Caracol Televisión
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Caracol Televisión (known as Caracol and previously as Canal Caracol) is a Colombian
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...
television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...
owned by Caracol Medios, a unit of Grupo Valorem. It is one of the leading private TV networks in Colombia, alongside Canal RCN and
Canal 1 Canal 1 ( en, Channel 1; pronounced "Canal Uno") is a Colombian state-owned television channel. It is owned by the Government of Colombia and managed by Plural Comunicaciones, S.A.S, a private company. From 1957 to 2017, the channel was administ ...
. The network distributes and produces 5,000+ programs and has aired in more than 80 countries.


History


As a ''programadora''

Caracol Television, as it is known today, began to take shape in 1954, when the Organization Radiodifusora Caracol offered to the ''
Televisora Nacional Televisora Nacional was the first television station ( state-owned) to begin operations in Venezuela. It broadcast from 1953 to 1992 making Venezuela the ninth country in the world to have television. History On 22 November 1952, the first televi ...
'' (the then only TV channel in Colombia later turned into Inravisión, today RTVC Sistema de Medios Publicos) a formula to sustain its operation by means of the concession of certain programming spaces for commercial exploitation. At that time, executives Fernando Londoño Henao, Cayetano Betancur, Carlos Sanz de Santamaria, Pedro Navias and Germán Montoya began to raise the possibility of establishing the first television programming company (or ''
programadora In Colombian broadcasting, ''programadoras'' (literally ''programmer'') are companies that produce television programs, especially for the public-commercial Canal Uno (and, until 2003, Canal A/Segunda Cadena). The Colombian television model from ...
''). A year later, in 1955, this idea was accepted; it was decided the rights would be split with the national broadcaster, creating TVC (Televisión Comercial Limitada). In 1967, the National Institute of Radio and Television,
Inravisión The Instituto Nacional de Radio y Televisión (Inravisión) was Colombia's national public broadcasting organization between 1964 and 2004. It was created by Decree 3267 of 20 December 1963, which declared that from 1 April 1964 the country's pu ...
, which at the time operated the ''Canal Nacional'', awarded by means of a tender to TVC 45 hours of programming a week. In September 1969, TVC was transformed into Caracol Televisión S.A., with the primary objective of marketing and producing television programs. In 1972, ''Campeones de la risa'' was born, later known as ''Sábados felices'', a humor program directed by Alfonso Lizarazo until the end of the 1990s, and which still continues in the air as of 2020. Caracol TV would steadily increase its programming output and by the late 1980s it was producing the 20:00 telenovela, a slot including '' San Tropel'', '' Quieta Margarita'', '' Música Maestro'', and '' Calamar'', among others. Caracol TV was one of the Colombian ''programadoras'' which belonged to the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana as the ''OTI Colombia'' consortium, allowing it to become one of the rights holders for the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. In 1987, the
Santo Domingo Group Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo (October 16, 1923 – October 7, 2011) was a Colombian-American billionaire businessman, diplomat and patriarch of the Santo Domingo family who lived in New York City. He controlled more than 100 companies in ...
(today Valórem) acquired the shareholding control and begins a technological and administrative modernization. During the tender that awarded the television spots between 1992 and 1997 in Colombian television, the company became one of the largest concessionaires, with their programs broadcast exclusively in Cadena Uno, now Canal Uno.


As a national private TV network

In development of a new legislation that allowed the concession to private operators of the television service, on November 24, 1997, Caracol Televisión received one of the two awards to operate as "national channel of private operation" for 10 years by the then National Television Commission (CNTV, later ANTV), the other license being granted to rival
RCN Televisión RCN Televisión, branded as Canal RCN (''Radio Cadena Nacional'') is a Colombian free-to-air television network. It is a Colombian open television channel, belonging to the Ardila Lülle Organization. It was founded as a television content produ ...
. Under the chairmanship of Mábel García de Ángel, an expansion plan was implemented, in order to ensure that the infrastructure that up until that time served to produce ten and a half hours of weekly programming would reach the capacity to produce and have 18 hours a day of general programming on the air as of July 1998. The channel began test broadcasting as an independent channel on June 10, 1998, with the live broadcast of the opening ceremony of the
1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
in France and reruns of some productions from its catalogue when it was previously a ''programadora''. Caracol Televisión has held the broadcasting rights for the matches of the
Colombia national football team The Colombia national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Colombia) represents Colombia in men's international football and is managed by the Colombian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Colombia. They are a member ...
under the ''Gol Caracol'' banner since 1992. On July 10, 1998, regular broadcasts began. The signal was initially seen in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Armenia, later expanding to the rest of the country. Caracol TV and RCN TV, the holders of the only private national TV concessions, form a
duopoly A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...
on Colombian national television, after an economic crisis hit
Canal A Canal A (previously known as ''Cadena Dos'') was a Colombian open television network launched on January 16, 1971, under the name ''Tele9 Corazón''. History TV9 Telebogotá (Teletigre), the first private television station in Colombia, began ...
and Cadena Uno, the mixed system national channels, in the early 2000s. Distribution and productions agreements would be signed with Tepuy, an international television marketing company, in 2000, and with
Walt Disney International Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer * Walt Be ...
through its Buena Vista International label, in 2001, which resulted in the
telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...
''
La baby sister ''La baby sister'' is a telenovela Colombian made by Teleset for the Canal Caracol in the year 2000. Its protagonists were Paola Rey and Víctor Mallarino and as antagonists Marcela Gallego and Manuela González. The recordings of the tele ...
''. In the same year, Caracol TV sealed a content alliance with
RTI Colombia RTI Colombia, also known as Radio Televisión Interamericana (Inter-American Radio and Television), is a Colombian television production company and former ''programadora''. It aired 14.5 hours per week of programming in 1993. In the 1990s, as a ...
and
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
. Sister company Caracol Radio became part of the Spanish Grupo PRISA in 2003, ending its formal commercial ties with Caracol Televisión, which is allowed to use the ''Caracol'' brand through a special agreement. Through its newscast ''
Noticias Caracol ''Noticias Caracol'' (until 9 October 2007 ''Caracol Noticias'') is the name for all the national newscast from the news division of Caracol Televisión which carries the same name. It is broadcast four times on weekdays and twice on weekends. In ...
'', the network is part of the Alianza Informativa Latinoamericana, a news exchange service formed in 2005 which includes the American network
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
among its members. In 2007, the construction of its new headquarters in the La Floresta sector,
Suba Suba may refer to: Groups of people *Suba people (Kenya), a people of Kenya **Suba language *Suba people (Tanzania), a people of Tanzania * Subha (writers), alternatively spelt Suba, Indian writer duo Individual people *Suba (musician), Serbian- ...
, north-western
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
, with an estimated cost of 30 million dollars, was completed. In 2008, Caracol Televisión, and its subsidiaries Caracol TV América Corp. and Caracol Televisión Inc., formed one of the five largest production and distribution companies in Latin America, with a presence in more than 50 countries worldwide. In February 2009, a new cable channel called ''
Novelas Caracol Novela or Novelas may refer to: Geography *Novelas (), in Penafiel, a parish in Portugal; see List of parishes of Portugal: P * Port-la-Nouvelle, Narbonne, Aude, France ( oc, La Novèla); a commune Literature * Novel genre in Spain and Latin Ame ...
'' began broadcasts, carrying old and more recent telenovelas, available to subscribers of some cable operators in Colombia.
Digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...
broadcasts, using the
DVB-T DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Febr ...
standard, would begin in 2010. In August 2011, Caracol signed an agreement with the
Arirang TV Arirang International Broadcasting is a South Korean-based broadcasting company operated by the International Broadcasting Exchange Foundation. It began as a cable TV service in South Korea on February 3, 1997, and opened Korea's first overseas ...
channel, operated by the Korea International Broadcasting Foundation, which would allow the two networks to cover news, sports and other topics of general interest, as well as the exchange of cultural, artistic, scientific, sports, news and other aspects when they require it, while they will join for the co-production of television programs. In 2012 Valórem would return to the radio business with the creation of the Bluradio network, a subsidiary of Caracol TV. A second service, music station
La Kalle WXNY-FM (96.3 FM ''La X 96.3'') is a commercial radio station that broadcasts an Hispanic rhythmic format. It is licensed to New York City, and serves the New York metropolitan area. WXNY is owned by Uforia Audio Network and its transmitter is ...
, would begin in 2016. In April 2014 Caracol TV decided to pull its HD feed from the main Colombian cable and satellite TV operators, demanding the payment of a fee, though the signal returned briefly for the
2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
; afterwards, it was pulled again. The HD feed would return to the operators, after a ruling by the Supreme Court of Bogotá and the
Superintendency of Industry and Commerce The Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) is the Competition regulator in Colombia. It is the statutory body of Government of Colombia The Government of Colombia is a republic with separation of powers into executive, judicial and leg ...
, in 2017. Shortly before the beginning of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Caracol HD2, a digital subchannel carrying some sports events and simulcasting the main HD feed the rest of the time, would be launched. On September 14, 2016, a third digital subchannel simulcasting La Kalle programming would start broadcasting. On June 12, 2015, Caracol Televisión, Caracol TV América Corp and Caracol Televisión Inc, launched ''Caracol TV Medios'', an umbrella brand with a portfolio of television channels and radio stations in Colombia. In August 2016, the aspect ratio for the standard definition feed would be modified to 16:9. After a multi-year absence, the network plans to bring the Olympic Games back to Colombian television starting with
Tokyo 2020 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
.


Radio

In July 2012, Caracol TV rented HJMD from Cadena Melodía, which became the first flagship of the Bluradio network (current flagship is HJCK). A second service, music station
La Kalle WXNY-FM (96.3 FM ''La X 96.3'') is a commercial radio station that broadcasts an Hispanic rhythmic format. It is licensed to New York City, and serves the New York metropolitan area. WXNY is owned by Uforia Audio Network and its transmitter is ...
, would begin in 2016.


WGEN-TV

In December 2005, Caracol TV bought a 25% stake in
Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
television station
WGEN-TV WGEN-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 8, is an Estrella TV owned-and-operated television station licensed to Key West, Florida, United States, and serving the Miami–Fort Lauderdale television market. Owned by Estrella Media, it is a siste ...
. Programming on WGEN included Colombian and
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian telenovelas as well as a news program produced in Colombia. The station also produced a local version of ''Desafío 20.06'', a
reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
similar to '' Survivor'', and an original US-produced variety comedy series entitled ''La Boca Loca de Paul'', hosted by
Paul Bouche Paul Bouche is an American television host, comedian, media personality and television producer. Paul is the host, creator and producer of a variety of television and radio programs and serves as CCO (Chief Creative Officer) of Astracanada Product ...
. Some of Caracol TV's
telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...
s were remade for
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
in the US, such as ''
Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of aff ...
'', based on ''
Mesa Para Tres ''Mesa para tres'' ("Table for Three") is a 2004 Colombian telenovela produced and broadcast by Caracol TV. Plot Luis and Alejandro Toro arrive with their mother to Bogotá, after escaping their home town, where they owned a restaurant. In Bogotá ...
'' (''Table for Three''). The station became an affiliate of MundoFox (later
MundoMax MundoMax (; originally known as MundoFox from August 13, 2012 to July 28, 2015) was an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network that was owned by RCN Televisión. The network broadcast programs aimed at Hispanic and Latino America ...
), a network linked to its Colombian rival RCN TV, since 2012 until its demise in 2016. Later it affiliated to
Azteca América Azteca América (, sometimes shortened to Azteca) is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by INNOVATE Corp., which acquired the network from the Azteca International Corporation subsidiary of TV Azteca. Headquartere ...
, becoming an independent again in 2017. In 2018, WGEN was sold to
Liberman Broadcasting Estrella Media (formerly known as Liberman Broadcasting, Inc. from 1987 to October 14, 2019 and LBI Media, Inc. from October 15, 2019 until February 2, 2020) is an American media company based in Burbank, California, owned by private equity firm ...
, and became an owned-and-operated station of
Estrella TV Estrella TV () is an American Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by the Estrella Media subsidiary of HPS Investment Partners, LLC. The network primarily features programs, the vast majority of which are produced by the network ...
.


See also

*''
Noticias Caracol ''Noticias Caracol'' (until 9 October 2007 ''Caracol Noticias'') is the name for all the national newscast from the news division of Caracol Televisión which carries the same name. It is broadcast four times on weekdays and twice on weekends. In ...
'' *
Caracol Internacional Caracol Internacional is the international signal of Colombia's Caracol Televisión, Caracol TV. It offers general programming aimed to Colombians abroad, mostly consisting of old Caracol TV telenovelas, series, and entertainment shows. It also s ...
*
Television in Colombia Television in Colombia or Colombian television ( es, Televisión de Colombia) is a media of Colombia. It is characterized for broadcasting telenovelas, series, game shows and TV news. Until 1998 it was a state monopoly (though there was a short ...
* List of telenovelas of Caracol Televisión


References


External links

https://rambollinvestment.com/ref/62a6464ab3afdb00160b98a3 {{DEFAULTSORT:Caracol Tv Television stations in Colombia Television networks in Colombia Television channels and stations established in 1998 Spanish-language television stations Colombian brands