Rafael Pérez Perry (October 24, 1911 – May 10, 1978) was a businessman and a pioneer in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

's radio and television broadcasting industry. He owned one of the most successful radio stations on the island (WKBM AM) and in 1954 founded Puerto Rico's television Channel 11, which now is known as TeleOnce and owned and operated by Liberman Media Group.

Early years

Rafael Pérez Perry was born in

Guayama Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama ( es, Municipio Autónomo de Guayama) is a city and municipality on the Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 36,614. It is the c ...

, Puerto Rico to a father of

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descent and a mother of

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descent. When he was a child his family moved to New York City, where he received his primary and secondary education. He went to college after he graduated from high school and earned a degree in engineering in the field of electronics.Rafael Pérez Perry profile
oslpr.org; accessed April 14, 2017.

Radio broadcasting pioneer

Pérez Perry returned to Puerto Rico in 1934 with the intention of going into business as an electronic engineer. At first he failed in his attempts because of the lack of experience and capital. However, it wasn't long before he was able to establish several radio workshops in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

Rio Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

and Santurce. Pérez Perry was hired by the

Government of Puerto Rico The government of Puerto Rico is a republican form of government with separation of powers, subject to the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States.Angel Ramos's " El Mundo Enterprises".

Telecadena Pérez Perry

His radio station had its transmitters in the City of

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, the ...

and operated from his facilities in San Juan. Pérez Perry moved the operations of his radio broadcasting station to the City of Mayagüez and in 1954 founded "WKBM", Channel 11, his first television station. It wasn't until 1960, that the U.S.

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) finally granted Pérez Perry the license to operate WKBM. On August 1960, Pérez Perry inaugurated his television station which he named "Telecadena Pérez-Perry". Among the shows which Telecadena Pérez Perry aired throughout the years were: ''Se Alquilan Habitaciones'', ''Una Hora Contigo'', ''Tira y Tapate'', ''Yo Soy el Gallo'' (with

José Miguel Class José Miguel Class Ponce (September 26, 1935 – April 13, 2017) was a Puerto Rican singer who garnered international fame during the 1960s and 1970s. Biography Nicknamed "El Gallito de Manatí" ("Manati's Bantam"), Class achieved fame in Puer ...

), ''El Show de Carmita'', ''Cita Con Las Estrellas'', ''El Show de

Lissette Lissette Álvarez Chorens, commonly known as Lissette, (born March 10, 1947) is a singer, songwriter, and record producer from Cuba. She is best known for recording a Spanish language-version of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 19 ...

'', ''El Show de

Iris Chacón Iris Belia Chacón Tapia (born March 7, 1950 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican dancer, singer, actress, and entertainer. She enjoys great popularity in Puerto Rico (where she had a weekly variety show for more than a decade) and in o ...

'', ''El Hit del Momento'', ''El Super Show Goya'', ''Una Chica llamada

Ivonne Coll Ivonne Coll Mendoza (born June 18, 1947) is a Puerto Rican actress. She was Miss Puerto Rico in 1967 and competed in the Miss Universe pageant the same year. She later became an actress, appearing in films such as ''The Godfather Part II'' and ' ...

'', ''Cambia Cambia'' (with Alfred Herger), '' Angela Luisa Dice'' (with Angela Luisa and José Luis Torregrosa), ''Almorzando''/''Del Brazo'' (both with

Ruth Fernández Ruth Fernández (23 May 1919 – 9 January 2012) was a Puerto Rican contralto and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate. According to the "Comisiones Nacionales para la Celebración del Quinto Centenario" ''(National Commission for the Celebrati ...

), ''La Criada Malcriada'' (with

Norma Candal Norma Daniela Candal Penedo (April 10, 1927 – February 5, 2006), was a Puerto Rican actress and comedian who was best known for her role as Petunia on ''La criada malcriada''. Early years Norma Daniela Candal Penedo was born in 1927 in Fajar ...

), and ''Mediodia Circular'' (with Vilma Carbia), among others.Television Boricua
, freewebs.com; accessed April 14, 2017. From 1965-74, Telecadena Pérez Perry aired

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s imported from

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's Panamericana Television. Under Pérez Perry's leadership Channel 11 became the first television channel in Puerto Rico to present its "News" broadcast, "El 11 en Las Noticias" (11 in the News), with a journalist "panel" and a

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

. Among the television news journalists who began their careers in Channel 11 were Silvia Gomez, Pedro Zervigon and

Carmen Jovet Carmen Jovet Esteves (born June 9, 1944) is a journalist and the first Puerto Rican woman news anchor in Puerto Rico. Early years Carmen Jovet Esteves, daughter of Manolín Jovet-Viruet and Doña Carmen "Cuca" Esteves, was born and raised in Maya ...

Later years

On May 10, 1978, Rafael Pérez Perry died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

while working on a Channel 11 transmitter at Cerro la Marquesa located in the town of Aguas Buenas. He was buried at the Buxeda Memorial Park in

Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Río Piedras is a populous district of San Juan, and former town and municipality of Puerto Rico, which was merged with the municipality of San Juan in 1951. The district today is composed of various '' barrios'' (these are the primary legal div ...

. Pérez Perry had had three children, Papo, Icha and Ingrid. From his marriage to Zayda Ramirez de Arellano. After his death his children continued to run the operations of Pérez Perry Enterprises until 1981, when WKBM declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. In 1986,

Lorimar-Telepictures Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation was an entertainment company established in 1985 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios) ...

acquired the station from bankruptcy Court and changed its call sign to the current

WLII WLII-DT (channel 11), branded on-air as TeleOnce, is a television station licensed to Caguas, Puerto Rico, serving the Territories of the United States#Permanently inhabited territories, U.S. territory as an affiliate of Univision and UniMás. ...

. The channel was branded as "Tele Once" with a new slogan: "Tele Once… Vívelo!" (Tele Once… Live it!). It was subsequently sold to

Malrite Communications Group Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom, through its Commun ...

in 1991. In 2002, Univision entered into a local marketing agreement with

Raycom Media Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom, through its Commun ...

to operate WLII and WSUR-TV. At the time, WLII had a longtime local marketing agreement with another Puerto Rican station, WSTE, which Univision honored. Both WLII and WSUR-TV were sold to Univision in 2005.

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