Television in Colombia

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Television live broadcast in Inravisión studios during the mid-1960s (Bogotá), where the first Colombian television shows were produced

Television in Colombia or

cable TV companies operating in Colombia under each Colombian department
statutes. These cable companies also develop their own channels, in addition to a variety of international channels. Television in Colombia has always relied on technological advancements from developed countries importing almost all the equipment.

History

Schedule of the first Colombian television broadcast

Source:[1]

13 June 1954 from 21:00

Television in Colombia was inaugurated on 13 June 1954 during the government of General

TV station in time for the commemoration of Rojas's first year in office. A test broadcast was made 1 May 1954 covering Bogotá and Manizales.[2]

Early years

Initially television in

Segunda Cadena
, with national coverage. Mrs. Montejo attempted on many occasions to get back in broadcasting TV, but the government refused to give her slots.

Color broadcasts

On 1 December 1979, regular color television broadcasts started in Colombia[3] using the NTSC standard. Color television had already been introduced in October 1973, when programadora Cenpro Televisión made a color broadcast during an education seminar with Japanese-made equipment. The inauguration and the first match of the 1974 FIFA World Cup were broadcast live in color, but they could be seen in color only on big screens in Bogotá and Cali.[4]

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Colombian national television system had three national channels:

Cadena Uno, Cadena Dos and Cadena Tres. The first two worked under the concessions system while the Cadena Tres (later renamed to Señal Colombia
) remained under complete government control and focused on cultural and educational programming, and was the producer of major national holiday coverage for the Inravision system.

In 1984, the first of the regional networks in the country was created,

would join them.

1987 saw the introduction of cable television to the country after bidding in 1985. TV Cable, the country's first cable system, began operations at the end of December 1987.

The 1991 bid (for the 1992-1997 period) triggered competitiveness as a first step toward privatization. Cadena Dos became

Canal Uno
in January 1998.

The Colombian Constitution of 1991 and a law in 1995 created the Comisión Nacional de Television (CNTV, National Television Commission), an autonomous entity in charge of policies for public television and regulation of television contents. The CNTV started working in 1995. In March 1993, more ratings information came to Colombian screens. A court decision forced Inravisión to ban sexual and violent scenes from the franja familiar (family block). Programadoras were now required to state if the program was appropriate for minors to view.[5] In addition, programadoras had to submit their material to Inravisión 72 hours in advance to determine its suitability; television was classified in two types of franjas, including the franja infantil and franja familiar (which determined the content rating of the programs to be aired in that block) as well as ratings for the profitability and value of the timeslots, ranging from AAA (prime time) to D (overnight hours).

In 1997, the government through the CNTV gave away licences to set up privately owned television networks. These licences were granted to

Radio Cadena Nacional (RCN TV)
, which had started as radio networks and were in the hands of the main economic groups of Colombia. Both private stations began functioning as TV networks on 10 July 1998.

The recession of the Colombian economy during the late 1990s weakened the state-run networks and the programadoras. But the companies that produced the networks' shows also had to face a new landscape of Colombian television, as Caracol and RCN now dominated. Ratings fell steadily as the programadoras became merely production companies for Caracol or RCN or disappeared outright. Names famous in Colombian television, like PUNCH, Cenpro,

Noticiero 24 Horas, and TeVecine
, left the public airwaves. Others required financial intervention to stay afloat. The programadoras had continued working independently and never collaborated to establish a better program service against the newly organized privately owned networks.

By 2003, Canal A was almost entirely filled with cultural and educational programs produced by the government-run programadora (Audiovisuales).

Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia
was created.

In 2009 a licence for a third national private television network was to be granted by the Colombian government. Spanish groups PRISA and Planeta, and Venezuelan tycoon Gustavo Cisneros were bidding, each of them allied with Colombian shareholders, for the licence. As of July 2020, there is still no third private channel in Colombia.

Digital television

Satellite and Cable

HDTV-ready television sets (DVB-C) have been available in Colombia since 2003. Ten years later cable companies started to broadcast HD content to their subscribers. Satellite television
, like DirecTV Colombia, offer HD channels.

Terrestrial

DMB-T/H
was considered but couldn't be tested.

On August 28, 2008,

DVB-T
using MPEG4 H.264 and a channel bandwidth of 6 MHz.
[7] [8]

On December 28, 2010,

UHF using DVB-T h264.[10] Señal Colombia and Canal Institucional started test digital broadcasts earlier in 2010.[9]

On January 9, 2012

DVB-T2
, using a channel bandwidth of 6 MHz. The reneging on their earlier decision to use DVB-T meant that many early adopters were left with incompatible set top boxes and televisions.
[11] The transmitters in Bogotá and Medellín transmitted DVB-T2 and DVB-T in parallel (T2 started on 1 August 2012) for three years. DVB-T from these two masts was switched off in August 2015. The TV transmitters in Barranquilla and Cali were the first T2 only enabled transmitters; these started in May 2012. As with Barranquilla and Cali, all other masts will be DVB-T2 only. [12]

As of June 2020, there are around 40 state owned DVB-T2 masts (RTVC) and around 150 private DVB-T2 masts (CCNP: 149, Citytv: 1). [13]

DTH-Social (Direct To Home), a Ku satellite system using DVB-S2, is planned and will enable 100% geographic coverage. As of December 2022, it is not yet available.

Programming

Network Coverage Type
Caracol TV
National private
RCN TV
National private
Canal 1 National mixed (operated by a private consortium, its concession and transmitter network belong to the Colombian government)
Canal Institucional National public
Señal Colombia National public
Teleantioquia Regional: Antioquia Department public
Canal 13
Regional: Bogotá, the southeastern part of the Andean region, and all Orinoquia and Amazon regions public
Canal Capital Regional: Bogotá public
Citytv Regional: Bogotá private/local
Caucavisión Regional: Cauca Department private/cable
Telecaribe Regional:
Caribbean Region of Colombia
public
Telecafé Regional:
Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis
public
Teleislas Regional:
San Andrés y Providencia Department
public
Canal TRO
Regional: Santander Department public
Telepacífico Regional:
Pacific Region of Colombia
public
Telemedellín Regional: Antioquia Department mixed (managed by public and private universities in Medellín)
Canal U Regional: Antioquia Department public
Enlace Piedemonte Canal 2 Regional: Casanare private/cable

Most viewed channels

Position Channel Share of total viewing (%)
1 Caracol TV 14.5
2 RCN TV 13.9
3 Canal 1 4.5
4 Señal Colombia 3.3
5 Canal Capital 2.5
6 Citytv 1.9
7 Canal Trece 1.4
8 Teleantioquia 0.9
9 Telepacífico 0.8
10 Canal Institucional 0.6

See also

References

External links