TV Cultura

TV Cultura, or simply Cultura, is a free Brazilian non-commercial public television network headquartered in São Paulo and a part of Father Anchieta Foundation, a non-profit foundation funded by the São Paulo State Government. It focuses on educational and cultural subjects but also has sports as entertainment options.

According to research by the BBC and the British institute Populus, published in 2015, TV Cultura is the second highest quality channel in the world, behind only BBC One.

History

During the 1950s, a license was granted to Rádio Cultura to operate on channel 11 (TV Gazeta wanted to use channel 2).

TV Cultura was founded in 1960 by Diários Associados and Rede de Emissoras Associadas, who also owned TV Tupi. The station's transmitter was the former one used by TV Tupi São Paulo, which up until August 1960 broadcast on channel 3, and in order to move to the new frequency, Tupi built a new transmitter at Sumaré.

On September 20, 1960, two days after TV Tupi celebrated its tenth anniversary, its "younger sister" was born. TV Cultura became the fifth television station in the city of São Paulo. The station was initially scheduled to launch in the first semester of 1960, but was later delayed to August, September 7 and finally September 20. The launch campaign in local newspapers framed the station as having state-of-the-art equipment for its time, with a strong emphasis on its local output. The station broadcast from 7 pm to 11 pm. Mario Fanucchi created a special illustration featuring the TV Tupi mascot - with the number 4 in his body - feeding the newborn sister, representing channel 2.

The formal launch ceremony was held at 7 pm on September 20, 1960 at the Fasano Winter Garden followed by a special variety show at 9 pm, where artists from the Associadas stations from other states took part.