FRANCISCO OLIVARES
EL UNIVERSAL

Shutting down RCTV's open-broadcast signal has undoubtedly left its mark on the nation's political life over this past year. Had this event not taken place, the vigorous student movement, with its new leaders, would not have been spawned; Yon Goicoechea would not have been awarded the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty; and maybe this past December second President Hugo Chávez's constitutional proposal would have won at the polls.

Two contrasting storylines surround the events of May 27, 2007. For Chávez and his supporters, this historic date was construed as a defeat of a powerful "media enemy" and the dawn of a new era for the revolution, one of "communicational hegemony" as summarized by Andrés Izarra.
 
Under the light of subsequent events, however, the political project launched by that measure would not reach its expected outcome. On the one hand, the political effects of the shutdown gave rise to a movement that grouped civil society, political parties and the youth while, on the other, for the first time ever, there was a dent in the ideological unit surrounding Chávez, as the process against the TV station failed to garner its intended support and even influenced the outcome on December 2. 

Donning an olive-green uniform and a red beret, President Hugo Chávez announced, from the Military Academy's Courtyard of Honor, what had been deemed only a threat until then: "They had better start packing their bags and figuring out what to do with themselves after March. This coming March, no new concession will be granted to that coup-plotting channel once called Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV)! This measure has already been drafted, so it is time for them to start (…) turning off all equipment. We will not tolerate any media that is pro-coup, against the people, against the nation and against the dignity of the Republic. Venezuela must be treated with respect!," said the president in his year-end speech to the National Armed Forces on December 28, 2006. Five months later this threat would become a reality, and the engineers and technicians of the 53-year-old company would have to shutdown the signal of the country's leading television station.

The president himself had stated that the government's action stemmed from political reasons, a notion grasped by the population who reacted in two ways: launching a movement for democratic liberties and failing to recognize the new communicational proposal presented by government.

Politics and audience
What the government viewed as a fourth-generation media war, according to Minister Andrés Izarra, was seen by TV viewers as an infringement upon their right to information and entertainment, especially by popular and low medium-class sectors, as evidenced by surveys.

Since 2000, through programming emphasizing local programs, Channel 2 had led the ratings, followed by Venevisión. This ranking was kept up to the station's shutdown.

On May 27, 2007, the station's last day in open signal, a day-long special program titled "A Friend is Forever" was broadcast, and RCTV's share was 50%, and 75% in the final 10 minutes on the air. At the same time, using the actual technological platform of RCTV, TVES, a new channel touted by government as a social-interest station, began broadcasting.

Even though the platform allowed for the new channel to be seen throughout the country, the government television station's share for the first month was only 7.3%. By the end of June, after only a month on the air, ratings fell to 5.3%. In August, results dropped to 3.9% and reached a low of 2.3% by January 2008, practically at the bottom of all open-signal television stations. 

In other words, RCTV's audience did not switch to TVES; in fact, they did not even change channels massively to Venevisión or any of the other nationally available channels. The actual effect was that open-signal viewing fell and satellite and cable TV rose.  From 16.9% in January 2007, subscription TV, according to AGB, reached 22.6% in March 2008. The turning point, however, takes place in June 2007 when RCTV Internacional launches its cable-TV broadcast.

Grilva Delgado, Social Research Manager of RCTV Internacional, points out that in the channel's first month off the airwaves, RCTV's website collapsed. He believes that viewers sought information, a behavior conveying the public's need to stay in touch with the brand.

Conatel's growth indicators for homes with subscription TV show that the greatest rise in recent years took place in the second half of 2007. This increase represents 190 thousand homes with an average of four persons per home, which represents 760 thousand new people with access to paid programming.

But under the cable-television format, it was impossible to keep the ratings held until May 27, says Grilva Delgado. Not enough resources were available, and the business fell by 70%; the main focus was then to maintain national production: soap operas, news programs and entertainment. In cable-TV ratings, RCTV almost immediately took the top spot, doubling its closest of 160 competitors. Furthermore, at present, taking all audiences into account, RCTV is already competing with the top open-signal channel.

These results reveal that the idea of Andrés Izarra of a "public television system, in which the public had the leading role" as part of the "communicational hegemony" has not been accepted by Venezuelan TV viewers, as long as there is plurality in the media and audiences may chose what they view. Likewise, official media must still compete with private channels.

Going off the air
When the order to "turn off the equipment" imparted by the president was imminent, RCTV's technicians wondered how to do something entirely different to what they have been done uninterruptedly for 53 years, recalls Carlos Rojas, RCTV's broadcasting manager. Failing to shutdown the equipment at the time scheduled by Conatel might have represented an illegal action; therefore, a technical plan was created so that the equipment would be turned off accordingly. This plan required government permits. Nevertheless, in the morning of Friday, May 25, the TV plant was overtaken by the military and, that very same evening, a ruling is handed down by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice ordering seizure of the station's broadcasting equipment. This decision also allowed Conatel to make use of that equipment and allocated usage rights to a third party.

Therefore, instead of turning off the equipment, the signal had to remain on the air but connected to TVES. Consequently, following orders from the directors of RCTV, with the presence of government lawyers, members of the armed forces, judges and district attorneys, the technicians of the channel performed the arduous task of correctly connecting the broadcasting system to those who would take over their positions and means of production. 105 workers of 44 stations would be rendered unemployed, and being labeled as former employees of RCTV would operate similarly to Tascon's ill-fated list, which detailed those who voted against the government years ago in the recall referendum, thus preventing them from working at any other official or private channel with ties to the government. This seizure also included RCTV's microwave broadcasting systems and even personal property of workers who stayed overnight at remote stations. Once the order was carried out and the new station connected, the employees of RCTV were removed from the premises without being able to even take their personal belongings with them.

RCTV's legal consultant, Oswaldo Quintana, was asked why the military had taken over the premises so early if the court's pronouncement took place in the evening. How did they know? The answer, in retrospect, would be given by the then Minister of Information William Lara, who had stated, eight days prior to the ruling, in an interview with Ernesto Villegas, that the new television station would broadcast at a national level, and after being asked by the journalist about the nature of the equipment to be used, Lara replied that the government had that situation under control.

Quintana believes that the government incurred in procedural fraud, an offense committed when one party agrees with the judge in prejudice of the other party in the process. This means that the government had known about the ruling beforehand and had influenced that decision.

folivares@eluniversal.com

Translated by Félix Rojas