolana de Televisión
Venezolana de Televisión
Corporación Venezolana de Televisión or VTV is a state-owned television network based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the country on channel eight...
was allowed to continue broadcasting.
After several shooting deaths, elements of the Armed Forces deposed President Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
, whom they held responsible. Commander of the Army, Lucas Rincón Romero
Lucas Rincón Romero
General Lucas Rincón Romero was the highest-ranking Venezuelan military officer at the time of the 2002 coup d'état attempt against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez...
, reported in a nationwide broadcast that Chávez had resigned his presidency, a charge Chávez would later deny. Chávez was taken to a military base while Fedecámaras president Pedro Carmona
Pedro Carmona
Pedro Francisco Carmona Estanga is a former Venezuelan trade organization leader who was briefly declared President of Venezuela during an abortive 2002 military coup against Hugo Chávez. He occupied the office of President from April 12 to April 13...
was appointed as the transitional President of Venezuela.
RCTV reported these actions as a victory for democracy and conducted friendly interviews with leaders of the movement. Footage from the Irish documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (documentary)
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised , also known as Chávez: Inside the Coup, is a 2003 documentary focusing on events in Venezuela leading up to and during the April 2002 coup d'état attempt, which saw President Hugo Chávez removed from office for two days...
appeared to show a coup leader thanking RCTV and Venevisión
Venevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
for their assistance, calling the media "[our] secret weapon".
Subsequently the new government rapidly unraveled, after Carmona issued a decree that established a transitional government, dissolving the National Assembly
National Assembly of Venezuela
The National Assembly is the legislative branch of the Venezuelan government. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based...
and the Supreme Court, and suspending several Chávez appointees. While his own coalition wavered, large sectors of the armed forces moved into the Chávez camp, linked up with a mass popular uprising from the barrios, and restored Chávez to office. RCTV declined to report any of these events, preferring to broadcast reruns of Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
and the film Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
. According to the Chicago Tribune, RCTV and other broadcasters supported the failed coup "by directing marchers and then failing to inform the public that the coup had failed".
Chávez was restored to power on 14 April 2002. Over the following months, and again in the wake of the 2002 lock-out and general strike, he stepped up his criticism of the country's private media companies, accusing them of having supported the coup. On his weekly television program Aló Presidente
Aló Presidente
Aló Presidente is a largely unscripted talk show hosted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez which is broadcast on Venezuelan state television and radio stations every Sunday at 11:00 AM...
and in other forums, he regularly referred to the leading private media owners as "coup plotters", "fascists", and "the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, called the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John the Evangelist at 6:1-8. The chapter tells of a "'book'/'scroll' in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals"...
". He reminded them that their concessions operated at the pleasure of the state and that if they "went too far", their concessions could be canceled at any time.
Some editorialists have agreed that the network cooperated with the coup attempt 11 April 2002. RCTV encouraged pro-coup protests, celebrated when Chávez was temporarily removed from power, and broadcast false reports that Chávez had renounced his presidency. In addition, when Chávez returned to power, RCTV did not report the news but rather broadcast entertainment programs such as the movie Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
. According to RCTV, their decision not to transmit the images of riots taking place all over Caracas was in order not to entice more deaths and destruction in Venezuela.
According to Andrew Puddephatt, the right to freedom of speech may have limitations when its exercise conflicts with the observance of other human or legal rights. A documentary by John Pilger
John Pilger
John Richard Pilger is an Australian journalist and documentary maker, based in London. He has twice won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award, and his documentaries have received academy awards in Britain and the US....
, The War on Democracy
The War on Democracy
The War on Democracy is a 2007 documentary film directed by Christopher Martin and John Pilger. Focusing on the political state of Latin America, the film is intended as a rebuke of both the United States' intervention in foreign countries' domestic politics, and its "War on Terrorism"...
, shows documentary evidence of conflicts of freedom of speech with other rights in recent times in Venezuela.
End of license
On 28 December 2006, President Chávez announced that the government would not renew RCTV's broadcast license which came up for renewal on 27 May 2007, thereby forcing the channel to cease broadcast operations on that day. The government says that the non-renewal is caused by RCTV's alleged support for the unconstitutional 2002 coup attempt against Chávez's democratically elected government.The Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice
Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela)
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice is the highest court of law in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is the head of the judicial branch.The Supreme Tribunal may meet either in specialized chambers or in plenary session...
(TSJ) ruled on 17 April 2007 that it is within the CONATEL's power to decide on the issuing, renewal and revocation of broadcast licenses. RCTV may continue broadcasting over cable or DTH systems (DirecTV Latin America) when its license expires, but the government will take over the equipment, studios and even the master control for their use in the new station it has created on 27 May 2007. On 24 May, the Supreme Court ordered RCTV to stop broadcasting as soon as its license expires and approved the government's takeover of its equipment, though it would review the station's appeal of the decision. Chávez announced plans to start broadcasting a public service channel, TVes
TVes
TVes is a Venezuelan public television channel. Its name is short for Televisora Venezolana Social and is pronounced , meaning you see yourself. It replaced the signal of Radio Caracas Televisión on Channel 2 on Monday, May 28, 2007, and began broadcasting at 12:20 am local time...
, using this infrastructure which belonged to RCTV.
The Supreme Court ruled that RCTV's broadcasting equipment "must be available" to TVes. The ruling also ordered the military to guard the equipment. This allows TVes to be available in the same locations where RCTV used to broadcast.
The final program airing on RCTV Sunday was an all day/night retrospective tribute to the network, featuring current and ex workers, artists and staff of RCTV. Many workers and artists from other networks, including Venevision
Venevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
, had to use the last hours of RCTV to give their opinion since they were not allowed at their own companies.
On Saturday, 26 May, RCTV shut down its live Internet stream in preparation for its forced close-down on Sunday, 27 May. At 12 Midnight on 28 May, RCTV ceased broadcasting and for the following 8 seconds the signal went dark. It was then replaced by TVes's ID
Station identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
which was on air for 20 minutes. At 12:20 AM, TVes began programming for the first time. DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
Venezuela has replaced RCTV with TVes on 104.
RCTV interpretation
RCTV argues that no trial has been conducted that links the network to the coup attempt. Other stations—including VenevisiónVenevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
and Televen
Televen
Televen is a private Venezuelan national television network headquartered on the Caracas neighborhood of Horizonte. For this reason it's also called Canal de Horizonte. Televen was inaugurated as the ‘’TELEVEN Corporation’’ on July 3 1988 by Omar Camero and Radioven, S.A...
— were also accused of supporting the coup attempt, but their licenses were renewed. Those networks became less critical of Chávez, prompting opponents to say the action against RCTV was evidence that Chávez defined media outlets critical of his government as the enemy, according to the New York Times. The government later said that RCTV VHF Channel 2 was more suitable for the planned new public TV channel due to better reception across the country than Venevision or Televen's frequencies.
RCTV also argued that the channel's license would expire in 2022 rather than 2007. A 1987 decree during Jaime Lusinchi's
Jaime Lusinchi
Jaime Ramón Lusinchi is a Venezuelan politician who was the President of Venezuela from 1984 to 1989. His term was characterized by an economic crisis, growth of the External debt, populist policies, currency depreciation, inflation and corruption that exacerbated the crisis of the political...
presidential term gave RCTV a 20-year license, but the network claimed that the failure of the National Telecommunications Commission to issue an administrative authorization by 12 June 2002 automatically granted the channel a 20-year license renewal. The government rejected this interpretation, stating that the converting of licenses into administrative authorizations did not mean a license renewal, just a census of broadcasters. The Supreme Court subsequently agreed.
Chávez says TVes will better reflect his socialist revolution, calling RCTV "a threat to the country".
National reactions
Rallies took place, both in favor and against the government's decision. One rally against the decision took place in Caracas on 21 May 2007 with "thousands of protesters." On 25 May, university students from the Universidad Católica Andrés BelloUniversidad Católica Andrés Bello
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello is a private university in Venezuela. One of the biggest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas , Los Teques, Guayana and Coro....
, the Universidad Simón Bolívar
Universidad Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar University or USB, is a public institution located in Miranda State, Venezuela with scientific and technological orientation....
and the Universidad Central de Venezuela protested against the government's intentions. On June 2, 2007, tens of thousands of pro-government protesters took to the streets in support of Chavez's decision.
Several opinion polls conducted by companies associated with the Venezuelan opposition showed that the public was strongly against the move. One poll, conducted in April 2007 by the Venezuelan company Datanálisis, found that 13% of the population agreed with the revocation of RCTV's license, while 70% rejected the government's decision.
A May poll conducted by a firm called Hinterlaces in 15 Venezuelan states with a 4.7% margin of error reported that 83% of the Venezuelan population reject the discontinuation of RCTV, with 74% saying that democracy is at stake.
International reactions
Many individuals, international organizations and NGOs—including the OASOrganization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
's Secretary General
Secretary General of the Organization of American States
According to the Charter of the Organization of American States:-Secretaries General of the OAS:-Assistant Secretaries General of the OAS:*William Manger *William Sanders...
José Miguel Insulza
José Miguel Insulza
José Miguel Insulza Salinas is a Chilean politician and statesman. He is currently the Secretary General of the Organization of American States. He is nicknamed El Panzer, for his tank-like drive and reputation due to his ability to take political heat with little apparent damage...
and its Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression
OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression
The office of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of the Organization of American States was established by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1997 to monitor OAS member states' compliance with the American Convention on Human Rights in the area of freedom of...
,
the Inter American Press Association, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
, and the Human Rights Foundation
Human Rights Foundation
The Human Rights Foundation is a non-profit organization whose stated mission "is to ensure that freedom is both preserved and promoted" in the Americas. The Human Rights Foundation was founded in 2005 by Thor Halvorssen...
—have expressed concerns for freedom of the press. United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
criticised the TV closure as "undemocratic" and went on to say "...disagreeing with your government is not unpatriotic and most certainly should not be a crime in any country, especially a democracy." However, Secretary Insulza also stated that it was up to the Venezuelan courts to solve this dispute and that he believed that this was an administrative decision.
The International Press Institute
International Press Institute
International Press Institute is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. Founded in October 1950, the IPI has members in over 120 countries....
stated that it is "a flagrant attempt to silence the station's critical voice and in violation of everyone's right 'to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,' as outlined in Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
." The Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
"concluded [Chávez's] government failed to conduct a fair and transparent review of RCTV's concession renewal. The report, based on a three-month investigation, found the government’s decision was a predetermined and politically motivated effort to silence critical coverage." Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
(RWB) stated "The closure of RCTV [...] is a serious violation of freedom of expression and a major setback to democracy and pluralism. President Chávez has silenced Venezuela’s most popular TV station and the only national station to criticize him, and he has violated all legal norms by seizing RCTV’s broadcast equipment for the new public TV station that is replacing it." But in a right of reply to Le Monde diplomatique
Le Monde diplomatique
Le Monde diplomatique is a monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first created mainly for a diplomatic audience as its name implies...
, RWB president Robert Ménard then said that the NGO had also condemned RCTV for its support to the 2002 coup attempt.
José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, called the RCTV case "clearly a case of censorship and the most grave step back in the region since Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...
,"
referring to the manipulation of the media by Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability, though his methods have drawn charges of...
in the 1990s. "[Chávez] is misusing the state’s regulatory authority to punish a media outlet for its criticism of the government," Vivanco said.
The United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
approved a motion promoted by Senators Richard Lugar and Christopher Dodd
Christopher Dodd
Christopher John "Chris" Dodd is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut for a thirty-year period ending with the 111th United States Congress....
condemning the closing, and Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
, asserted that it was an attempt to silence the critics of the Government. The U.S. State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, the senates of Chile and Brazil, and the legislatures of a number of other Latin American countries have also expressed concern over the incident.
European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
President José Manuel Barroso qualified the measure as regrettable, adding that "freedom of expression and press freedom are substantial components of democracy. Costa Rican President Óscar Arias Sánchez stated that any media closing was a deathly strike against any democratic system. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Social Democrat politician who was President of Chile from 11 March 2006 to 11 March 2010. She was the first woman president of her country...
said she regrets the decision and that "freedom of expression is the golden rule." Along with her, Finnish President Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
said she was watching the situation with concern. The Spanish Partido Popular
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
, the main opposition party, called the closing an "attack against freedom of expression".
However, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting is a progressive media criticism organization based in New York City, founded in 1986.FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity...
(FAIR) questioned whether, in the event a television station openly supported and collaborated with coup leaders, the station in question would not be subject to even more serious consequences in the United States or any other Western nation. Others also criticised the motives and presentation of the conflict offered by the mass corporate media, pointing to the alleged predominance of private corporate media in Venezuela, which according to Dan Jakopovich is often critical of Chavez and others on the left-wing. As well, several British politicians and journalists supported Chávez's decision to not renew RCTV's broadcasting license, due to their belief that the station had "used its access to the public airwaves to repeatedly call for the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Hugo Chávez."
After the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian Senate passed a motion urging Chávez to reconsider the revocation of RCTV's license, Chávez "accused the Brazilian Congress of acting like a 'puppet' of the US", prompting Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
to say “Chavez has to take care of Venezuela, I have to take care of Brazil and (US President George W.) Bush has to take care of the US”. Later, Lula da Silva said the decision of not renewing the broadcast license was internal Venezuelan business, adding that the legal logic of each country should be respected. Chávez said that presidents Daniel Ortega
Daniel Ortega
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician and revolutionary, currently serving as the 83rd President of Nicaragua, a position that he has held since 2007. He previously served as the 79th President, between 1985 and 1990, and for much of his life, has been a leader in the Sandinista...
of Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and Evo Morales
Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...
of Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
have phoned to show support to his decision and that Álvaro Uribe
Álvaro Uribe
Alvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....
from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
said that his country would not involve itself in Venezuela's internal affairs. He also said "I would not do that to anybody." President Rafael Correa
Rafael Correa
Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado born is the President of the Republic of Ecuador and was the president pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations. An economist educated in Ecuador, Belgium and the United States, he was elected President in late 2006 and took office in January 2007...
of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
said that he would have canceled the broadcast license automatically (after the 2002 coup).
With continued protests in 2010, the RCTV closure has been highlighted by human rights organization as an example of violations of freedom of the press, the absence of due process,http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/26/world/la-fg-venezuela-media26-2010jan26 http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=351329&CategoryId=10717 http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15393502 and the Chavez administrations "abuse its authority to compel broadcast of presidential speeches that promote the government's political agenda" and Chavez seeking "to intimidate and punish broadcasters who criticize his government". http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=351030&CategoryId=10717
RCTV alternatives
Because of the end of RCTV, 1BC created a new channel called RCTV International. RCTV International was then taken out by cable operators by order of Diosdado Cabello. On February 22, 1BC announced the creation of RCTV Mundo (a channel made for international audiences with 70% of international content) and the continuation of RCTV International in Venezuela (aimed at national content). Both channels are not yet available in Venezuela.IACHR
In March 2009 the Inter-American Commission on Human RightsInter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States .Along with the...
(IACHR) concluded two cases brought against Venezuela by the private Venezuelan TV stations Globovisión
Globovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website...
and RCTV. It concluded that the Venezuelan government had not violated the right to freedom of expression, equality before the law, or private property, but that the government had failed to do enough to prevent and punish acts of intimidation against journalists by third parties.
2007 onwards - broadcasting via cable/satellite
RCTV lost its free-over the air broadcast licence, but it was not out of business. In an article in the 5 July 2007 edition of AM New YorkAM New York
amNewYork is a morning free daily newspaper , published in New York City by Cablevision. According to the company, average daily distribution as of December 2008 was 345,053, according to MondoNewspapers.com. When the newspaper launched October 10, 2003, amNewYork was the first newspaper of its...
, the head of RCTV, Marcel Granier said that he was considering taking the network's programming to cable or satellite. This was accomplished in the Summer of 2007.
DirecTV Latin America and RCTV signed an agreement for the satellite service to transmit RCTV's programming to satellite subscribers in Venezuela and other parts of the world. The network will be broadcasting for DirectTV in the channel 103. Later came the deals with other national cable operators, Inter
Inter
Inter may refer to:* inter to place inside of the earth, from the Latin "in" + "terra" * Inter- is a Latin prefix meaning "between", among, or "within a group".* An intersexual person* Inter, Ukrainian TV-channel...
, formerly known as InterCable, and NetUno, both being the most important and known cable operators in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. The channel number varies by area of the country and the cable system. Broadcasting officially resumed on 16 July at 6:00am (UTC-4).
In the wake of the loss of its terrestrial licence, RCTV announced plans to continue broadcasting its main news program 'El Observador
El Observador
El Observador is the Spanish language newscast of Radio Caracas Televisión . It is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela.-History:El Observador is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela...
' on popular internet video host YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
during 2007. YouTube viewership of 'El Observador
El Observador
El Observador is the Spanish language newscast of Radio Caracas Televisión . It is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela.-History:El Observador is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela...
' was initially significant but within a week of the end of RCTV's television transmission had fallen to less than 5,000 viewers a day. El Observador no longer promotes the YouTube site and instead directs its viewers to watch its broadcasts through a different video hosting service. Viewership numbers are not available.
Following its move to cable, RCTV relaunched itself as RCTV International, in an attempt to escape the regulation of the Venezuelan media law. In mid-2009 the Venezuelan media regulator CONATEL declared that cable broadcasters would be subject to the new media law if 70% or more of their content and operations were domestic. In January 2010 CONATEL concluded that RCTV met that criterion (being more than 90% domestic according to CONATEL), and reclassified it as a domestic media source, and therefore subject to the requirements to broadcast state announcements, known as cadenas. Along with several other cable providers, RCTV refused to do so and was sanctioned with temporary closure. According to the government, in order to resume broadcasting it will need to register as a domestic media provider. Other sanctioned channels include the American Network
American Network
American Network was a cable/satellite television network owned by Televisa. The channel broadcast throughout Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador featuring English language programs originating from the United States. Most of the shows were CBS Television Studios-owned or distributed programming....
, America TV and TV Chile
TV Chile
TV Chile is a television network that transmits shows from Santiago, Chile. TV Chile is the international signal of Television Nacional de Chile ....
. TV Chile, an international channel of Chilean state television, had failed to respond to a January 14 deadline for clarifying the nature of its content. Cable network providers have been encouraged by the Venezuelan government to remove those channels that are found to be in violation of existing media regulations.
News and broadcasts
El ObservadorEl Observador
El Observador is the Spanish language newscast of Radio Caracas Televisión . It is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela.-History:El Observador is one of the first television news programs in Venezuela...
was RCTV's main newscast. It was broadcast three times a day, except for Sundays, when it only came on during important events such as elections.
Some of RCTV's programs could be seen in other countries on various channels, including TV Venezuela
TV Venezuela
TV Venezuela is a Venezuelan cable television channel that can be seen only by people in the United States who subscribe to DirecTV Para Todos package.-History:...
, a premium subscription channel available on DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
.
See also
- Empresas 1BCEmpresas 1BCEmpresas 1BC , is a privately owned Venezuelan corporation which operates diverse media enterprises such as Radio Caracas Televisión, Etheron, Radio Caracas Radio, 92.9 tu FM, Sonográfica, FonoVideo, Recordland, and Radionet, to name a few...
- List of RCTV slogans
- List of Venezuelan over-the-air television networks and stations
- Radio Caracas RadioRadio Caracas RadioRadio Caracas Radio is a Venezuelan radio station. It is owned by Empresas 1BC, Venezuela's second largest privately-owned media corporation, which also owns Radio Caracas Televisión, a popular and controversial cable and satellite channel.-Background:...
- RCTV International
- TV VenezuelaTV VenezuelaTV Venezuela is a Venezuelan cable television channel that can be seen only by people in the United States who subscribe to DirecTV Para Todos package.-History:...
External links
- Official Site
- Free RCTV – Campaign in support of RCTV and the freedom of the press
- Detailed report by the Venezuelan government on RCTV
- The Economist - Chávez changes channels (May 29 2007)
- AM NewYork (July 5, 2007)
- You Tube Showing RCTV Test on Direct TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ilC7neiVs&mode=related&search=
- Latin American CATV penetration rates. CableLabs (2003). Retrieved on 2007-07-10.