The Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (, Brazilian Television System; SBT, ) is a Brazilian free-to-air television network founded on 19 August 1981, by the businessman and television personality Silvio Santos. The company was established after a public tender by the Brazilian Federal Government to form two new networks (the other was Manchete), created from revoked concessions of the defunct Tupi and Excelsior networks. The network was founded on the same day that the concession agreement was signed, and that the act was broadcast live by the network, becoming its first program to be aired. Before acquiring the concessions of the four stations that were to form the SBT, Grupo Silvio Santos had since 1976 the concession of Rio de Janeiro's channel 11, known as TVS Rio de Janeiro (now SBT Rio), which was a fundamental step to give life to the SBT.
In April 2018, the SBT was the second-most watched television network in Brazil, behind Globo. Throughout its existence, the network always occupied the space in the audience ranking, except between 2007 and 2014, when the Record network took its place. The SBT has a total of 114 broadcast television stations (O&Os and affiliates) throughout the Brazilian territory, and is also available through pay television operators (cable and satellite), free-to-air signal on satellite receivers and also through streaming media in their mobile application (Android, iOS and Windows), applications for smart TVs and its website. Also on their website, its programming is available in video on demand for free, also available from the video-sharing site YouTube since 2010. In March 2017, the 43 channels of the SBT on YouTube accumulated 20 million subscribers and 70 billion minutes watched.
SBT broadcasts a wide variety of television genres in its programming, whereas its own material generally stands adjacent to entertainment. Foreign programming, mainly the telenovelas produced by the networks owned by the Mexican conglomerate Televisa, are part of their program schedule. It is the only commercial television broadcaster in Brazil which airs children's programming, even arranging a partnership with The Walt Disney Company, in which the company provides two hours of daily programming for the network. The network also has airtime for the television news, producing all three daily newscasts on weekdays, a weekly news program and a weekly newscast.
The network owns CDT da Anhanguera, a television complex located at the kilometer 18 of the Rodovia Anhanguera, in Osasco, São Paulo, occupying an area of 231 thousand square meters. This is the third largest television complex in size installed in Latin America, being smaller only than the studios of TV Azteca, in Mexico, and the Estúdios Globo.
History Before SBT Rede Tupi, the channel 4 in São Paulo, began operations in 1950. In 1962 (when he began his first TV program), Silvio Santos produced his own programs on Tupi, TV Paulista and on Rede Globo beginning in 1965. Soon enough, he started plans to have his own television channel. His production company, Estudios Silvio Santos Cinema e Televisão, was successful on Tupi, Globo and (since 1972) on Record (where he then owned half of the company's stock).
In 1976, with help from humorist and friend Manuel de Nóbrega (who had a show on Rede Globo and was part of Baú da Felicidade), Santos obtained a license for his own station: Rio de Janeiro's channel 11, known as "TV Studios" or "TVS". Soon after its launch, its flagship program (Programa Silvio Santos on Sundays) plus the late night Silvio Santos Diferente on weekdays began to be broadcast (Santos left Globo the same year). Other programs soon began, as the network gained support from city residents who sought an alternative to Globo, Tupi, Bandeirantes and TV Rio (the city's network, related to TV Record along with TVS). The new channel debuted on 14 May 1976, with a logo of a gold circle with the number 11 slanted in gold, which featured in the first Scanimate idents and promos for the channel - making it a pioneer station in the country when it came to computer animation. While during its early years the network studios were based in Rio, all program production for TVS transferred to São Paulo in 1978–79.
When Rede Tupi went out of business in 1980, Santos obtained three stations from the network: São Paulo's channel 4, Porto Alegre's channel 5 and Belém's channel 2 (eventually moving to channel 5 weeks after launch) in March 1981. Thus, SBT was created, launching on 19 August 1981. When launched, its owned and operated stations were branded as TVS, a branding already in use in Rio de Janeiro until its phaseout across all owned and operated stations in 1990.
Aside from its owned-and-operated stations, Minas Gerais' TV Alterosa on the same launch day became one of SBT's first affiliates for the network. Some later affiliates were adopted from Rede Tupi after its closure on 18 July 1980, by order of Brazilian Minister of Communications Haroldo de Matos, who the following year would order SBT to begin transmissions. When Tupi closed, Programa Silvio Santos moved to Record but continued simulcasting Sundays on TVS channel 11 as well as on yet another SS Group station - Channel 9, purchased from TV Continental. Santos began the network's expansion efforts, convincing stations to become the SBT and Record affiliates. The official launch of the network on 19 August 1981, also marked the debut of its first presentation package using its famous circle logo (similar to the one used till today by the American Broadcasting Company) and dual branding (the SBT being the official name of the network while TVS being the station branding in its three founding stations), and it was the only network launch to be held in Brasília and broadcast directly from the federal capital city. The first idents were similar to ABC's Still the One idents of 1979, used by the Nine Network in Australia in 1980.
The Matos decision also gave the network the Sumare studios of Tupi for drama production. By the time of the 1981 launch the SBT had 18 affiliate channels nationwide.
1980s
During the 1980s, the SBT established itself, contracting popular hosts and airing a mix of its own and Televisa programming (especially Mexican telenovelas and comedy shows such as El Chavo del Ocho and El Chapulín Colorado). It climbed to second place in the Brazilian ratings (except in Rio de Janeiro, where Rede Manchete occupied that position). Moreover, it hosted the Brazilian version of Bozo for kids plus even let ex-Tupi program presenters bring their shows over to the fledgling network.
SBT, together with Record (under the SBT/Record pool) broadcast the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, two years later, it did the same endeavor for the 1986 FIFA World Cup coverage.Hoje rivais, SBT e Record já se uniram para transmitir Copa do Mundo
1985 would see the SBT score a historic victory with the broadcast of the American miniseries The Thorn Birds, and TVS Channel 4 São Paulo became SBT Channel 4 São Paulo, thus becoming a truly national network with the introduction of satellite broadcasts.
In March 1986, the network premiered its new talk show, Hebe, with Hebe Camargo as host; the show was formerly on Rede Tupi and Rede Bandeirantes. It became one of the network's longest-running programs, running for over 24 years; the final show was at the end of 2010, when Camargo ended her contract. She had a spin-off show, Hebe por Elas (Hebe for All), during the early 1990s. The death of Flavio Cavacante, one of the network's pioneer presenters, just days after his 22 May episode of his own program shocked the nation so much that on the day of his funeral the network started transmissions only in the afternoon in his honor.
In 1987, Santos pursued a better-quality program lineup, while trying to attract a larger audience and better advertisers. During that year (in response to the high popularity of Rede Globo's Xou da Xuxa on weekdays), SBT began increasing its child-oriented programming with programs such as Oradukapeta, Show Maravilha and the Do Re Mi series. Nearly all SBT kids' programs had female presenters (different from the format of Xou da Xuxa), because Oradukapeta was hosted by Sergio Mallandro (also a Show de Calorous judge).
Ad campaigns
American imports The late 1980s was when SBT began to create American-style ad campaigns: 1987–88 – first year of "Quem Procura Acha Aqui": It used the music from NBC's "Be There" (1983–84). 1988–89 – second year of "Quem Procura Acha Aqui": It used the music from NBC's first installment of "Let's All Be There" (1984–85), with some visual elements similar to NBC's second installment of "Come Home to NBC" (1987–88). 1989–90 – third year of "Quem Procura Acha Aqui": It used the music from NBC's second installment of "Let's All Be There" (1985–86).
After acquiring the miniseries The Thorn Birds, SBT would schedule it after Globo's highly-rated soap opera Roque Santeiro, with Santos promoting that viewers could watch the soap and the "sensational" miniseries immediately afterward. SBT went as far as to pre-empt The Thorn Birds with cartoons after Globo—which had long been known for the punctuality of its schedule—responded by making Santeiro intentionally overrun its timeslot (thus keeping Santos' word that The Thorn Birds would air after Santeiro). SBT would also delaying an airing of the Rambo film First Blood with 50 minutes of dead air, after Globo scheduled a double-chapter of Vale Tudo against it. SBT had already pre-empted its showing of the film by a week after Globo scheduled an airing of Rambo: First Blood Part II the same day to compete. 1987 also was the year that the network began to change its corporate branding from TVS to the SBT.
Comedian Jô Soares was brought in from TV Globo in 1988, introducing a late-night talk program to Brazilian TV with his 11:30 PM show entitled Jô Soares Onze e Meia. Also signed was Boris Casoy, who became the first news anchor in Brazil with his TJ Brasil newscast (which succeeded Noticentro, the network's first newscast with Antonio Casale) and ex-Balão Mágico member Simony.
In 1988, Santos prevented host "Gugu" Liberato from signing with Globo after Liberato hosted the SBT's big weekend hit Viva a Noite since 1986. This was widely seen as indicative that Gugu would be Santos' successor on Sunday afternoons, reinforced by the extended timeslot of Gugu's future program Domingo Legal. As a result, Programa Sílvio Santos adopted the dual-presenter format, with Gugu hosting segments such as the Brazilian version of Double Dare, called Passa ou Repassa (known for its "Torta na Cara" segment) and Cidade contra Cidade.
1990s The TVS brand was merged into the SBT brand in 1990; the name change was seen in a new campaign ad modeled on NBC's "Come Home to NBC" campaign of 1986–87, which premiered early that year, and in August on TV station identifications celebrating SBT's ninth year of broadcasts (that year, Silvio Santos sold Record as a national network) and it also broadcast the 1990 FIFA World Cup. 1991 saw the beginning of its newscast Aqui Agora and Serginho Groisman's Programa Livre variety show, just a few of the many successes for the year even as the network's São Paulo studios suffered damages due to massive floods that hit the city. In 1992, the SBT and Rede Globo (together with Manchete, Band, and SporTV) jointly broadcast the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics (together with Manchete, Record, Band, SporTV, and ESPN) nationwide, with a grand advertising campaign for the Brazil national team. Despite problems and even the transfer of talents to other stations (such as the then resurgent Rede Record), the 90s proved to be a boom for the network, beginning its second decade with 74 affiliates, bigger when it signed on.