Media History in a ‘Peripheric Modernity’: Television in Argentina 1951-1969

Mirta Varela

doi:10.16997/wpcc.114

Abstract

Since the beginnings of television in Argentina – from the images of Peron and Evita in 1951– to the satellite transmission from the moon by the USA in 1969, we can establish a connection from the national sphere to the global one, from a public channel to a private system of television with economic investments by American groups. In this respect, we wonder what it means to make media history in a society where modernity has been characterized as ‘peripheral.’ In other words, modernity is decentered: technology comes from abroad, national groups cannot afford investments, and history becomes asynchronous, the result of the amalgamation of traditional and modern. In what sense can television be considered a national medium when it is marked by the coexistence of very local programmes and the growing presence of a global culture?

Highlights

On October 17th, 1951 the first public television broadcast in Argentina took place
It is useful to ask whether a national history of television can be written (Bourdon 2003), as well as what place Latin America has in the processes of globalization – a process in which the transmissions from the moon were just one significant event
Jaime Yankelevich director of the most popular radio station in Argentina at the time, Radio Belgrano - had travelled to America to purchase the equipment and to find specialized technicians who could train his Argentine radio engineers to work at the new television channel

Summary

Introduction

On October 17th, 1951 the first public television broadcast in Argentina took place. It was characterized by the press as a ‘late start’, as a sort of national trauma. The fact that Argentine television did not start until the 1950s, evidences the break in the relationship between technology, culture and nation in the country.

Results

Conclusion