The National Television Council ( es, Consejo Nacional de Televisión, italic=no or CNTV) is a Chilean

government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...

whose function is to oversee the operation of television services. It was first created by Law 17377 on October 24, 1970. Its existence is formalized in the

Constitution of Chile The Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile of 1980 () is the fundamental law in force in Chile. It was approved and promulgated under the military dictatorship headed by Augusto Pinochet, being ratified by the Chilean citizenry through ...

, with its composition, organization, and powers defined in Law 18838 of 1989 and Law 19131 of 1992. Since 2001, it has participated in creating the contents of CNTV Infantil, an educational channel for cable television.

Composition

1970—1989

After the passage of Law 17377 in 1970, the Council was composed of: * The minister of public education, who acted as the president of the Council. * A representative of the president of the Republic, of his free choice. * Three representatives, not members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, elected by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, in a single election where each member had a single vote and the three parties with the highest vote total were elected. * Three representatives, not members of Congress, elected by the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

in the same manner as above. * Two representatives of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, selected by it. * The

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. * The rector of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (''PUC or UC Chile'') ( es, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical universities i ...

. * The rector of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso The Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso ( es, link=no, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso) (PUCV), also known as ''Universidad Católica de Valparaíso'' (UCV), is one of six Catholic universities in Chile and one of th ...

. * The president of the board of directors of

Televisión Nacional de Chile Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) is a Chilean public service broadcaster. It was founded by order of President Eduardo Frei Montalva and it was launched nationwide on 18 September 1969. Since then, the company has been reorganized on several ...

. * A representative of the workers of Televisión Nacional and another of the workers of the three existing university channels (Canal 9, Canal 13 and UCV Televisión). Decree Law 113 of October 29, 1973, modified the composition of the Council by eliminating the representatives of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (due to the dissolution of the National Congress after the coup d'état of September 11) and the representatives of the workers of TVN and the university channels.

1989—1992

Law 18838 of September 30, 1989, established that the Council be composed of: * The president of the Council, appointed by the president of the republic with the consent of the Senate. * A representative of the president of the republic, of his free choice. * A representative of the Supreme Court, appointed by the latter, and who has served as minister of the court or lawyer of the same. * Two representatives of the commanders-in-chief of the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and the general director of the

Carabineros The was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against fraud and smuggling. A ...

. * Two representatives of Chilean universities, appointed by their rectors. The rectors of those universities that, directly or indirectly, were concessionaires of television services could not participate in the appointment of directors.

1992 to the present

Currently, after the reforms introduced by Law 19131 of 1992, the CNTV must be composed of 11 members, one of whom, appointed by the president of the republic, presides over the Council. The rest are designated by agreement of the Senate. The directors must be persons of relevant personal and professional merits. In addition, the law requires pluralism both in the selection of directors and in the functioning of the body.

Current members (as of September 2019)

Catalina Parot Catalina Parot Donoso (born 9 March 1956) is a Chilean lawyer, entrepreneur and politician currently serving as president of the National Television Council. She served as Minister of National Assets during the first presidency of Sebastián P ...

(president) * Genaro Arriagada * María Elena Hermosilla * Andrés Egaña * Gastón Gómez * Hernán Viguera * Esperanza Silva * María de los Ángeles Covarrubias * Marigen Hornkohl * Mabel Iturrieta

Presidents

Alfonso Márquez de la Plata Alfonso Márquez de la Plata Yrarrázaval (19 July 1933 – 22 April 2014) was a Chilean politician, businessman and writer. He was Minister of Agriculture from 1977 until 1980. He was later the Ministry General Secretariat of Government from 19 ...

(September 30, 1989April 20, 1992) * José Joaquín Brunner (April 20, 1992September 20, 1994) * Pilar Armanet (October 10, 1994April 12, 2000) * Bernardo Donoso (April 12, 2000May 7, 2001) * Patricia Politzer (May 7, 2001March 27, 2006) * Belisario Velasco (June 19, 2006July 13, 2006) * Jorge Navarrete Martínez (August 31, 2006December 17, 2010) * Herman Chadwick (December 17, 2010September 8, 2014) * Óscar Reyes (September 8, 2014April 11, 2018) *

(April 11, 2018)

Criticism and controversies

Due to its power, the Council has been accused of being an archaic, conservative and obsolete body for modern times. Lately, it has also been accused of censoring content on television.CNTV
El 96% de los chilenos quiere que se regule la televisión.Consultado el 10 de enero de 2014