Television in Argentina

Television is one of the major mass media of Argentina. As of 2019, household ownership of television sets in the country is 99%, with the majority of households usually having two sets. Cable television has become the most used type of delivering, with 73.2% of households having a cable provider. Argentine television broadcasting officially began on October 17, 1951, with the inaugural of the state-owned Canal 7 (now Televisión Pública). It remains as the network with the biggest national coverage, while private broadcasting networks have a big number of affiliates in different cities through all the country. Argentina also became the fourth most important country in terms of export of television formats, only surpassed by the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Argentina's broadcast television system includes PAL-N for analog television and ISDB-T for digital television. Half of television sets in Argentina remained with analog services in 2017, although the analogue shutdown is expected to take place before 31 March 2026.

History

Beginnings (1945–1959) The first license for a television network in Argentina was given to Martín Tow in 1945, but only experimental. Argentina's first television broadcast occurred on October 17, 1951, with the inaugural of then state-owned Canal 7, developed by Radio Belgrano executive Jaime Yankelevich. The broadcast began with a transmission of the last public act of Eva Perón alongside Juan Perón on the Loyalty Day at 14:20 p.m. The first Argentine production was the newscast Primer Telenoticioso Argentino that premiered on April 20, 1954 on Canal 7. Other important shows of the time were cooking show Jueves Hogareños with famous cookbook author and television chef Doña Petrona, the first telenovelas under Teleteatro de la Tarde and later Teleteatro para la Hora del Té, humorous show Tato y sus Monólogos by Tato Bores, and American sports show Gillette Cavalcade of Sports. On November 25, 1957, the decree-law 15460/57 was approved, which established the granting of licenses, leading to the birth of private television.

Expansion (1960–1973) Since 1960, Argentine television began to expand. On April 18, 1960, Canal 12 (now El Doce) from Córdoba started broadcasting, becoming the second network to launch. During the same year, on June 9, Canal 9 launched on Buenos Aires under the Compañía Argentina de Televisión S.A. or Ca-de-te (Argentine Company of Television), linked to the Argentine film studio Emelco and with financial support from NBC. On October 1, 1960, Canal 13 began broadcasting under the company Río de la Plata S.A. TV, founded by Cuban businessman Goar Mestre and the American network CBS. One year later, on July 21, 1961, Teleonce launched from Buenos Aires, known as Difusión Contemporánea S.A. company (Contemporary Broadcasting S.A.), or DiCon for a short period of time before adopting the Teleonce name. The last national broadcast network to launch was TeveDos from La Plata, on June 25, 1966.

Despite the fact that the legislation did not allow foreign companies to participate in the television business in any case, the three private networks in Buenos Aires in the beginning had a relationship with the Big Three television networks from the United States as shareholders and exclusive providers of technology and content. NBC worked with Canal 9, ABC with Teleonce, and CBS with Canal 13. Due to the low success with programming proposals from the American networks, they were finally sold to new owners. In December 1963, Canal 9 was sold to the owner of Radio Libertad, Alejandro Romay. In the mid-1960s, Editorial Atlántida and Mestre's wife bought the shares of the Canal 13, and later in 1970, Teleonce was acquired by Héctor Ricardo García, owner of newspaper Crónica. The arrival of private television in the 1960s also meant the arrival of notable technical advances such as the Ampex machine that allowed recording on reels of tape without cuts, as well as an advertising offensive that scrapped the static plates and where the stations themselves commercialized their airtime through their commercial managers. The relative political and economic stability generated an explosive increase in the number of devices, specialized magazines such as Antena, Canal TV and TV Guía, while other magazines for shows such as Radiolandia began to focus on the media and the audience measurements (ratings) that showed the programs preferred by the audiences: sketch comedies Felipe, Viendo a Biondi and Telecómicos; comedies Dr. Cándido Pérez, Señoras, La Familia Falcón and La Nena; telenovelas like El Amor Tiene Cara de Mujer and Cuatro Hombres para Eva; and American shows like The Fugitive, Bonanza, Combat!, Route 66, Peyton Place, I Love Lucy, The Three Stooges, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, Lassie and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Other shows like Ayer, the first Argentine documentary series began airing during the decade. Some shows began aiming to specific target audiences like Titanes en el Ring, El Capitán Piluso and El Flequillo de Balá for children; El Club del Clan and Escala Musical for young adults; and Buenas Tardes, Mucho Gusto aimed at a female audience. During weekends, live long-running shows like Sábados Circulares, Sábados Continuados, Sábados de la Bondad and Domingos de mi ciudad (later renamed Feliz Domingo para la Juventud) had a great impact. The decade ended with coverage of the arrival of man on the Moon on July 20, 1969, and the success of classic shows such as Los Campanelli, Telenoche, Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand and La Campana de Cristal. At the same time, networks outside of Buenos Aires began to incorporate the recording machines, broadcasting the programming of Buenos Aires on a delayed basis. The poor quality of the signal beyond 60 kilometers from the transmitting antennas led to the creation of network affiliate stations, in addition to the creation of the first closed circuits in various locations, giving birth to cable television.

Government intervention (1974–1983)

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