Rede Bandeirantes (, Bandeirantes Network), or simply known as Band (), is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It began broadcasting on May 13, 1967 on VHF channel 13 in São Paulo. Its founder was businessman João Saad with the help of his father-in-law and former São Paulo governor Adhemar de Barros. In terms of audience and revenue, it is currently the fourth largest Brazilian television network. It broadcasts throughout Brazil through its owned-and-operated stations and affiliates. It also has a series of pay TV channels and it broadcasts internationally via Band Internacional.
It was the first station to have all of its programming in color in 1972, and it was also the first to broadcast via satellite, being the pioneer network in the use of exclusive satellite channels for its simulcasts throughout Brazil in 1982. In 1990, when it was called Bandeirantes, the station changed the name to simply "Ban". However, due to the fact that the public was not pleased with this change, it was turned back to "Bandeirantes". The first use of the name "Band" was during a broadcast of the carnival in 1995, and on the same occasion, it became the first Brazilian station to insert its logo on the corner of the screen, being the so-called "watermark".
During the 1980s and 1990s, it became known as "the sports channel", due to the network broadcasting the most varied sports genres, under the influence of announcer Luciano do Valle, being the first to broadcast the NTT IndyCar Series, the NBA and the Italian and Spanish football championships. The journalistic coverage was another recognition of Band, in carrying out debates between political candidates on television. It became the second TV station to hold a debate for the Governor of São Paulo in 1982 and it was the first to carry out debates between political candidates for the Presidency in 1989.
History
Background
In 1945, in São Paulo, businessman João Jorge Saad bought Rádio Bandeirantes from his father-in-law Ademar de Barros, which the then-governor of São Paulo had bought from its previous owner, Paulo Machado de Carvalho, the owner of Rádio Record and Emisoras Unidas. During the administration of President Getúlio Vargas, João Saad managed to obtain the concession of a television channel in São Paulo in the 1950s. During the Juscelino Kubitschek government, the concession was canceled and handed over to another businessman. However, Saad managed, at the time of the João Goulart government, to recover the TV station. In 1961 in Morumbi, work began on the Radiantes Building – a building specially built with the purpose of housing the most modern television studios in Latin America, and later nicknamed by employees as an "enchanted palace". The station's building, the first in the country to be designed to receive a TV, took about five years to build. Saad has postponed the start of operations several times: "It wasn't time yet... I only opened the station in '67, based on solid foundations", he said. With a transmission tower on Pico do Jaraguá, in February 1967, experimental broadcasts began, with slides, films and documentaries.
Early years
TV Bandeirantes officially started broadcasting regularly on May 13, 1967, with a speech by its founder, João Jorge Saad, followed by a concert by singers Agostinho dos Santos and Cláudia, who opened the broadcasts. The people present during that time were generally politicians, including President Costa e Silva, the governor of São Paulo Abreu Sodré, the mayor of São Paulo Faria Lima, and ministers and secretaries of state. A playground and a free circus for low-income families were set up in front of the station's headquarters. For two days, there were scavenger hunts and games, with the distribution of commemorative gifts and 5 houses were drawn for poor mothers.