| Type | Free-to-airtelevision network |
|---|---|
| Country | Brazil |
| Stations | |
| Headquarters | Curitiba,Paraná, Brazil |
| Programming | |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Organizações Martinez (Rádio e Televisão OM Ltda.) |
| Key people | José Carlos Martinez |
| History | |
| Launched | May 1982 (1982-05) |
| Closed | May 22, 1993 (1993-05-22) |
Rede OM Brasil (OrganizaçõesMartinez) was aBrazilian nationwide (and initially statewide) television network. Emerging in the 1980s, the network became the first to be headquartered outside of theRio-São Paulo axis. Its founder was politician and businessman José Carlos Martinez.
The network shut down on May 22, 1993, being replaced byCentral Nacional de Televisão (CNT).
On March 15, 1979, VHF channel 7 inLondrina was activated, with the start ofTV Tropical. The Martinez family's station soon signed a contract to retransmitRede Globo's programming throughout the north and northwest region ofParaná (in addition to some cities in the south of São Paulo) lasting until December 1 of the same year, when it affiliated with the newly createdRede Bandeirantes (Globo went on toTV Coroados, channel 3, where it's still an affiliate of, today).
In its early years, the station achieved the highest audience ratings in the region withJornal do Meio-Dia (the broadcaster's traditional news program) which covered a wide range of subjects such as culture, varieties, musicals, live interviews, documentaries and factual news and police journalismCadeia, presented by the radio hostLuiz Carlos Alborghetti who, until then, presented a similar program on Rádio Tabajara AM.
At the end of the 1970s,Diários Associados went into crisis with the closure ofRede Tupi. By mutual agreement, the group and the Stesser Family decide to put their O&OTV Paraná inCuritiba up for sale. After intense negotiations, the Martinez family acquired the station that will be home to the state's newest state television network.
With the acquisition of TV Paraná, the network head is changed to Curitiba (due to geographical conditions) and the name Rede OM is assumed. The partnership with TV Bandeirantes not only continues, but its signal expanded throughout the state, becoming one of Band's main affiliates.
In 1982, OM stood out for its political coverage. Its political debates for the government of the state of Paraná became a tradition that took place with mayors and even presidents of the Republic. José Carlos Martinez always made a point of highlighting the pride he felt when promoting debates on his channel.
With a certain tradition in sports, OM invests in motorsport by creating thePole Position program, at a time when Brazil had won four world titles inFormula 1 byEmerson Fittipaldi andNelson Piquet. Another important program for the sports department wasTelesporte.
In celebration of TV Paraná's 28th anniversary in 1988, its power in the capital of Paraná was increased to 37 kW and, consequently, its signal was improved. It also bought modern equipment such as new cameras and new editing stations.
The partnership withTV Bandeirantes ends in 1991, when, as an act of friendship to Dante Matiussi and Airton Trevisan, it decided to affiliate toRede Record, which began to establish itself as a new national network after its acquisition byEdir Macedo.[1] In this phase, its highlights includedCadeia (ratings leader in the state),Programa do Ratinho, in the late afternoons, presented byCarlos Massa and the sports broadcasts ofthe state's soccer league.
In late 1991, Rede OM (formed, at the time, by TV Paraná and TV Tropical) filed a request for satellite transmission withEMBRATEL, scheduled for 1992. The intention of the group from Paraná is to form a new national network.
On November 20 of the same year, a contract was signed withTV Gazeta fromSão Paulo (owned byFundação Cásper Líbero) celebrating a supply of programming between the two networks. OM's programming started to be shown on the São Paulo channel only on February 15, 1992. On Sundays, the São Paulo station would continue showingJapan Pop Show. On Saturdays, the program was shown at 9:00 am on Rede OM.
On February 28, 1992, OM surprised the television market by purchasingTV Corcovado, channel 9 in Rio de Janeiro. Until then, the Rio station was owned byGrupo Silvio Santos and was leased toMTV Brasil since October 20, 1990. It was estimated that the station was purchased for the sum of US$8 million.
On April 1,Galvão Bueno debuted on the station, assuming the role of narrator, presenter and director of the sports core team, leaving TV Globo after almost ten years. The narrator's debut was on the broadcast ofLibertadores Cup of America.
The audacious network implementation project included experienced professionals such asGuga de Oliveira, Dante Matiussi and evenWalter Avancini was approached to direct a television drama center. Approximately US$30 million was spent on implementing the network alone.Flávio Martinez became the general superintendent of the network that aims for third place in the audience in a matter of months.[2]
A package of more than 100 films was also purchased, most of them fight movies or softcore. Among the titles wereWild Orchid,Forceful Impact andCaligula.[3] Telenovelas also gave their turn on the network and, causing controversy, among them, an Argentine version ofIrmãos Coragem,Mi nombre es Coraje.[2]
With experimental programming since March 1992, the network finally debuted its new national schedule on March 30 of that same year. In a completely new plan, the network gave total freedom to affiliates to produce its programming and from 6pm to midnight, the slot was dominated by its programs.[4] The exception was in Rio de Janeiro, which only relayed the Curitiba station from 8an to 2am.[3]
The new program featured two soap operas:Árvore Azul (whose opening theme was sung by presenterXuxa) andManuela, an Italian-American super production written by the BrazilianManoel Carlos and starring the actressGrecia Colmenares,[4] well-known by the Brazilian public from Venezuelan productionTopacio that aired onSBT.
Regarding news, its flagship wasFala Brasil (no relation with Record's morning news program of the same name), a weekly news magazine produced in the Curitiba studios and presented by Carlos Marassi and Valéria Balbi. The program featured national and international columnists, including singer Aguinaldo Timóteo and economistLuis Nassif, as well as comments from Galvão Bueno on sport. It also included the always controversial police journalist Cadeia (local edition at 12:55pm and national edition at 6:15pm), presented by radio host and then state deputyLuiz Carlos Alborghetti.
Still in the sports sector, pilotAyrton Senna took part inPódium and the network invested in theParis-Dakar Rally, in a program with sports commentatorJosé Carlos Araújo and the wrestling programCampeões do Ringue, on Saturdays, as well as the broadcast ofCampeonato Paranaense and that year'sCopa do Brasil.[3]
Its line of entertainment programming was considered one of the most varied, featuringSer Tão...Brasileiro, withTamara Taxman (later presented byJair Rodrigues),Blue Jeans, withJimy Raw andCoçando o Sábado withLeonor Corrêa.[3] The audience numbers were quickly confirmed. Football matches in theLibertadores Cup reached their peak when they gave up to 7 points, telenovelas got up to 2 points, movies reached 3 and the news program Fala Brasil remained with just 1 point.[5]
On June 17, 1992, thefinal of that year's Copa Libertadores betweenSão Paulo andNewell's Old Boys hit OM's largest audience in all of its history: 34 points.[6]
In August, a package of new feature films featuring already established Hollywood actors was announced. Among themBlood and Sand andThe Bodyguard.
On June 20, 1992, OM aired the controversial filmCaligula, not recommended for children under 18 years of age. Judge José Antônio de Andrade Martins of the 18th Federal Court of São Paulo ordered the cancellation of the broadcast through an injunction. Even with the audience reaching an incredible 16 points, the network was forced to take the film off the air.[7]
In August, theCPI of thePC Farias case discovered a connection between the businessman and Rede OM. These were two checks from the “ghost” Manoel Dantas Araújo, which paid part of a debt that SBT had withCaixa Econômica Federal. This debt would have been transferred to OM in exchange for the TV Corcovado concession.[8]
With a very weak budget after just six months of launching in the national territory and still a victim of the advertising recession, the scandal contributed to the network's accounting problems. Rede OM had to cut 60% of its expenses and reformulate its entire schedule to escape collapse.[9]
Between August and September, around 100 journalists were fired, and that was in the São Paulo office alone. With a cut of almost 50% and the strong pressure received, the broadcaster's journalism directors Paulo Alceu and Dante Massuti resigned.[7][10]
Businessman José Carlos Martinez admitted having received a loan equivalent to US$8.5 million to buy television stations in May of the previous year. In exchange for this loan, Martinez would have given up the titleTribuna de Alagoas so that PC could set up a newspaper in Maceió, denying the accusations that he was the treasurer's front man and was unaware of the ghost check received to pay for TV Corcovado.[11]
On September 16, the Broadcasters' Union negotiated with the network's management for non-payment of the termination of contracts and the salary corresponding to the month of August.[12] TV Gazeta gave an irrevocable deadline for the network to pay the arrears, which already exceeded the one million dollar mark.[13]
With just eight months of operation, Rede OM became involved in controversies and became indebted.[7] In November, fired employees appealed to the journalists' union after receiving a bad check.[7] Among those affected were presenter Leonor Corrêa and journalist Valéria Balbi.
At the end of 1992, Pluma Equipamentos requested the bankruptcy of Rede OM for non-payment of a debt of Cr$17 thousand.[14]
With the arrival of 1993, Rede OM soldTV Maringá toGrupo JMalucelli[15] and distributorParis Filmes threatened to take legal action so that OM's transmission antenna, telephones and telecine equipment could be auctioned, as a guarantee of payment of a debt. The company was also being sued for non-payment of commissions to Galvão Bueno and labor obligations with dismissed journalists.[16] Nevertheless, the network ended in fourth place in IBOPE rankings, only behind Globo, SBT and Band.[17]
In April, Rede OM decided to change its name and programming to clean up its image. Fresh from Manchete, the presenterClodovil is hired and TV Gazeta, which previously only rented out the schedules, becomes an affiliate.[18] It also planned producing telenovelas,[18] as well as consolidating itself as the third place in ratings.[19]
On May 23, 1993, Rede OM closed andCentral Nacional de Televisão (CNT) entered in its place, inaugurated with a large ceremony held atTeatro Ópera de Arame. The launch program of the "new network" wasClodovil em Noite de Gala.[20]
In its brief existence, the network had over 30 stations in thirteen Brazilian states. The station's O&Os wereTV Paraná andTV Tropical, as well asTV Maringá (currently a Rede Bandeirantes affiliate),TV Corcovado and TV Gazeta (who leased the network).[21] Most of the stations migrated to CNT.
The following stations relayed the network:
