SOCIOECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON
THE DEVELOPMENT OF TELEVISION

 From 1950 to 1980, Brazil experienced fundamental changes, marked by rapid industrialization, urbanization, inflation, and a succession of political upheavals. This chapter will briefly present some of the socioeconomic factors, which have directly or indirectly contributed to the growth of Brazilian television during the last three decades.

Urban Industrialization and Television

According to Muniz Sodré, after completion of the agricultural-economic-cycle of exportation, during the thirties, when coffee was the principal export, Brazil underwent a series of economic transformations, centering on urban industrialization which contributed to the intensification of the process of modernization of the cities. (1) It was during President Getúlio Vargas's "Estado Novo" ("New State") and after the post-war era that industry began to exert a significant influence on the Brazilian economy. Vargas's policy was oriented to replacing the importation of nondurable consumer goods with production in loco. Under the guise of economic nationalism, the government itself made investments in the expansion of heavy industry and began building the infrastructure that was necessary for the production of durable consumer goods. Between 1945 and 1960, Brazil experienced rapid industrial growth. (2)

The advent of Brazilian television (in 1950) was during a period of industrial growth. With the intensification of industrialization in the fifties, migration from rural to urban areas increased, and radio became an important source of information for people in the big cities. According to Sodré, it was during that phase that big industrialization projects emerged, as well as political demagogues, the proletariat, and the urban middle classes. (3)

According to Gordon Campbell, migrants were primarily Italians and people from the underdeveloped Brazilian regions, who were attracted by jobs in São Paulo's industries. In the early sixties, São Paulo was established as Brazil’s commercial and industrial capital, a fact that contributed to the media concentration in São Paulo. (4) Table 8 lists the number of television concessions by region.

TABLE 8

Note: Each period begins in March.

Source: SSR/Secretary of Broadcast Services of the Ministry of Communications.

In Brazil urbanization has occurred simultaneously with economic and social development. According to Nely Camargo

In 1950, 20 percent of the population was urban, the remaining 80 percent living in rural areas. Now [l975] , 60 percent of the population live in cities, only 40 percent remaining in rural areas. As a corollary to this tendency, the growth of cities of over 100,000 inhabitants has been remarkable. In 1940, only ten cities were above this figure: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Salvador, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Belém, Santos, Fortaleza, and Niterói. In 1960, this figure grew to thirty-one cities. In 1974 it was over ninety and today its number is estimated at 140 cities. (5)

It should be noted that in the early sixties, there were 15 television stations operating in the more important cities. It was only when the effect of increased industrial consumption were consolidated that television stations became viable as commercial enterprises and began to compete for income from advertising sources. In order to receive increased support from advertising, television was driven to seek larger audiences and thus larger profits.

In short, the introduction of television in Brazil coincides with the beginning of an important period of change in economic and social structures. Taking into account that Brazilian television is urban-based and urban-oriented; it can be broadly inferred that television benefited directly from both the industrialization and the urbanization process. From industry it received advertising revenues, and from the large concentration of urban population, it had a virtually guaranteed audience. In addition, Nely Camargo claims that "Almost 90 percent of Brazilian homes are within the range of television transmissions. However, the ownership of television sets is not homogeneous. Market studies have demonstrated that in the cities, even the very poor families think that television is a must. The television set comes before the purchase of any other home facilities." (6)

 The Economic Development Model

The 1964 military regime adopted an economic development model whose principal result was the Brazilian "Economic Miracle." According to a document entitled "Goals and Bases of Government Actions," published in 1970 during Médici's term in office, tile 1964 revolution was intended "to create basic conditions for genuine development, democracy and sovereignty.(7)

President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco presented some of his ideas about security and development during a lecture at the Escola Superior de Guerra in March 1967. In referring to economic development, he stated that

in the economic sense, a country's industry and level of technology ultimately determined its military power. Socially speaking, even a satisfactory level of economic development, if accompanied by excessive concentration of wealth and growing social inequalities, led to tensions and strife that would prevent the institutions from working properly and would compromise development and security. (8)

According to Thomas Pompeu Brasil Netto, the Brazilian model adopted by the 1964 military regime is directed to build a "modern capitalist society" (9) According to him, Brazilian economic development has four basic characteristics: (I) political and social stability as a means of attaining rapid economic development; (2) geographical integration and better income distribution as a means of overcoming regional economic disparities; (3) diversification of the industrial sector to create efficient systems of financial, communication, transportation, and food supply services; and (4) the creation of new opportunities for private enterprises, which are stimulated by such policies as export credit and the adoption of flexibility rates.

The first two presidents of the military regime Castelo Branco and Costa e Silva created the basic conditions for the Economic Miracle, which occurred during Médici's term in office. Among innumerable governmental actions, the Law of Foreign Capital, signed by Castelo Branco in August, 1964, was one of the strongest contributors to the rapid growth of the industrial sector and it indirectly contributed to the maintenance of social peace through the creation of new job opportunities and a decrease in unemployment. According to Campbell,

in his message to Congress introducing the bill, Castelo said that foreign capital could contribute to the nation's growth by raising the rate of investment, strengthening the country's capacity to import, and increasing its stock of technology. Having recognized that foreign capital was desirable for Brazil, the government has decided on a pragmatic policy with a single aim, to secure the greatest possible benefit. (10)

The post-1964 governments made many concessions to foreign investors, who, together with the local industrialists, stimulated both television and consumerism chiefly by means of television advertisements. (11) This is borne out by Alan Wells's statement regarding advertising in Brazil

Local industries, as well as developed country exporters, are interested in placing their advertisements on the television screen. Indeed, one agency noted that its Brazilian clients spend proportionately more than their American counterparts on television, as opposed to other forms of advertising. They are more cosmopolitan than the foreign "moderns."... Local manufacturers using the television media for advertising are probably either American and other foreign subsidiaries, or "modernist" domestic companies that cater to sectoral consumerism. (12)

The creation of Institutional Act no.5 in December 1968 was another strong contribution to the accomplishment of the economic goals, which formed the basis of the Economic Miracle. According to Campbell, after Institutional Act no.5, "the Congress having been abruptly ordered into recess, a spate of decrees was issued affecting the public and private sectors. No longer impeded by the 1967 Constitution, which it could amend at will, the administration was able to convert its decisions rapidly into law. (13)

The Brazilian Economic Miracle and Television

 The Brazilian Economic Miracle occurred during Médici's term, a period of strong political repression and control of the mass media by means of censorship, the National Security Law, and Institutional Act no.5. This fact is significant if one considers that in order to attract foreign capital the government needed to present an image of political and social stability which, according to the military regime’s concepts, is a fundamental condition for economic development. However, as Joan R. Dassin comments, it is obvious that "press censorship alone did not open the way for the Economic Miracle. In fact, prohibitions on publishing economic information were relatively few. Elio Gaspari argues that, in fact, the 'Miracle' was willingly supported by the major dailies and newsmagazines, in a deliberate gesture of approval for an economic model, which they not only defended but also profited from. (14) Dassin further states that the regime's economic development model was supported by "systematic political repression" through which the great majority of the Brazilian people were excluded from the benefits of that economic development.

In addition, Institutional Act no.5, which centralized decision-making powers in the executive branch, was used with the intent of promoting economic development. According to Albert Fishlow, "the director of the Brazilian AID mission implicitly concurred in February 1969: 'in terms of general economic policies, I would say if anything there has been a net improvement; the Finance Minister can now do by decree things that before had to go through Congress; they have been passing out decrees left and right, and most of them are to the good.’"

The Economic Miracle occurred between 1969 and 1974, as a result of an authoritarian model of economic development. During that period, the annual growth rate reached 9 to 11 percent. As a result of the Miracle, Brazil, or more exactly the southern region and São Paulo, was transformed into the "largest ... industrial economy among the less developed nations (16).

Since the Law of Foreign Capital was passed, in 1964, foreign corporations have increased their investments in Brazil. In 1967, for example, the largest advertisers in the country were multinational corporations that, during the economic boom concentrated their advertising campaigns on television. According to Fernando Henrique Cardoso, in 1967 the twelve major advertisers in Brazil were the following corporations: Willys Overland, Sidney Ross, Volkswagen, Gillette, Gessy Lever, Nestlé, Ford, Rhodia, Fleishman and Royal, Coca-Cola, Shell and Colgate Palmolive. (17)

According to a survey in the World Advertising Expenditures, Brazil is one of the ten countries, which spent over one billion dollars in media advertising. In 1976, it was the fourth country (behind only the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom) in dollars spent on television advertising Brazil allocated 42 percent of all of its advertising expenditures during 1976 to television. (18) Table 9 shows Brazilian television advertising expenditures between 1968 and 1979.

TABLE 9

(*) Measured media: print, cinema, radio, television, outdoor, and transportation

It was during the Economic Miracle that the Brazilian GNP reached the level of $80 billion. As a result of annual growth rates, per capita income increased from $312 in 1964 to $800 in 1974. (19) In 1977, according to the World Bank, the Brazilian GNP per capita was $1,360. (20) As a reflection of economic development, not only was there an increase in advertising expenditure, but between 1969 and 1979, there was also what can be called a television boom; that is, the military regime granted 67 licenses for television channels to private enterprises throughout the national territory (see Table 8).

Television received an additional benefit in 1968, when direct credit was provided to the consumer a novelty introduced by the military government in order to facilitate the purchase of goods produced by Brazilian industries. In that year, sales of television sets increased by 48 percent over the previous year. (21) According to Médici’s message to the National Congress in 1974, the telecommunications industries had a growth average of 20 percent between 1970 and 1973. (22)

One can argue, then, that the growth of Brazilian television was directly and indirectly influenced by the economic development of the country, that is, by the increase of GNP per capita, by the increase of per capita income, by better income distribution, (23) as well as by the more intensive process of urbanization after 1960.

PREFACE / INTRODUCTION / 1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF BRAZILIAN TELEVISION / 2. THE IMPACT OF THE MILITARY REGIME ON TELEVISION / 3. THE INFLUENCE OF COMMUNICATION LAWS AND REGULATORY AGENCIES ON THE GROWTH OF TELEVISION / 4. POLITICAL INFLUENCES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TELEVISION / 5. SOCIOECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TELEVISION / 6.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS / 7. NOTES / 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY / 9. ABOUT THE AUTHOR