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TV Globo
The history of TV Globo goes back to 1957 when Juscelino Kubitschek,
the Brazilian president at the time, gave a television franchise
to the media tycoon Robert Marinho. Marinho was the owner of a media
empire that encompassed a daily newspaper, a publishing company,
and a radio station. In 1962 he activated the first TV channel in
association with Time-Life.
The US group Time-Life had strategic interests in exploring the
Latin American communication market, and had previously offered
a partnership with the group "Diários e Emissoras Associados"
(TV Tupi), which they declined (Herz, 1987). The agreement between
Globo and Time-Life was only possible through thedirect intervention
of President Castelo Branco, since it was against the Brazilian
constitution to have foreign participation in the form of ownership,
partnership, management and/or intellectual orientation of a television
franchise (Mattelart & Matterlart, 1990). Channel 4 began operating
in Rio in 1965. The following year, Globo entered the market in
São Paulo buying TV Paulista. The military government had
a clear idea of what they wanted to accomplish with this partnership.
They had a political and economic plan for national integration
and they knew that telecommunications were vital to the implementation
of their strategy. The dictatorial government wanted to foster the
development of a national identity that was compatible with their
repressive agenda (Ortiz, 1985).
In 1975, the Ministry of Culture and Education (MEC) published "Política
Nacional de Cultura” (National Culture Policy), which summarized
the guidelines and policies for the creation and management of cultural
productions in Brazil. The document justified the need to utilize
mass communication media as a mechanism to disseminate culture,
assuring that the communications outlets would utilize high cultural
standards. The reinforcement came in the form of censorship, and
the guidelines spelled out the prohibitions that in their view would
affect the productions. The new policies prohibit showing any one
with physical, mental, or moral deformities. It was also forbidden
to present or mention anything that would exploit the popular belief
in superstitions, healers, fake physicians, or any other form of
fraud (Muniz, 1977).
To accommodate the demands of the modernizing society and those
of the state, Globo introduced in the 6 PM and 10 PM time slot telenovelas
that fulfilled the requirements of the government. They knew that
there needed to be a focus on national and educational themes. The
6 PM slot was reserved for themes that were more educational and
geared towards a younger audience, while well-known writers created
a more sophisticated telenovela for the 10 PM time slot (Ortiz et
al., 1991).
Globo bought Time-Life shares in 1969 and by this time, it had already
built a system for centralized production and distribution. At this
same year, Globo launched "Jornal Nacional", which was
the first news program transmitted on a national scale (Mattelart
& Matterlart, 1990). There is a consensus among researchers
that Globo mushroomed to the top due to special favors and incentives
received throughout the years of the dictatorial regime, in exchange
for collaboration in diffusing governmental ideologies. The daily
newscast had the double duty of delivering the news and also be
the official voice of the military regime (Lima, 1988; Mattos, 1982;
Queiroz, 1992; Straubhaar, 1989).
In the 1970s, state-owned corporations sponsored most advertisement,
with the biggest slice going to Rede Globo because of their audience
leadership (Ortiz et al., 1991). Brazil was the fourth country in
advertising dollars spent in 1976, only topped by the US, the UK
and Japan. The military regime also granted 67 new television licenses
in the country, anexceptionally high number in comparison to 22
licenses granted during 1955-1964 (Mattos, 1982).
Following their goal of national integration, the dictatorial regime
invested in microwave and satellite telecommunications infrastructure,
which contributed to the formation of national television networks
(Straubhaar, 1991).
The competition between TV Globo and TV Tupi reached its peak in
the 1970's. TV Tupi, as we know, was part of the conglomerate "Diários
e Emissoras Associados" owned by Assis Chateaubriand. Chateaubriand's
group also owned more than thirty daily newspapers, eighteen TV
stations, and thirty radio stations. This empire also owned its
own news agency, advertising agency, and many public relations agencies.
They also published "O Cruzeiro", the largest selling
magazine in Latin America until 1987 (Tunstall, 1977). The two networks
became embroiled in a dispute to attract and affiliate local stations.
Globo ended up winning and selling the image of a national vehicle
to the advertisers. During the period of 1975-1980, TV Tupi lost
three of its stations to Globo. The decisive component in this dispute
was the corporate style of the two enterprises. Globo had a centralized
organization, while Tupi had organizational difficulties, reflective
of systemic problems that afflicted the "Diários Associados".
Consequently, Tupi had problems recycling its equipment, enhancing
the technical aspect of the productions, as well as establishing
high quality standard programs. It culminated with its bankruptcy,
the result of internal disputes and poor management. TV Tupi crumbled
in the beginning of the 1980's when the government closed it down,
citing irregular practices. TV Globo, on the contrary, consolidated
its leadership through the development of a program line up that
included news programs and telenovelas, making the most of what
modern technology had to offer (Straubhaar, 1989). At this time,
Globo had between 50 to 70 percent of the audience, and was competing
with the three other networks: Rede Bandeirantes, Sistema Brasileiro
de Televisão (SBT), and Rede Manchete (Mattelart & Mattelart,
1990).
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