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Stephen W. Gilbert

The first half century of mexican TV

To tell the truth, it was not my idea to organize this dossier on the topic of television, to
commemorate the first 50 years of this complex, peculiar, educational, modern, idiot, hegemonic amusing, hypnotic, sexy, informative, apparatus / institution. Francisco Hernández Lomelí, investigator of the Department of Studies of the Social Communication of this University, had made several proposals last year, about a possible memorial of the official arrival of the " tele" to Mexico. Finally, the idea of editing a number the Revista Universidad de Guadalajara seemed likely. Unavoidably, Francisco was unable to coordinate this number, and with pleasure I have taken charge of the work. We have taken advantage of the research by some members of the Academic Leadership Group "Globalization, cultural industries and identities" (the article of Hernández, that of Ibarra and mine); besides special contributions from our colleagues Delia Crovi of the unam, Guillermo Orozco and Francisco de Jesus Aceves.

More official even than the arrival in 1935 of a few television sets, was the pronouncement by the ruling Party in 1950 that television had officially arrived in Mexico. The occassion was the Presidential Report of Miguel German Valdés. And by that time the "tests" of the official channel (Four), had filled the airwaves for half a decade. The television had already become an indisputed presence in Mexican life. (Coincidentally, years later Aleman appeared as a partner of the O'Farrill family, proprietors of that first channel of Mexican television). We have come a long way from those pioneering days of television in Mexico, now that screens, including the computer screens that are converging and fusing with TV, are producing a series of mutations toward what Sartori calls the homo videns."

For obvious reasons of space , we touch only lightly on a few of the more interesting aspects of Mexican television. Francisco Hernández Lomelí and Francisco of Jesus Aceves González describe some important facts about the emergence of television in Mexico City (that is to say at a national level), and in our city of Guadalajara, respectively (at a state level). The contribution of Guillermo Orozco Gómez discusses from a critical perspective some political and ideological dimensions of television, beginning with a criticism of the official histories that have proliferated in the last years. My own contribution is a description of television at the present time in Mexico, with a certain accent on foreign relations. Delia Crovi Druetta reflects on certain aspects of technological change, in particular those that give television (or what is now called "post-television") the opportunity to become an interactive medium, and on some social, cultural, political, economic, ethical challenges and consequences that await us. Finally, Armando Ibarra López examines an aspect of televison that has received scant attention in Mexico: the role of television in the process of children's political socialization.

We have barely scratched the surface. We share merely a few ideas and some scattered information that might allow us to take into account the socio-historic importance of television as a social institution which has done so much to characterize life in the 20th century.

Enrique E. Sanchez Ruiz

Translaten By

Stephen W. Gilbert

The first half century of mexican TV

Television and the political socialization of children

Armando Martin Ibarra Lopez

Participating in a political event, defending a posture or a point of view, voting for a candidate, a party and a political platform, are acts we don't learn about overnight. Values, habits and political practices are the result of a complex process of socialization.

The term «Political Socialization» has been defined by several authors (Easton and Dennis: 1969, Niemi: 1973, Kraus and Davis: 1975) claiming that socialization has a strict meaning, related to the Civics courses that are taught in the school; or a broader meaning, related to the whole of political life. Here we will use this second meaning.

Politics can be understood as encompassing the knowledge, beliefs and practices of institutionalized society (political system, government, political parties, elections, etc.) Politics takes place in a braoder way when knowledge, beliefs, values and actions have a direct relationship with the distribution and interaction of the power among individuals in different social atmospheres . The interrelation between child and parent, or with teachers, siblings and peer groups, even outside a particular political system, establish power relations, negotiation routines, decision making procedures, practical beliefs and actions of a political character that have repercussions inthe individual's future political life.

It seems obvious that children don't develop political ideas by the simple act of reaching their majority . It is important to understand the socialization process during the first 18 years and in particular the early political learning of very young children, as a result of their interaction with television. Hence the interest in studies of the role that television plays as an agent of political socialization in the young. The question common to all these studies is: «How is the political education of the young related to their political life as adults?»

"Political behavior is determined by a series of motivational and emotional factors operating through a complicated psychodynamic process from early childhood... Individuals learn political orientations gradually... They are socialized and they act more from social position than from necessity" (Hyman:1959).

These sentences written in 1959 are part of one of the pioneer studies that analyzed in a specific and serious way the problem of children and political socialization; it seems useful even forty years later.

Translaten By

Stephen W. Gilbert

The first half century of mexican TV

The sad history of the tapatia television industry

Francisco de Jesus Aceves Gonzalez

When in the month of March of 1952, at the insistance of Emilio Azcarraga, Televisora West INC. is legally recognized in the city of Mexico, the foundation was laid on which the television industry would be built in Jalisco and particularly in the city of Guadalajara.

With the setting-up of this company, Mr. Azcarraga assured its presence and participation in the growth and development of television in Jalisco. There has been, since, a symbiotic relation between Azcárraga's life history and the vicissitudes of the television industry in our city. It falls to us to point out the significant moments in this lamentable relationship.

It is interesting to look at the kinds of shareholders that made up the newcompany, as well as at their participation in the control of the 23 thousand shares that made up two million three hundred thousand pesos, and constituted their social capital.

The main partner, Don Emilio, held 45 percent of the shares; Jose Luis Fernandez, a lawyer, and legal representative of Don Emilio's companies, controlled 25 percent; Don Clemente Serna Martinez held 15 per cent;. Pedro Rivas, a radio personality from Aguascalientes held 10 per cent; and finally, Manuel Lopez Diaz, owner of xeav Guadalajara, had 5 percent.

Don Emilio's dominant position was quite visible in the recently opened company, although it was evident that at least in those circumstances, when television was just becoming a profitable business, local managers were included in the projects of expansion. Over the next few years the structure of the ownership of the company would change considerably.

Translaten By

Stephen W. Gilbert

The first half century of mexican TV

Television and viewers: different histories of five decades of television in Mexico

Guillermo Orozco Gomez

The true history of television in Mexico is yet to be written. Some histories have circulated recently as books, financed and even prefaced by Emilio Azcárraga Jean, current president of Televisa. And although they contribute information about names,dates and certain key events, (valuable and useful information in itself and necessary to any history of Mexican television), they suffer from partiality and a recalcitrant reductionism. Viewers are not present. It seems we don't exist.

The alliances of television consortia with state power, with the pri, go similarly unnoticed. A television that "just grew" then, or that is the product of the dedication and vision of the managers themselves, in particular the "Tiger" Emilio Azcarraga Milmo.

The lineality of these histories, their latent sense of requiring readers to look at the history of Mexican television only from the company's perspective, marks the urgent need for a complete and critical history from the viewers' perspective. A more dialectical history that would show the vicissitudes, negotiations and even confrontations between one managerial decree and another; in short, a socio-political, cultural, economic history of television communication that would allow a more thorough understanding of what the presence of television has meant to the culture, the democratic asprirations of the society, our educational progress, and the opportunities for citizenship in modern Mexico.

Translaten By

Stephen W. Gilbert

The first half century of mexican TV

Globalization and convergence: challenges for culture industries in latin America

Enrique E. Sanchez Ruiz

"Globalization" is already part of today's common wisdom. However, it doesn't seem that it has been given a consensual meaning, in such a waythat "globalization" is accepted as a relatively rigorous concept of common use in the social sciences (Ianni 1996; García Canclini 1999). In any event, it is necessary to differentiate among meanings that carry a greater ideological load (i.e., there are those that see "globalization" as the source of all evil, as well as those who identify it with all the benefits of the free market). A more descriptive use might designate " globalization" simply as the current state of capitalism (Saxe-Fernández 1999). This way we could differenciate between, for example, "globalization", in the sense above, and "globalism", as the more apologetic term (Beck 1998). With the last, one accentuates the most ideological use, intending a notion of a kind of "pop globalism", or pop version of globalization (Saxe-Fernández 1999).

"Globalization", like "new world order" is not the cause of all humanity's sufferings (although one can certainly point out problems produced by leaving national economies to the tender mercies of the globalized market).

Neither is globalization the fount of all modern advances and achievements.

To the extent that we still have not arrived at the end of history, nor are we closer to any kind of Utopia, the focus of the social sciences on this type of problem should continue to be of a critical nature, committed to historical movement towards increased human freedom (Sanchez Ruiz 1992).

Human beings will only achieve total realization as such, in a natural environment that is not destroyed by the invisible ( as well as blind and insensitive) hand of the market.

Translaten By

Stephen W. Gilbert

The first half century of mexican TV

Interactive television

Reflections on broadcasting and post-television

Delia Crovi Druetta

In March of this year, the Internet company "Net for All", placed on the Mexican market what it called "the first system of interactive television created for Spanish speakers". This system integrates advanced technologies offering Internet access, electronic mail, e-commerce, information, entertainment and financial services.

According to the company this service places Mexico among the first users of the system, since through any television set, one can access interactive television by means of a remote control or wireless keyboard. The company claims that one doesn't need knowledge of computer systems to benefit from this system, but needs only a device driver connected to the television and a phone line, in order to send e-mail or an image to a television program.

The managers of Net for All adds that the service is economical and will give "new life to television".

This kind of news raises exactly the kinds of questions I want to explore in this article. Are the new technological systems giving new life to television? What does interactive television mean, exactly? What kept us from interacting with television before the arrival of the computer?

Translaten By

Stephen W. Gilbert

The first half century of mexican TV

The Asymetry of the Mexican Television Industry

Enrique E. Sanchez Ruiz

Mexican television at the end of the xx Century is highly concentrated and centralized. Even if "the end of the era of monopolies in Mexico is at hand" (Wilkinson, Hernández and Sow 2000), the sector of the cultural industries still demonstrate an extremely concentrated market structure (Sánchez Ruiz 2000; Toussaint 1998). Also, in keeping with the prevalent centralism in the economy and political structure, most of the industry is controlled in Mexico City (Sánchez Ruiz, 1987; 1998). For example, Televisa controls almost half of the television stations in the country and vt Azteca almost than a third.

Digitalization and the convergence of telecommunication with information technologies and traditional media, especially the audiovisual, is already producing a vast demand for all types of television programs. But a solid and diversified content industry has not developed due to the highly concentrated structure of the national market, particularly in the production subsector.

We believe that a more active policy of the Mexican government can help the audiovisual sector become more pluralist, competitive and diverse.

There need to be more options, so that the audiovisual media can contribute to a more democratic order, to a more active participation by Mexico in the new stage of ciber-capitalism, and to the creation of a cultural identity based on the rich and pluralist diversity of Mexico. Monopoly is not an unavoidable historical destiny, although its owners and its apologists assure us that it is.