The Portuguese Channel

Last updated

The Portuguese Channel is a cable channel targeting Portuguese immigrants in New Bedford and Fall River, in the south of New England, an area with a high amount of Portuguese immigrants and their descendants. The channel is available in much of the Providence and Boston DMAs, on both Cox and Xfinity cable systems. [1]

Contents

History

The Portuguese Channel was founded in 1976 by Colony Communications, by initiative of its president Bruce Clark. The primary goal of the service was to increase penetration of cable services in New Bedford, an area where 60% of its population was of Portuguese descent; 30% of Colony's subscribers were from this group. [2] Initially a pilot service starting August 2, 1976 [3] named Panorama de Portugal, [4] aired once a week on Colony channel 13, [5] its success led to the channel becoming permanent in 1978. The playout of the channel in its early years was done at Colony's facilities in New Bedford, but by the late 1980s, was now entirely owned by The Portuguese Times, a local newspaper for the diaspora. [6] Colony's team also produced music videos of Portuguese artists for them to be shown on the channel, shot on location in Portugal, and lip-synced to the track. [6]

Early on, there was also a plan to telecast Luso American Soccer Association matches, which was achieved by initiative of Adelino Ferreira, at the time president of LASA (and later president of The Portuguese Times). During these broadcasts, Portuguese immigrants headed to Café Portugal in Acushnet and other establishments that were connected to Colony's cable system. [7]

The channel earned a CableACE Award in 1980 [8] for specialized programming. [9]

The growth of the channel's viewer base was thanks to TV Globo's telenovelas. Eduardo Lima had a contact working for Globo and recommended A Escrava Isaura, which was one of the first Brazilian telenovelas to air in the United States. The channel continues to broadcast titles from Globo's catalog even though TV Globo Internacional is available nationwide. With the success of A Escrava Isaura, Lucélia Santos and Rubens de Falco visited New Bedford at the initiative of the channel, and also received other Globo stars later on. [7]

Another successful initiative started by Lima was the broadcast of the Sunday mass to reach out to viewers who were unable to attend the service in person due to health reasons. [7]

As of 1984, the channel broadcast nine hours a day. The American technical crew went to mainland Portugal and the Azores to film footage of sporting events to later rebroadcast them on the channel. [10]

On November 13, 1994, house painter Manuel Bonifácio from Somerville started a hunger strike (limiting to juice and water) with the aim of adding a permanent local channel. Time Warner Cable issued a compromise stating that it would add Portuguese programming on a public access channel, while Bonifácio claimed that smaller cable companies had free access to such a service. [11]

The Portuguese Times sold the channel to Semba Studio LLC in May 2016, a decision also approved by Comcast, [7] a company with links to Semba Comunicação, an Angolan company that had links to the Angolan presidential family, for a sum of US$350,000. The channel underwent a massive renovation process costing US$300,000. [12]

In March 2022, the channel increased its penetration in 21 additional cities in the greater Boston area and moved its location on all Comcast head-ends in the region to channel 93. [13]

Programming

On weekdays, the channel broadcasts from 6pm to 12am with a variety of in-house productions, including a daily news bulletin (Telejornal, only on weekdays) and talk-shows for the community, as well as a local program from the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God near the end of the schedule. Telenovelas from TVI and TV Globo are also broadcast. The channel also broadcasts two masses, one on Sundays at 7pm and one on Wednesdays at 9:30pm. On weekends the schedule is geared more towards entertainment. The evening schedule is later repeated overnight and in the following morning. [14]

In 2018, Hora Quente, which was formerly produced in Angola and aired on TPA 2 and TPA Internacional before the end of Semba's contract with TPA in 2017, was revived on The Portuguse Channel, produced by Semba's CEO Coréon Dú. A pilot program was broadcast in December 2017. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucélia Santos</span> Brazilian actress, director and producer (born 1957)

Maria Lucélia dos Santos is a Brazilian actress, director and producer. She received international acclaim for her leading role in the 1976 Rede Globo telenovela Isaura, The Slave Girl, broadcast in over 80 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV Globo</span> Brazilian commercial television network

TV Globo, formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo. The TV station is by far the largest of its holdings. TV Globo is the largest commercial TV network in Latin America and the second-largest commercial TV network in the world behind the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and the largest producer of telenovelas. All of this makes Globo renowned as one of the most important television networks in the world and Grupo Globo as one of the largest media groups.

<i>Escrava Isaura</i> (1976 TV series) 1976–1977 Brazilian telenovela

Escrava Isaura is a 1976 Brazilian telenovela produced by TV Globo, originally broadcast between October 11, 1976 and February 5, 1977. Based on the 1865 novel of the same name by 19th century abolitionist writer Bernardo Guimarães, it tells the story of the struggles of Isaura, a white-skinned slave, to find happiness during the Brazilian Empire. It starred Lucélia Santos in the title role and Rubens de Falco as slave owner Leôncio Almeida, the main antagonist. It was adapted by Gilberto Braga and directed by Herval Rossano and Milton Gonçalves, running 100 episodes.

CBS Telenoticias was a subscription news television channel operated by CBS, headquartered in Miami. It was the first news channel to broadcast its programming in Spanish and Portuguese languages to Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Record (TV network)</span> Brazilian commercial television network

Record, formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in the 2012 world ranking. In 2010, it was elected by the advertising market as the fifth largest station in the world in revenues and the eighth largest network in physical structure. In June 2021, it ranked second among the most watched channels in the country in the National Television Panel, behind only TV Globo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multishow</span> Television station in Brazil

Multishow is an entertainment channel owned by Canais Globo, Grupo Globo's cable and satellite television channel operator. It was launched in 1991, as one of the company's first four channels. A high-definition simulcast was launched on December 15, 2012, at 11:59 pm Brazilian Summer Time (UTC-02), with a live telecast of a Rolling Stones concert at the Prudential Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Television in Brazil</span>

Television in Brazil has grown significantly since the first broadcasts in 1950, becoming one of largest and most productive commercial television systems in the world. Its biggest network, TV Globo, is the largest commercial network in South America, and is one of the major television exporter globally, particularly of telenovelas, having become popular in many countries. There are more than 90 free-to-air television networks, as well as satellite channels broadcasting throughout the country.

Telecommunications in Angola include telephone, radio, television, and the Internet. The government controls all broadcast media with a nationwide reach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Televisão Pública de Angola</span> Public television broadcaster in Angola

Televisão Pública de Angola E.P. or TPA is the national broadcaster of the Southern African state of Angola. It operates two generalist television channels and a news channel. TPA is headquartered in the capital city Luanda and broadcasts in the Portuguese language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telenovela</span> Latin American television genre

A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines tele and novela. Similar drama genres around the world include diziler (Turkey), serial (India), teleserye (Philippines), lakorn (Thailand), teleromanzo (Italy), téléroman, K-drama, J-drama (Japan), C-drama (China) and sinetron (Indonesia).

The Brazilian telenovela, the most popular form of teledramaturgy in Brazil, has been produced and aired in the country since the 1950s. Sua Vida Me Pertence, written and directed by Walter Forster and shown on the now-defunct TV Tupi São Paulo between December 21, 1951 and February 15, 1952, was the world's first telenovela. According to Keske & Scherer, telenovelas have held the "status of the most profitable product in the Brazilian cultural industry" since the mid-1970s.

TV Zimbo is the first private TV station in Angola. TV Zimbo is owned by the private media publisher Medianova.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV Globo Internacional</span> Television channel

TV Globo Internacional is an international pay television channel broadcasting from Brazil. It was launched on 24 August 1999 and it is owned by Grupo Globo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coréon Dú</span> Musical artist

José Eduardo Paulino dos Santos, also known by his stage name Coréon Dú, is a multilingual Angolan recording artist, creative director, designer, screenwriter and producer. He is known for his distinct Angolan musical style, fashion choices and his contributions to projects inspired by Angolan Pop culture in music, dance, fashion, TV and films.

Record Europa is a Portuguese pay television channel owned by Record, a Brazilian television network. Its programming is mostly taken from the Brazilian network. It provides general entertainment, telenovelas, Brazilian reality TV shows, and news. The channel also produces a limited amount of local content. Similar to what happens in Brazil, Record's main competitor is Globo. Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus religious programming is transmitted at late nights.

Gilberto Tumscitz Braga was a Brazilian screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trece (Paraguayan TV network)</span> Paraguayan broadcast television channel

Trece is a Paraguayan free-to-air television network launched in 1981. It is the head station of the JBB Group, which as of 11 January 2016 adopted this name. Channel 13 was the second television station to start nationwide broadcasts, after SNT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telemundo Africa</span> African subscription television channel

Telemundo Africa is an African cable television channel broadcast on 12 August 2013 by DStv in more than 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Owned by NBCUniversal International Networks, the channel programming is dedicated to the Spanish-language telenovelas produced by Telemundo Television Studios. The channel is available in English and Portuguese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TPA 2</span> Television channel

TPA 2 is an Angolan over-the-air television channel owned by Televisão Pública de Angola. The channel was directly responsible for the playout and its programming until 2017 and since January 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TPA 1</span> Television channel

TPA1 is the main and generalist channel of Televisão Pública de Angola. Until 2017 it was the only state-owned terrestrial television channel in Angola following the period where TPA 2 was outsourced to Semba Comunicação and the arrival of private channels TV Zimbo and Palanca TV, both channels that later fell under the sphere of influence of the state.

References

  1. ↑ "COVERAGE AREA". The Portuguese Channel. 2022. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  2. ↑ TVC. Cardiff Publishing Company. 1979. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  3. ↑ https://portuguesetimes.com/admin/archive/Edi%C3%A7%C3%A3o%202350%20-%2006%20de%20julho%20de%202016.pdf
  4. ↑ https://portuguesetimes.com/admin/archive/Suplemento%20Especial%20PT%202500.pdf
  5. ↑ "Comunidades Portuguesas" (PDF). 28 June 1978. p. 48. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Channels" (PDF). November 1989. p. 44. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Portuguese Times vende Portuguese Channel, The Portuguese Times, 4 May 2016
  8. ↑ Telecommunications Miscellaneous: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1982. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  9. ↑ TVC. Cardiff Publishing Company. 1982. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Merrill, Jane (1984). Bringing Up Baby Bilingual. Facts on File Publications. ISBN   9780871967176 . Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  11. ↑ Hunger strike is for TV, North Adams Transcript, 21 November 1994, p.16
  12. ↑ "Secrets of the Dos Santos media empire". Africa Confidential. Vol. 58, no. 18. 8 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "Portuguese Channel to reach 21 additional cities and towns in Mass". Fall River Herald News. 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  14. ↑ https://portuguesetimes.com/admin/archive/Edi%C3%A7%C3%A3o%202765%20-%2019%20de%20junho%20de%202024.pdf
  15. ↑ "Programa "Hora Quente" passa a ser feito agora nos E.U.A e a ser exibo no The Portuguese Channel". AngoRussia. 4 January 2018. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.