Canal 4 (Armandina)

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Canal 4 is an Armandine television channel founded in 1991, owned by Grupo Oriente since 2007. The channel was always dominated by strong Romagnolist ideals, even in periods where the libertarian far-right didn't lead the country.

History[edit | edit source]

The Armandine government set in 1976 that Sanhuezo would be able to have seven assigned television stations (2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 13). Due to the low development of the Armandine television industry, as well as other factors like the energy crisis and the lack of television sets, only two channels were broadcasting by then (channel 2 assigned to INT and channel 7 assigned to ATC, both owned by the government). The loophole that led to the liberalization was from the start of TELIN, who built and started operating various television stations outside Sanhuezo from mid-1979 to February 1981, when Canal 13 launched, and the later launch of Canal 6 under TCA in 1985. The short-term crisis led to the liberalization of the television market and the long period that led to the attribution of the remaining frequencies.

One frequency that wanted to take over channel 4 as early as 1958 was the producer of Noticiario Armandino, Comprocine (Compañía de Producción Cinematográfica de la Capital Sanhuezo), but due to state intervention in 1959, the plans stalled.

In 1989 Juan Carlos Salvador bought the frequency and its broadcasts started on February 10, 1991. He also bought two construction permits in 1990 already, Canal 12 La Plata and Canal 11 Santa Fe.

Due to the dominance of the three television players (INT experiencing a decay that would lead to its privatization, ATC and the already-consolidated TCA with channels 6 and 13 in Sanhuezo, as well as the lion's share of regional television stations), Canal 4 was initially positioned as a local channel, same to its two affiliates.

In the 90s the channel had tendencies gearing towards the military dictatorship. Its programming was often sub-par, consisting mainly of lower-tier movies and television series.

The network was experiencing a huge economic downturn, being sold to Verginan Grupo Cisneros in June 1998. The plan likely involved a takeover of stations from Azul Televisión to become affiliates of a potential Vergivisión-inspired Armavisión. The plan stalled within weeks when the channel was bought by Huascan media magnate Remigio Ángel González, initiating a new phase for the channel.

Albavisión's control helped gain the channel healthy figures. In 2000 the channel gained new UHF relayers in key Armandine cities and changed its logo, borrowed from a sister channel in Costa Plata. This new phase saw the channel increase its local productions massively.

Promedia Televisión tried to buy the channel in September 2005, but the plans were considered to be shady.

Albavisión left the Armandine market in 2007, causing Juan Carlos Salvador to regain control of the channel. The logo was still the same as 2000 and was dropped in 2017. Juan Carlos was a shareholder in his Grupo Oriente and thought the channel would easily surpass the TCA channels in terms of ratings.

Programming[edit | edit source]