Rede Globo

Rede Globo (Portuguese: [ˈʁedʒi ˈɡlobu], Globe Network), or simply 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, being by far the largest of its holdings. Globo is the largest commercial TV network in South America and the second-largest commercial TV network in annual revenue worldwide just behind the American ABC Television Network and the largest producer of telenovelas.

Globo is headquartered in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, where its news division is based. The network's main production studios are located at a complex dubbed Estúdios Globo, located in Jacarepaguá. It is composed of 5 owned television stations and 119 affiliate stations throughout Brazil plus its own international networks, Globo TV International and TV Globo Portugal. In 2007, Globo moved its analog operations to high-definition television production for digital broadcasting.

Rede Globo is one of the largest media companies in the world, and produces around 2,400 hours of entertainment and 3,000 hours of journalism per year in Brazil. Through its network, the broadcaster covers 98.6% of Brazil's territory. Recognized for its production quality, the company has already been presented with 14 international Emmys. The international operations of Globo include seven pay-per-view television channels and a production and distribution division that distributes Brazilian sports and entertainment content to more than 190 countries around the world.

In Brazil, Globo TV presently reaches 99.5% of potential viewers, practically the entire Brazilian population, with 122 broadcasting stations that deliver programming to more than 183 million Brazilians. The network has been responsible for the 20 most-watched TV programs broadcast on Brazilian television, including Avenida Brasil, a 2012 record-breaking telenovela that reached 50 million viewers and was sold to 130 countries.

In July 1957, Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek approved a request by Radio Globo to establish a television channel. On 30 December 1957, the National Council of Telecommunication (Portuguese: Conselho Nacional de Telecomunicações, or CONTEL) published a decree which granted a channel in Rio de Janeiro to TV Globo Ltda. Globo then started preparing the beginning of its television broadcasting operations.

Globo began broadcasting on 1 January 1965 in Rio de Janeiro on channel four. That same day, at about 10:45 a.m., Rubens Amaral formally introduced Rede Globo to viewers in Rio de Janeiro, and all over Guanabara State, with the song "Moon River" by Henry Mancini at the start of the children's show, Uni Duni Te. By May of that same year, the live telecast of the Holy Mass, which later became its longest running and oldest program, was seen for the first time. The following year, Globo purchased another television station, São Paulo-based TV Paulista, expanding its operations and beginning to dominate national television ratings. In January 1966, Globo broadcast its first major news coverage on flooding in Rio de Janeiro.

Jornal da Globo, another trademark show for the network, was the successor to Ultranoticias (1966–67), the network's first news program that ran until 1969. It featured a broadcast time of 15 minutes and was hosted by Hilton Gomez and, later, Luis Jatoba. In 1967, Globo began to build its national network with the affiliation of Porto Alegre-based TV Gaúcha (now RBS TV). TV Gaúcha would become Globo's affiliate in Florianopolis in the late 1970s, when it received its current name. It is one of Globo 's oldest affiliates, active since 1962, three years before Globo was launched. Uberlândia's TV Triângulo (now Rede Integração) and Goiânia's TV Anhanguera (now Rede Anhanguera) soon followed in 1967 and 1968. The now extinct TV Guajará, based in Belém, was launched in 1969, and was followed by TV Verdes Mares the following year. 1968 was also the year in which Globo's branch station in Belo Horizonte, TV Globo Minas, was launched.