. radio caracas televisi n internacional launched 15 november 1953 ; 62 years ago 15 november 1953 as an over the air network 16 july 2007 ; 9 years ago 16 july 2007 as a cable satellite only network owned by radio caracas televisi n rctv c.a. an empresas 1bc company audience share 1 22 april 2008 1 slogan marca el paso sets the pace country venezuela language spanish headquarters caracas distrito capital venezuela formerly called radio caracas televisi n rctv 15 november 1953 16 july 2007 website rctv site availability satellite directv venezuela channel 103 cable net uno channels may vary intercable 13 supercable channels may vary planet cable channels may vary radio caracas televisi n internacional rctv internacional is a venezuelan cable television network headquartered in the caracas neighborhood of quinta crespo . it was sometimes referred to as the canal de b rcenas . owned by empresas 1bc rctv internacional was inaugurated as radio caracas televisi n rctv on 15 november 1953 by william h. phelps jr. . its radio counterpart was radio caracas radio . 2 on 27 may 2007 rctv made headlines when the government of venezuela decided not to renew their radio broadcast concession for what it said was the station s role in the 2002 coup which briefly overthrew venezuela s democratically elected government . 3 4 the supreme court of justice tribunal supremo de justicia or tsj upheld the decision by the national commission of telecommunications conatel not to renew rctv s broadcast license . rctv continued to broadcast via satellite and cable as rctv international . in january 2010 rctv was sanctioned with temporary closure for failing to respect venezuelan media law . it rejected the venezuelan media regulator s finding that it was a domestic media provider . in 2010 the council on foreign relations described rctv as the most important independent television station in venezuela . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 1953 to 1960 1.2 1960 to 1970 1.3 1970 to 1980 1.4 1980 to 1990 1.5 1990 to 2000 1.6 2000 onwards 2 2007 end of terrestrial broadcast concession 2.1 background 2.2 end of concession 2.3 rctv interpretation 2.4 national reactions 2.5 international reactions 2.6 rctv alternatives 2.7 iachr 3 2007 onwards broadcasting via cable satellite 4 news and broadcasts 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit 1953 to 1960 edit rctv s logo from 1953 to 1979 radio caracas televisi n c.a. was established on 18 august 1953 by the corporaci n radiof nica de venezuela more commonly known as coraven a subsidiary of the grupo phelps and rca whose mission was that of launching a television network . 2 6 in the month of september radio caracas televisi n rctv began test broadcasts on channel seven using the call sign yvks tv and on 15 november the network was officially inaugurated at 7 30 pm . rctv was the third television network to begin operations in venezuela after televisora nacional and televisa seen on channels five and four respectively and the second commercial network after televisa . 2 rctv headquarters in caracas on 8 october during rctv s testing phase the inaugural game of the xiv world cup of baseball was broadcast . this game matched cuba and venezuela and took place at the recently opened stadium of the ciudad universitaria de caracas . 2 7 the official inauguration of rctv took place at its studios located between the corners of b rcenas and r o in quinta crespo and had the presence of the minister of communications colonel f lix rom n moreno the proprietors of the network and a small group of special guests . in charge of the inauguration was william h. phelps jr. the founding president of the company and his wife kathy phelps . 7 the first program that was aired by the newly inaugurated network was the musical fiesta which hosted by ram rez cabrera and sponsored by cerveza caracas . afterwards rctv aired a program titled el farol which was then followed by a program sponsored by cigarrillos alas that was directed by peggy walker which featured alfredo sadel who had just returned from new york city in time for rctv s inauguration . 2 the first voice that identified the network was that of h ctor myerston . 8 the following day rctv began transmitting its regular programming on channel seven presenting programs such as el observador creole cuento musical venezolano tont n y tontona the police adventures of roy martin and the adventures of kid carson to name a few . el observador creole was venezuela s first regular newscast presented by the creole petroleum corporation a subsidiary of standard oil of new jersey . the face and voice of francisco amado pern a animated the newscasts from monday to saturday and sunday the newscast had crist bal rodr quez pantoja as presenter . el observador creole remained on the air for almost twenty years being replaced by el observador venezolano and then relaunched as el observador . 2 rctv s first board of directors included jos marcano coello peter bottome armando enrique gu a guillermo tucker arismendi william h. phelps jr. and antonio ortol . 2 in 1954 anecdotario appeared . this was the first cultural program that theatrically represented great works of literature . it was directed by margarita gelabert and c sar henr quez . 7 other cultural programs similar to anecdotario included kaleidoscopio teatro del lunes gran teatro ciclorama cuentos del camino and candilejas . 9 later that year rctv debuted their first telenovela camay which was on at 9 00 pm . as a result of camay s popularity rctv began producing more telenovelas which became an important part of the network s programming throughout the years . in the 1950s telenovelas contained between 20 and 25 episodes with each episode lasting 15 minutes about three minuted were allocated to advertisements and were televised live . 7 in december 1954 rctv began broadcasting simultaneously on channels two and seven . 2 in early 1955 rctv began to transmit exclusively to caracas on channel two from a new transmitting station located in the neighborhood of la colina . in the month of july rctv began its regular service to the interior of the country . a repeater antenna was installed in altamira south of lake valencia allowing rctv to reach by way of channel seven valencia maracay and surrounding towns . later rctv put into service their repeater antenna in curimagua falc n state so that their signal could reach the entire state and the netherlands antilles on channel 10 . this station was one of the most modern stations in the moment of its installation . 2 also in 1955 the morning show that projected renny ottolina to national fame made its national premiere . lo de hoy came on at 7 30 a.m. and lasted until 9 00 a.m. it was an adaptation of nbc s today show and as a result of the record audience that it obtained the show was extended to two hours . 7 in 1958 ottolina left lo de hoy and went on to host his very own variety show el show de renny . 2 in march 1956 the operations of the repeater station of isla de toas commenced by which on channel two rctv s signal arrived in zulia state . in september 1956 rctv installed an antenna in pariata to serve what is now vargas state . 2 in 1957 rctv expanded their coverage to the national level offering an uninterrupted signal of high quality . 7 in january 1957 rctv improved their installations at curimagua and were able to offer an uninterrupted and higher quality signal to the falcon state and the netherlands antilles . the network also began service to the state of lara by way of channel three transmitting from mount manzano in barquisimeto . on 31 october 1957 rctv began its first service from puerto la cruz to cover the northeastern region of venezuela on channel three . 2 in 1958 after the fall of dictator marcos p rez jim nez on 23 january of that year rctv began airing la voz de la revoluci n the first political talk show to air in venezuela . 9 in 1959 tito martinez del box a producer from argentina created the comedy series la gran cruzada del buen humor later known as radio rochela . in 2001 radio rochela made the guinness world records for being on the air for over five decades uninterrupted it was seen every monday at 8 00 pm . 9 by the end of the 1950s there existed five television channels in venezuela the state channel televisora nacional and private networks televisa radio caracas televisi n televisa del zulia and ondas del lago televisi n. 2 1960 to 1970 edit by the 1960s the american television network nbc had purchased a twenty percent stake in rctv . 6 although today nbc no longer owns any part of rctv rctv is affiliated with telemundo nbc s spanish language network . in 1961 rctv with the help of their radio counterpart began their first experiments with stereo sound during the broadcast of a variety show . 2 on 17 september 1961 rctv put into use their first videotape system a technology which permitted the consolidation of recordings of sounds and images . 7 also in 1961 a major fire affected eighty percent of the operating facilities of the network . as a result of this event rctv went on the air with an emergency programming . 2 later in 1961 the network offered their first service to the city of puerto cabello from an antenna located at the naval base in that city . 2 in 1962 rctv began using the first selector of images that was fabricated entirely in the country demonstrating a technological advancement for the network . 2 also in 1962 rctv began its first service to the state of t chira and the norte de santander department in colombia from an antenna located in the high barren plain of el zumbador . 2 on 24 august 1963 rctv was given the exclusive rights to broadcast the inauguration of the general rafael urdaneta bridge over lake maracaibo . 2 on this day rctv realized their first transmission via microwave transmitters from the antennas in curimagua and maracaibo . the use of the electronic pointer was incorporated . 7 on every 17 december between the years 1963 and 1969 rctv presented and reran by popular demand a made for tv movie that re created the death of sim n bol var . written by alfredo cortina starred by the peruvian actor luis mu oz lecaro sim n bol var directed by jos antonio ferrara and presented by ruben dar o villasmil el ocaso de un sol made its mark by being one of the first creations by rctv recorded on videotape . 2 in 1964 rctv began using their new transmitters located in the mountains southeast of puerto la cruz and barcelona to offer a higher quality signal by way of channel three to isla margarita cuman barcelona puerto la cruz and surrounding areas in the states of sucre and anzo tegui . later rctv inaugurated the transmitters on pico terepaima to the south of barquisimeto to serve with quality the states of lara yaracuy and portuguesa by way of channel three and the one in maracaibo covering with better image and sound the state zulia . in november from pico zamuro trujillo rctv began transmitting its signal to the towns of trujillo valera biscucuy bocon guanare and their surrounding areas . 2 in the 1960s the number of episodes contained in each telenovela increased with each one episode lasting between 30 and 60 minutes long also telenovelas were no longer made live as a result of the arrival of the videotape .