Television is one of the major mass media of Argentina. As of 2019, household ownership of television sets in the country is 99%, with the majority of households usually having two sets. Cable television has become the most used type of delivering, with 73.2% of households having a cable provider.
Argentine television broadcasting officially began on October 17, 1951, with the inaugural of the state-owned Canal 7 (now Televisión Pública). It remains as the network with the biggest national coverage, while private broadcasting networks have a big number of affiliates in different cities through all the country. Argentina also became the fourth most important country in terms of export of television formats, only surpassed by the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Argentina's broadcast television system includes PAL-N for analog television and ISDB-T for digital television. Half of television sets in Argentina remained with analog services in 2017, although the analogue shutdown is expected to take place before 31 March 2026.
History
Beginnings (1945–1959) The first license for a television network in Argentina was given to Martín Tow in 1945, but only experimental. Argentina's first television broadcast occurred on October 17, 1951, with the inaugural of then state-owned Canal 7, developed by Radio Belgrano executive Jaime Yankelevich. The broadcast began with a transmission of the last public act of Eva Perón alongside Juan Perón on the Loyalty Day at 14:20 p.m.
The first Argentine production was the newscast Primer Telenoticioso Argentino that premiered on April 20, 1954 on Canal 7. Other important shows of the time were cooking show Jueves Hogareños with famous cookbook author and television chef Doña Petrona, the first telenovelas under Teleteatro de la Tarde and later Teleteatro para la Hora del Té, humorous show Tato y sus Monólogos by Tato Bores, and American sports show Gillette Cavalcade of Sports.
On November 25, 1957, the decree-law 15460/57 was approved, which established the granting of licenses, leading to the birth of private television.
Expansion (1960–1973) Since 1960, Argentine television began to expand. On April 18, 1960, Canal 12 (now El Doce) from Córdoba started broadcasting, becoming the second network to launch. During the same year, on June 9, Canal 9 launched on Buenos Aires under the Compañía Argentina de Televisión S.A. or Ca-de-te (Argentine Company of Television), linked to the Argentine film studio Emelco and with financial support from NBC. On October 1, 1960, Canal 13 began broadcasting under the company Río de la Plata S.A. TV, founded by Cuban businessman Goar Mestre and the American network CBS. One year later, on July 21, 1961, Teleonce launched from Buenos Aires, known as Difusión Contemporánea S.A. company (Contemporary Broadcasting S.A.), or DiCon for a short period of time before adopting the Teleonce name. The last national broadcast network to launch was TeveDos from La Plata, on June 25, 1966.
Despite the fact that the legislation did not allow foreign companies to participate in the television business in any case, the three private networks in Buenos Aires in the beginning had a relationship with the Big Three television networks from the United States as shareholders and exclusive providers of technology and content. NBC worked with Canal 9, ABC with Teleonce, and CBS with Canal 13. Due to the low success with programming proposals from the American networks, they were finally sold to new owners. In December 1963, Canal 9 was sold to the owner of Radio Libertad, Alejandro Romay. In the mid-1960s, Editorial Atlántida and Mestre's wife bought the shares of the Canal 13, and later in 1970, Teleonce was acquired by Héctor Ricardo García, owner of newspaper Crónica.
The arrival of private television in the 1960s also meant the arrival of notable technical advances such as the Ampex machine that allowed recording on reels of tape without cuts, as well as an advertising offensive that scrapped the static plates and where the stations themselves commercialized their airtime through their commercial managers. The relative political and economic stability generated an explosive increase in the number of devices, specialized magazines such as Antena, Canal TV and TV Guía, while other magazines for shows such as Radiolandia began to focus on the media and the audience measurements (ratings) that showed the programs preferred by the audiences: sketch comedies Felipe, Viendo a Biondi and Telecómicos; comedies Dr. Cándido Pérez, Señoras, La Familia Falcón and La Nena; telenovelas like El Amor Tiene Cara de Mujer and Cuatro Hombres para Eva; and American shows like The Fugitive, Bonanza, Combat!, Route 66, Peyton Place, I Love Lucy, The Three Stooges, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, Lassie and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.
Other shows like Ayer, the first Argentine documentary series began airing during the decade. Some shows began aiming to specific target audiences like Titanes en el Ring, El Capitán Piluso and El Flequillo de Balá for children; El Club del Clan and Escala Musical for young adults; and Buenas Tardes, Mucho Gusto aimed at a female audience. During weekends, live long-running shows like Sábados Circulares, Sábados Continuados, Sábados de la Bondad and Domingos de mi ciudad (later renamed Feliz Domingo para la Juventud) had a great impact. The decade ended with coverage of the arrival of man on the Moon on July 20, 1969, and the success of classic shows such as Los Campanelli, Telenoche, Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand and La Campana de Cristal.
At the same time, networks outside of Buenos Aires began to incorporate the recording machines, broadcasting the programming of Buenos Aires on a delayed basis. The poor quality of the signal beyond 60 kilometers from the transmitting antennas led to the creation of network affiliate stations, in addition to the creation of the first closed circuits in various locations, giving birth to cable television.
Government intervention (1974–1983)
Previously, in 1968, the government expressed that network licenses should be renewed every 15 years, but on October 8, 1973, the licenses expired and were not renewed, so Canal 9, Teleonce, and Canal 13 were in an irregular situation. The private networks were intervened by the government, first partially and then definitively by a decree of the government of Isabel Perón on September 26, 1974, arguing that Argentina was not in a position to have commercial networks, and that television had to adopt a model similar to the European, dominated by public institutions.
Popular shows during the 1970s included variety shows Música en Libertad, Alta Tensión and Grandes Valores del Tango, sketch comedies like La Tuerca, Hiperhumor and El Chupete, competition shows Si lo Sabe Cante and Yo Me Quiero Casar, ¿y Usted? and telenovelas Rolando Rivas, Taxista, Pobre Diabla, Dos a Quererse and Piel Naranja, in which several actors and actresses like Arnaldo André, Claudio García Satur, Claudio Levrino, María de los Ángeles Medrano, Arturo Puig, Soledad Silveyra and Beatriz Taibo became famous.
After the 1976 Argentine coup d'état and the establishment of the civic-military dictatorship, previously private television channels came to be controlled by the Armed Forces: Canal 9 by the Army, Canal Once by the Air Force and Canal 13 by the Navy. Under the dictatorship, censorship and persecution of various people such as Norma Aleandro, Héctor Alterio, Carlos Carella, Juan Carlos Gené, Nacha Guevara, Víctor Laplace, Federico Luppi, Bárbara Mujica, Luis Politti, Marilina Ross, Irma Roy and David Stivel was exercised, and shows such as El Chupete and Déle Crédito a Tato were removed from the schedule.
Since Argentina was selected to host the 1978 FIFA World Cup, preparations to launch television in color began, by adopting the PAL system. This led to the change of name of Canal 7 to Argentina Televisora Color (Argentine Color Television), abbreviated as ATC on May 3, 1979. Later, the official inauguration of color transmissions was successfully held on May 1, 1980.
Return as private networks (1984–1999)
Licensing for commercial networks started after the return of democracy to Argentina. Alejandro Romay returned to own Canal 9 on May 25, 1984, and Canal 2 was given to José Irusta Cornet, whom associated with Héctor Ricardo García between 1987 and 1988. As for Canal Once and Canal 13, their licenses were declared void as there were no interested companies, and therefore, they continued under the government's administration during the government of Raúl Alfonsín, being later privatized by Carlos Menem on December 20, 1989. Canal Once was eventually acquired by Editorial Atlántida and later renamed as Telefe, and Canal 13 was taken over by Artear. On April 15, 1991, Canal 2 was acquired by Eduardo Eurnekián and renamed as América Te Ve.
During the 1980s, sketch comedy shows as No Toca Botón, Calabromas, Hiperhumor, Mesa de Noticias, Las Mil y Una de Sapag, Operación Ja-Ja and Las Gatitas y Ratones de Porcel, variety shows as Badía y Compañía, La Noche del Domingo, Finalísima del Humor, Seis para Triunfar, Atrévase a Soñar and Hola Susana, young-adult-oriented telenovela Clave de Sol, and American series The A-Team, Diff'rent Strokes and Knight Rider, were among the most remarkable.
Since 1989, the use of satellite television was authorized. This formed one of the main offers of cable television, which began its development.
Famous shows during the 1990s included telenovelas Vulnerables and Poliladron, sitcom The Nanny, game show It's a Knockout, variety shows Videomatch and PNP (Perdona Nuestros Pecados), talk shows La Biblia y el Calefón and Caiga Quien Caiga, children shows El Show de Xuxa, Jugate conmigo and Chiquititas, teen dramas Montaña Rusa and Beverly Hills, 90210, comedies La Familia Benvenuto and Pinky and the Brain, and horror miniseries El Garante.
On September 25, 1998, Canal 13 became the first network to carry out experimental high-definition digital television broadcasts, after adopting ATSC standards in a government resolution.
Present era (2000–present) Starting the 2000s, television saw the arrival of various reality shows such as Big Brother, Star Academy, Popstars and Dancing with the Stars. Adaptations of sitcoms and other American series were also important, like The Nanny, Who's the Boss?, Married... with Children, Bewitched and Desperate Housewives. Telenovelas still remained important, and foreign telenovelas managed to reach large audiences. Later, networks started switching to high-definition and allowing to interact though social media.
During the 2000s shows like Showmatch, La Noche del 10, No Hay 2 sin 3, Duro de Domar, Resistiré, Big Brother, Star Academy, Rebelde Way, Son Amores, Floricienta, Sin Código and Casi Ángeles were considered as the hits of the decade.