June 13, 1954 was the first television broadcast in Colombia.
Photo: Eder Rodríguez
The first television broadcast in Colombia was about to fail. The transmitter that was imported from Holland was at risk of being returned before making landfall. The flight carrying the device, with a Dutch license plate, did not have a landing permit, since there was no formal aeronautical treaty with the European country. The intervention of Lieutenant General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, president of the time, was necessary so that the plane could land at the Techo Airport.
It wasn’t the only mess. The Cuban, Argentine and German technicians, responsible for guaranteeing the stability of the transmission, had to convince the doctors of the Military Hospital that the waves from the antennas installed on the roof of the building would not harm the patients. “The television waves are therapeutic, doctor,” said a Cuban to relax the atmosphere.
That June 13, 1954, a heavy downpour fell on Bogotá. However, there was no excuse. That day commemorated one year of the first anniversary of the rise to power of General Rojas Pinilla, an opportunity in AAA time to show the friendlier side of the military coup that was carried out against President Laureano Gómez on June 13, 1953. Nothing soft. there was in that blow.
9:00 pm The national anthem performed by the Colombian Symphony Orchestra, the yellow, blue and red of the flag, a speech by Rojas Pinilla, a violin and piano recital by the German Frank Preuss and the pianist Hilda Adler, in addition of a short play adapted for television from an original story by Bernardo Romero Lozano, were part of that night’s programming. Everything was broadcast from the basements of the National Library.
A batch of 400 televisions, some delivered by the Government, were located in public places in Bogotá and Medellín. Having one of those devices, at that time, was a luxury. Its price, according to data provided by Signal Memoria of RTVC, the public media system, could range between $400 and $500 in sizes of 17 and 21 inches. The minimum wage was around $120, which is why the State financed the purchase of televisions through Banco Popular.
Game shows, variety shows, children’s shows, cooking shows and documentaries, among others, have been part of the television schedule for seven decades. Market trends cause genres to appear and disappear from the offering, but there are two that cross the timeline: dramatized and newscasts.
Dramatization, as one of the forms of expression, began with teletheater, inherited from radio, a language that had already been spoken in Colombia since 1929. Then came unitary dramatizations, which gave rise to the creation of soap operas.
“The soap opera, with all its structure and variations, has been fundamental in Colombian television. From the first drama, which told the story of a character who mistakenly called the women’s prison, until moving on to the 80s with Tita’s Story, directed by Pepe Sánchez; Bolívar, the man of difficulties, who showed the talent of national production by recording and representing hundreds of soldiers crossing the Pisba wasteland, or regional and historical content such as Caballo Viejo (1988), The Sins of Inés de Hinojosa (1988 ) and Calamar (1989), until reaching more recent productions such as Café con aroma de mujer (1994), Yo soy Betty, la fea (1999) or Pedro, el Escamoso (2001). They are creations that show the technical and argumentative level of these narratives,” says Jorge Mario Vera, technical advisor and restorer of the Colombian Film Heritage.
On the other hand, the production of news has existed since minute zero of the game. The Colombia al día cinematographic newsreel, the first of its kind, was created during the government of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla between 1956 and 1958. Inspired by propaganda newsreels from other totalitarian countries, Rojas Pinilla used this medium to promote his policies and legitimize his regime. authoritarian.
“The newscast presented the president as a charismatic and progressive leader, extolling advances in science, infrastructure, culture and sports; In addition, it included international news sections to show the country’s connection with the world. Although it presented an image of progress, Colombia al día was a propaganda tool with a biased vision of reality,” says Signal Memoria.
“From then on, the news programs have been part of the Colombians’ schedule. Always and for these 70 years,” says Luis Alfonso Rodríguez, historian and head of cultural management at Signal Memoria.
Capturing the image was a challenge in the early years. By then the cinematographic medium involved filming and then developing and then doing a process called telecine and broadcasting.
“In the first five years of television we had to broadcast live and direct. What remains from then are the fragments that were filmed. Someone had a 35 millimeter or 16 millimeter camera parallel to the television camera and filmed the programs that were being broadcast live. That saved a little the memory of that first record,” explains Rodríguez.
Does it tell us anything that in 70 years what identifies television in Colombia is the production of dramatized shows and newscasts?
“That it is a society that sometimes reflects very superficially on itself. In these seven decades, other well-crafted genres have had a place, such as documentaries and historical programs with depth, but we have mainly fed audiovisually on those two genres, because I believe that it is a society that has to reflect on what it is ingesting. level of images and sounds, because that also affects a little the way we think as a society,” concludes Jorge Mario Vera.
