The Beginning of Commercial TV in Cuba

Development of the telecommunications sector in Cuba is best understood within historical, political, and economic contexts, such as relations between Cuba and the United States, laws regulating specific sectors of communications in Cuba, and the geographic proximity of Cuba to the United States. These factors contributed to the situation in which, during the first decade of Cuban television broadcasting, countless elements of the industry were imported. Among them were capital financing and technologies such as television transmitters and receivers, professional organizational patterns, marketing practices, and commercial communication and market research strategies applied to electronic communications media. In terms of content, TV programs and news from U.S. networks were imported, as were assorted models of programs created in the United States, which were then converted into Spanish-language versions.

Cuba became, in some ways, a unique laboratory for the United States. Experiments involving technologies, TV program genres, and the practices surrounding production, communication, and trade were carried out in Cuba—a small market but one that represented Spanish-speaking culture. These strategies were later generalized to the Caribbean and Latin American region by different means. Among these were the application of transnational structures of TV stations, the use of international publicity agencies, and the presence of Cuban artists and technicians in the creation and development of TV stations in different countries throughout Ibero-America.

These developments were first seen during one week in December 1946, when station CM-21P transmitted an experimental broadcast of a live TV show between two distant points of La Habana (Havana) city. This broadcast displayed the possibilities of the new audiovisual electronic technique. By 1950, Cuba had become the third country in Latin America with regular TV broadcasts. This was an initiative of private enterprises that, like those in the United States, were financially based on the marketing and commercial practices of TV, a system of sponsors and advertisers. Most of the earliest television managers came from radio and, to a lesser extent, from the film industry, other productive sectors of the economy, and even some posts in the national government.

The first TV channel, Union Radio TV (Channel 4), was arranged and directed by Gaspar Pumarejo Such, then general director of the radio network of the same name. Union Radio TV was supported by RCA representatives in Cuba and other participants in the commercially based national communications sectors. The station began television test-broadcasting with interviews and shows October 14, 1950. Its official opening took place with the broadcasting of a ceremony via remote control from the Presidential Palace (now the Museum of the Revolution) on October 24, 1950. Later, this TV station would be affiliated with DuMont, a U.S. television network.

On December 18, 1950, the second Cuban TV channel, CMQ-TV (Channel 6), began experimental broadcasting. It was directed by Goar Mestre Espinosa, also chief executive of CMQ S.A., which at the same time owned the CMQ radio network. It was officially inaugurated on March 11, 1951, and later became affiliated with the U.S. television network NBC.

Other channels—CMBF-TV (Channel 7); CMBA-TV, Telemundo (Channel 2); and TV Caribe (Channel 11)—were established in 1953. Telemundo later joined the CBS network (U.S.). In 1955 TV Habanera (Channel 10) appeared and also soon became an associate of NBC. Gaspar Pumarejo was again a pioneer when his Channel 12, Telecolor S.A., began in 1957 to broadcast daily for more than 16 hours. This commercial, color television station continued the daily broadcast in La Habana for almost two years.

This concentration of channels broadcasting from the capital city of Cuba unleashed a frenzy of competition for the television market. Competition centered on TV networks in La Habana, and later in the provincial capitals, but it also involved the remaining media-announcers, publicity firms, and U.S. producers of TV transmitters and receivers, most of them represented in Cuba at that time.

This multiple participation within the exceptional 1950s economic-cultural environment in La Habana led to a heavy financial investment and a rapid increase in commercial channels. The channels supported their positions in the competitive mix with an emphasis on designing TV programs, experimenting with technological systems and communications equipment, and/or developing commercial communication practices and market research. These experiments contributed to Cuba’s role as a leader in developing diverse TV technologies in Ibero-America and throughout the world.

Notable developments and innovations in the history of television in Cuba include the following:

1950: Two Cuban commercial TV channels begin broadcasting from La Habana in the same quarterly time frame.

1952: A video network covering the main provincial capitals, CMQ-TV, Channel 6, is established.

1952: Regular use of the kinescope at CMQ-TV, Channel 6.

1954: CMQ-TV, Channel 6, transmits a live TV program (Major League Baseball’s World Series) between two countries using an airplane as a relay.

1954: The teleprompter is used regularly as an assisting device for dramatic and news programs in Gaspar Pumarejo’s organization, then on Channel 2.

1957: Direct transmission of regular, live TV signal between the United States and Cuba (sometimes vice-versa) occurs, using the Over the Horizon System on CMQ-TV, Channel 6.

1957: Local color, commercial TV channel, Telecolor S.A., Channel 12, broadcasts 16 hours daily.

1958: Videotape is used experimentally.

The overall design of Cuban television programs favored not only entertainment, variety shows, and commercials but also other cultural forms. Despite its heavy commercial focus, television looked for settings for actors and communications and economic agents, providing opportunities in the specific environment of the new medium. Many scriptwriters, adapters, producers, directors, actors, and technicians came to television from varying backgrounds, including the radio, theater, and film industries. These opportunities developed because La Habana was one of the leading cultural industry locations; this centrality offered unique conditions for assimilating the most deeply rooted cultural patterns of Cuba, for speeding up the creation of an audience for program design and commercial messages, and for increasing the number of consumers of TV receivers. The migration to the new medium became prominent early in the Cuban television industry, which though it broadcast typical commercial programs, poured into Cuban television the different cultural expressions and genres deeply rooted in the audience. Among these are bufo and zarzuela (types of operetta); universal, classic, and contemporary theater; ballet; opera; humor; music; and sports. In fact, some television genres and programs that later evolved into worldwide paradigms were created and broadcast first in Cuba.

Examples of these developments include the following:

1950: A complete baseball game, with full remote control, is broadcast from a stadium, as TV programs from two early channels developed from that very year to the most diverse sports programming.

1950: Images of a surgical operation performed in a La Habana hospital are broadcast to different parts of the capital city.

1952: A Spanish-language telenovela (soap opera) is broadcast every afternoon, Monday through Saturday, on CMQ-TV, Channel 6.

1953: The Miss Universe pageant is sponsored by and broadcast on Union Radio TV, Channel 4.

1953: A telethon is first broadcast as a fund-raising device by Union Radio TV, Channel 4.

Public Service Television

In 1960 the Cuban government took over the administration of communications media, shifting their focus to public service. Since May 24, 1962, the activities of electronic media have been coordinated by the Radio and TV Coordination Office, the predecessor of the Cuban Broadcasting Institute (Instituto Cubano de la Radiodifusión, ICR), which was officially renamed the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (Instituto Cubano de Radio y Television, ICRT) in 1976. Today this organization constitutes the strongest public radio and television system in the Ibero-American region. The first decade of public service television in Cuba also established decisive links among historical, political, economic, and technological factors.

Amid a radical social transformation of television, La Habana became a network stronghold. Some networks had repeaters at main province capitals, but their entire coverage only reached 50 percent of the Cuban territory through use of a transmitting-receiving technology imported mainly from the United States and a microwave network mostly controlled by radio and television consortiums. With the beginning of the U.S. economic blockade in 1962, however, and the breaking of commercial, political, and financial ties, the bulk of available, U.S.-derived technology grew obsolete.

The main challenge of Cuban public service television has always been to serve increasing demands concerning coverage, technological diversification, and programming content—for the state as well as every other aspect of Cuban society—without taking into account ideal technological and financial resources to fulfill these aims. In the 1960s, electricity reached the most remote areas of the country, and the number of television sets owned by people increased. Meanwhile, the basis of a national-coverage broadcast system (including Isle of Youth, formerly the Isle of Pines), and rural and/or mountain range zones, had to be implemented with the least financial investment, the highest efficiency, and technological and communicative effectiveness.

The reorganization, rationalization, and centralization process of Cuban television at a national level of technological and enterprise infrastructure led to the redistribution of television transmitters, which were transferred to the Ministry of Communications in 1967. It also led to the merging of existing TV channels and networks and the creation of new operational structures.

TV Station and Producing Houses

By this time, the Cuban television system was made up of two national networks, Channels 6 and 2. A third system, Telerebelde, was created later, having a regional character. Telerebelde broadcast from the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, sending its own programs to the five surrounding eastern provinces. Some time later, Canal 2 was renamed Telerebelde and Santiago de Cuba’s channel became a territorial center of the system.

An important step in the expansion of the national system of Cuban television was the progressive creation of the Regional Network of 15 territorial television stations, which today covers all 14 provinces and the Isle of Youth, a special municipality. These territorial channels, or telecentros, produce and make their own programming according to the in formational needs and unique traditions of their respective audiences. These programs are broadcast during a set schedule, in the assigned area, and when they sign off, their frequency is transferred to national networks. A selection of the aforementioned regional programming also feeds national networks.

The international Cuban TV satellite channel Cubavision Internacional began operation in 1986. Its assorted cultural and informative programming concerning Cuba was initially oriented toward Cuban students and workers living temporarily in Africa. Today, its 24-hour coverage has been widened to North America, Latin America, and Africa, and its content has been diversified with other dramatic and regular genres from Cuban television.

TV Serrana, a UNESCO and ICRT joint project, began in 1993 at the San Pablo del Yao, Buey Arriba, Sierra Maestra mountain range (Granma province) in the eastern part of the country. TV Serrana is both a producer and community territorial cultural center, opening its production and video exhibits (documentary and news reports) on diverse themes concerning the community and its environment to community inhabitants who also work as creators of these audio-visual productions. Its productions are also screened in international events and festivals, as well as in national TV programming.

In November 2001, the third Cuban national network, Canal Educativo, began broadcasting from La Habana. In its first stage its signal covered La Habana’s two provinces; by 2002 the entire national territory was covered. This network produces and disseminates direct and indirect educational content, from TV classes for every educational level to didactic programs such as Mi TV (for child audiences) and Universidad para Todos (general population). It also airs foreign and domestic documentaries and reports on arts, history, nature, and languages. The opening of a second network also specializing in educational themes is expected in the first quarter of 2004.