During the 1950s the impending arrival of television created public expectation in Puerto Rico, even influencing other entertainment mediums in the form of a song. WKAQ-TV was the first station to introduce regular programing in 1954, followed closely by WAPA-TV. The owners of these stations, Ángel Ramos and José Ramón Quiñones, brought their experience in the newspaper and radio industries to the new medium. The competition between WKAQ and WAPA would continue for decades, with both disputing the milestones of first videotape in 1966, first color transmission and satellite transmission in 1968. During decades, the ratings were dominated by local programming produced by Tommy Muñiz and Paquito Cordero, which adopted a family friendly approach. However, the retirement of the former, combined with the introduction of cable television and the acquisition of the largest stations by foreign interest brought changes in content beginning in the 1980s, with late-night shows and double entendre gaining prominence. Digital television was introduced to the market in 2009, widely displacing analog television.

History

Early years On July 24, 1952, Ángel Ramos received approval from the FCC to create his own station within four years. José Ramón Quiñones received his on August 12, 1952. On February 12, 1954, El Mundo Broadcasting Company and WKAQ-TV officially received its license to operate channel 2. Ponce de León Broadcasting Company and WAPA-TV received channel 4 on March 15, 1954. Heavy publicity preceded the inauguration of WKAQ-TV with El Mundo serving as its main outlet, but the inauguration suffered postponement to March due to a delay in the arrival of a transmission tower and meanwhile a static image of a native man would be in place. It was then assembled at Marquesa mountain in Aguas Buenas, some 2,000 feet above sea level. The frequency was set to 100,000 watts. The station would become the first local transmitter, with its first show being aired at 6:30 p.m. on March 28, 1954, from San Juan. Puerto Rican star Mapy Cortés appeared along her husband Fernando in the first programs when the medium was inaugurated. WAPA-TV tested images and commercials in February 25 and March 5, even airing an interview with Felisa Rincón de Gautier hosted by Carlos Rubén Ortiz and Enrique Soler, but did not follow it. WAPA-TV would introduce its programming on May 1, 1954. Most of the publicity surrounded WKAQ-TV, with El Mundo being particularly sympathetic to owner Ángel Ramos despite other stations emerging. El Imparcial, in response, gave its publicity to WAPA-TV and its owner José R. Quiñones, who adopted an educational and religious approach in its programming. Alma Latina magazine gave coverage to all.

Ramos gifted televisions to his employees, while more where awarded as a price in contests promoted by El Mundo and WKAQ Radio. One of those was won by the head nun of a retirement home, causing confusion among the residents when the monitor was sent. Some residents managed to intercept foreign signals prior to the inauguration. A Supreme Court judge even suggested that an accused man should buy a television to entertain himself when granting him bail. Competition between television manufacturers began before the nascent industry was inaugurated. Corporations dedicated to selling furniture and eyeglasses benefited from the arrival. Prior to the arrival of the new industry, 4,000 television sets had been sold. In its first year, WKAQ was airing 90 live shows per week, while WAPA-TV only had 30, but WAPA then founded its own studios to improve that quantity. However, its nascent status was still reflected in the instability of programming, which in turn put the work of entertainers, news reporters and producers at risk. Only a dozen of WKAQ's initial shows survived its first year. Efforts were made to meet the standards of the advertisers with the money available-the TV stations' staff would multitask and script writers would be in charge of more than one show at a time. Demographics were targeted to meet the demands of these brands, with people such as Carmen Despradel targeting a specific audience (in her case, housewives). Early television was heavily dependent on advertisers, who would place advertisements in shows and even annex their brand to the name. However, this resulted in unappealing titles. By 1956, WKAQ-TV had instituted a limit of three minutes of commercials per half-hour show. It was these advertisers who would arbitrarily select the format, talents and other aspects of programming. Several figures migrating from radio began working advertisements, which opened the door for some to become established and earn other roles in television.

Television proved to be a hit, and within a year there were at least 53,194 television sets owned in the country, which equaled one for every 42 Puerto Ricans. Within two years, radio had experienced a sharp decline, with stations losing both advertisements and entertainers amidst the instability. Radio personalities complained that there were difficulties entering into the new medium, which had since created its own clique. Ramón Rivero continued to thrive in both mediums with his character of "Diplo". Ante la ley, the first Puerto Rican telenovela, was aired on August 22, 1955, by WKAQ-TV. WAPA-TV responded with Mar Brava, perpetuating the genre in local television for decades to come. Local radio technicians traveled abroad to become acquainted with the new technology, while foreign personnel also arrived to participate in the nascent industry. By 1956, the growing quantity of foreign entertainers coming to work in Puerto Rican television shows had caused an increasing anger in the local entertainers. During that year's summer, three shows produced by Tommy Muñiz held the top spots in the ratings. On April 29, 1959, El colegio de la alegría was revived at WAPA-TV, with its original cast and the addition of Velda González and Yoyo Boing. By early 1961, the amount of TV sets in Puerto Rico had increased to nearly 218,000 sets. This trend continued until Puerto Rico became the place with most television sets by square mile in Latin America and the Caribbean. Entering the 1960s, the prime-time slots were occupied by Myrta Silva's Una hora contigo and Rendezvous Nocturno hosted by Vilma Carbia and Tony Chiroldi. Foreigners such as Gaspar Pumarejo would replace this group. Meanwhile, WKAQ-TV only counted with El Show Libby's hosted by Luis Vigoreaux and El Show Ford hosted by Cordero as its local productions, with most being imported. By this time WKAQ, WAPA, WIPR and WKBM were based in San Juan, WRIK and WSUR at Ponce, WORA and WIPM at Mayagüez and WOLE at Aguadilla. WKBM-TV was founded by Rafael Pérez Perry, a radio entrepreneur. In February 1960, WKAQ debuted its videotape equipment, the first in Latin America. However, the complications that arose from using a costly new technology meant that most shows were still filmed live, with it becoming more popular for soap operas and commercials. WAPA, WIPR and WKBM introduced the technology as well and some years later it was predominant. By September 1956, however, the local channels had begun airing more kinescope, which were cheaper to air than a live production.

Increase in local programming Early in its run, foreign programming would be imported to meet demands. WKAQ had its own dubbing department, which contracted local talent. By June 1960, Paquito Cordero opted to leave Producciones Tommy Muñiz and begin producing its own shows, creating a competition between both. He established his headquarters at First Federal building and kept the advertisement of Ford Motor Company and El show Ford with it. In late 1961, Muñiz decided to grant exclusivity to WAPA-TV. Reina por un día was dominant in the ratings for six years and shifted from channel to channel, in 1960 it moved from WKAQ to WAPA and went back in 1964, where it joined El show del mediodía in a noon block produced by Producciones Tommy Muñiz. The show resulted in thousands of letters being sent to Producciones Tommy Muñiz, where people exposed their problems in hopes that they would be attended in the show. This block marked the first time that daytime shows dominated the ratings in Puerto Rico. With Muñiz's El show del mediodía dominating the noon ratings, WKAQ decided to bring Paquito Cordero in 1965. A conflict between APATE and Roberto Vigoreaux, Paquito Cordero and Mario Pabón over the use of foreign talent lead to WAPA-TV stopping its production of telenovelas for nearly a decade. Meanwhile, in the previous decade more local stations had been inaugurated. WORA-TV began airing on October 12, 1955, due to the efforts of Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano to create a station for the west coast of Puerto Rico. On January 6, 1958, the government debuted its own station, WIPR-TV, with the claim that it was the first educational station in Latin America. On February 2, 1958, Mario Villalonga debuted his station in the south coast. In December 1955, WKAQ received new equipment to film in kinescope. WRIK-TV was founded by Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano as a re-transmitter of WKAQ-TV, airing on Channel 7. During the 1960s, a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures named Screen Gems bought WAPA-TV and placed Norman Louvau as its new president. However, unable to communicate in Spanish, most of the work ended in the hands of Vice President Héctor Modestti, who insisted on eliminating American shows that were dubbed. With this came a change in programming, during which Tommy Muñiz's La criada malcriada was pitched to the channel while the producers and advertisers involved in a pilot filmed at WKAQ had conflicts with that station's protocols. In 1965, Cordero debuted El show de las doce at WKAQ as a response to the popular El show del mediodía. Unable to best its competition's comedy, the show instead focused on music acts with the collaboration of bands such as El Gran Combo. In response, Muñiz incorporated a similar content to El show del mediodía. While Cordero brought in El show de Olga y Tony, WAPA responded with Kon kon paz. WKAQ then aired segments with El club canta la juventud, Chucho Avellanet, Lucecita Benítez, Alfred D. Herger and Al Zeppy. These exchanges continued and eventually, Cordero brought in Rivera in Mi hippie me encanta, resulting in an exchange where both shows reinforced its comedy. This competition also featured special shows, such as an episode of El show de las doce focused on the marriage of Avellanet and Lissette Álvarez in 1967. Muñiz debuted a short lived duo, Wilkins y Rubén, which launched Wilkins' solo career as soon as it was broken and along Yolandita Monge first received media attention in El show del mediodía. Meanwhile, Carmita Jímenez, Danny Rivera as Charityn Goyco were also featured. However, a comedy act where an affair of governor Roberto Sánchez Villella was mentioned caused the ire of Louvau, whom Muñiz initially dismissed but ultimately removed the segment from the air and brought Desafiando a los genios. Muñiz also introduced a section called El show de estrellas internacionales, where foreign talent was presented, whom he contracted to appear in a number of events and shows, including his latest addition Simpli la secretaria which aired Wednesdays. Despite the changes experienced by the introduction of color television in 1966, Muñiz did not bother with the new format and instead continued as usual. Eventually, El show del mediodía began airing in color. In 1966, La criada malcriada was converted in a film. Popular with the Puerto Rican diaspora, the adaptation set a new record in Columbia Pictures' Latin market. The movie also market the debut of Jacobo Morales as film director. Six out of the top ten programs in the ratings chart were made by Producciones Tommy Muñiz.

Color television