TeleSUR

Infobox TV channel
name = La Nueva Televisora del Sur
logofile = TeleSUR logo.png logosize = 180px
logoalt =
launch = July 24 2005
closed date =
share =
share as of =
share source =
owner = La Nueva Televisora del Sur, CA,
whose shareholders are:
flagicon|Argentina Argentina
flagicon|Bolivia Bolivia
flagicon|Cuba Cuba
flagicon|Ecuador Ecuador
flagicon|Paraguay Paraguay
flagicon|Nicaragua Nicaragua
flagicon|Venezuela Venezuela
slogan = Nuestro Norte es el Sur
country =
broadcast area = Latin America and the Caribbean, United States, Europe and Northern Africa
headquarters = Caracas, Venezuela
sister names = VTV, Canal 7 Argentina, Cubavisión, Ecuador TV,
TV Boliviana, Multinoticias
timeshift names =
web = [http://www.telesurtv.net teleSURtv.net]
terr serv 1 = Local UHF
Venezuela
terr chan 1 = Channels 49, 51 (Caracas)
Channel 46 (Valencia)
Channel 51 (Barquisimeto)
Channel 43 (Puerto La Cruz)
sat serv 1 = NSS 806
Americas
sat chan 1 = 4118.50 V 2960 / 3/4
sat serv 2 = Eutelsat
Europe
sat chan 2 = 11972 V / 27500 / 3/4
sat serv 3 = Astra 1L
Europe
sat chan 3 = 11538 V / 22000 / 5/6
sat serv 4 = Sky Digital
sat chan 4 = Channel 916
cable serv 1 = Direct TV
cable chan 1 = Channel 128 (Venezuela)
Channel 722
(Argentina, Chile, Colombia
Perú, Uruguay)
cable serv 2 = AMNET
cable chan 2 = Channel 72 (El Salvador)
online serv 1 = teleSURtv.net
online chan 1 = [http://www.telepuertovirtual2.tv/telesur45 teleSUR] (free Windows Media stream)

La Nueva Televisora del Sur (Spanish for "The New Television Station of the South"), named teleSUR, is a pan-Latin American terrestrial and satellite television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela. teleSUR is intended to be an instrument toward the "concretizing of the Bolivarian idea" through the integration of Latin America, and as a counterweight to what the leftist governments that funds it consider a distorted view of Latin American reality by privately run networks that broadcast to the region such as CNN, the BBC, TVE and Deutsche Welle.

Legal status, funding and structure

teleSUR is, according to its website a public company which has Latin American governments as its shareholders. Its shareholders are the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela. The channel's news agenda is dictated by its Board of Directors with the aid of an advisory council, which is formed by many international and regional leftist intellectuals, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, poet Ernesto Cardenal, writers Eduardo Galeano, Tariq Ali, Saul Landau, editor-in-chief of "Le Monde diplomatique" and historian Ignacio Ramonet, Argentine film producer Tristán Bauer, free software pioneer Richard Stallman and US actor and activist Danny Glover. The network carries no commercial advertising. Paraguay's government will be one of teleSUR's shareholders after then-recently installed chief of state Fernando Lugo signed cooperation agreements with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on August 18 2008. [ [http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3731 "Venezuela Increases Collaboration with Paraguay As Lugo Assumes Presidency" – venezuelanalysis.com] ]

History

Origins and US reaction

teleSUR began broadcasting on a limited schedule on July 24 2005, on the 222th birthday of Latin American leader Simón Bolívar, and began full-time broadcasts on October 31 2005. A week before the network began broadcasting, the United States House of Representatives included an amendment to Resolution 2601 introduced by Connie Mack IV, a Republican of Florida's fourteenth congressional district. which tentatively authorized the initiation of radio and television broadcasts of "balanced, objected and comprehensive" news programming to Venezuela for at least 30 minutes a day. The Venezuelan government replied the US reaction through its embassador in Washington DC, Bernardo Álvarez saying that "in Venezuela there are 48 channels of free access to anyone with a television set and a small antenna. Only two of them belong to the government. You can also receive more than 120 channels from four continents." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_4708000/4708989.stm "¿TV Martí para Venezuela?" – BBC Mundo] es icon]

Controversy

Uruguay and teleSUR

Though Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez signed on March 3 2005 several agreements with then-recently installed Uruguayan chief of state Tabaré Vázquez regarding the energetic and communicational integration of both countries, being one of them the joint creation and financing of teleSUR, the process has not been exent of controversies. Uruguay's Chamber of Senators approved the bill that would ratify the agreements on August 8 2006 by votes of the legislators belonging to ruling party, it has not been ratified by the Chamber of Deputies as of 2008 [ [http://www.larepublica.com.uy/politica/311064-diputados-aplazo-votacion-sobre-la-red-telesur "Diputados aplazó votación sobre la Red Telesur"] es icon] . Some rumors indicate differences regarding the networks' editorial line between both governments as the reason the Uruguayan government stepped back from the original agreements [ [http://www.americaeconomica.com/numeros4/360/noticias/agtabarekirchnerma.htm "Uruguay abandona Telesur"] es icon] . Uruguay is no longer mentioned as member of teleSUR in the networks' website. [ [http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/canal/index.php "Sobre el canal teleSUR"] es icon]

Programming

teleSUR's programming is defined, according to its website by a 'Strategic Programming Committee', and is based mostly of educative and news-related content. The network started in February 2008 to broadcast some programming to Brazil in Portuguese [ [http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=581646 "Telesur opens signal in Portuguese for Brazil"] ] . It has no business or markets-related programs, contrary to other international TV networks. Some of its programs are:

* Noticias desde el SUR ('News from the South'): Latin American news from the network's headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela with 10 correspondents and collaborators in several countries throughout the region.
* En vivo desde el SUR ('Live from the South'): Live individual interviews related to the most important news of the day, hosted by Colombian journalist Patricia Villegas.
* Mesa Redonda Internacional – Political and social analysis program, broadcasted on Thursday nights, live from Havana, Cuba.
* Memorias del Fuego: Documentary program which broadcasts independent documentaries about contemporary Latin America.
* Contravía: Documentary program about social and political situation in Colombia, hosted by journalist Hollman Morris.
* Videoteca contracorriente: Interviews with conteporary Latin American leaders and personalities, developed with a critical and progressive view.
* Maestra Vida: Biographies of Latin American personalities.
* América, Tierra Nuestra: Documentaries about Latin American culture and folklore.
* Destino Latinoamérica: A series of programs about Latin American tourist destinations.
* CineSur: Latin American independent cinema.
* Sones y Pasiones: Documentary program about Latin American music and its performers.

Cancelled programs

* Resumen 'Aló Presidente': An abridged version of the program hosted by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in State TV Venezolana de Televisión.
* Agenda del Sur: Live morning news and talk show.
* Visión 7 Internacional: International news and analysis broadcasted Saturdays live from Buenos Aires on Argentina's Canal 7. This program was also aired simultaneously on teleSUR.
* Mediotanque: A program about culture and folklore of Uruguay, produced by [http://www.hachaytiza.com hachaytiza]
* De este lado: Political and social analysis program produced in México and hosted by journalist Blanche Petrich.

References

External links

* [http://www.telepuertovirtual2.tv/telesur45 Live stream (24-7 45 kbit/s)] es icon
* [http://www.minci.gob.ve Venezuelan Information and Communication Ministry] es icon
* [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.2601: House Bill H.R.2601 (entire legislation to which Mack amendment was introduced)] "The Library of Congress"
* [http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21988/ "'El' Jazeera"] , May 13 2005 "Alternet"
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4758465 "Venezuela Launches Cable News Station"] , July 18 2005 "NPR's Morning Edition"
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4713361.stm# "First broadcast for Latin channel"] , July 24 2005 "BBC News"
* [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/26/1419255&mode=thread&tid=25 "New Latin American Television Network Telesur Officially Launched"] , July 26 2005 "Democracy Now!" Features interview with Andres Izarra
* [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/26/1419255&mode=thread&tid=25 "New Latin American Television Network Telesur Officially Launched"] , July 26 2005 "Democracy Now!" Features interview with Andres Izarra
* [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1209863D-B61F-4DB2-ACDD-87E4F587D5BC.htm "Telesur keen on Aljazeera link up"] , July 28 2005 "Al-Jazeera"
* [http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/15878_Telesur.html "New Venezuelan TV network for Latin America outrages Washington"] , July 28 2005 "Pravda.ru"
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4782275 "Venezuela's Telesur Cable News Network"] , August 2 2005 "NPR's Talk of the Nation"
* [http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/2136.cfm "Latin America’s Telesur: The 'Al Jazeera' of the South"] , August 22 2005
* [http://www.alternativabolivariana.org/modules.php?file=article&name=News&sid=1931 "TeleSUR transmitirá en canal abierto en Nicaragua"] es icon
* [http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1122/p07s02-woam.html "Telesur tested by Chávez video"] , November 22 2005 "The Christian Science Monitor"
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4620411.stm "Venezuela sets up 'CNN rival'"] , August 14 2006
* [http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=581646 "Telesur opens signal in Portuguese for Brazil"] February 13 2008