TN8


Telenica is a nationwide state-run terrestrial television channel from Nicaragua, founded by Nicaraguan businessman Carlos Briceño in 1992. The channel was bought by Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo in late 2009, yet it was not made public until January 2010, the change in ownership led to a change in profile. TN8 is one of Nicaragua's main channels.
Before nationalization, Telenica, S.A. was also the owner of Radio 8, a local radio station. Canal 8 has the number one news program in the country, and it also has the number one sports show in the country.
In January 2010, the television channel was sold to private investors for an undisclosed amount. Local news reports have alleged that the buyers were family members of President Daniel Ortega.

History

1950s and 60s

Channel 8 was the first TV channel to go on air in Nicaragua, being founded by Somoza García on 15 July 1956, though according to the 1957 Television Factbook, the station started in August that year, before suspending its operations in October. The channel did not have an instant success, given that television sets were not available for much of the Nicaraguan population. By 1962, it was believed to operate under the YNSA-TV calls.
The channel was owned by Televisión de Nicaragua, S.A. and broadcast from the building of the now-defunct Novedades newspaper, which, like the station, was owned by Anastasio Somoza García. Equipment came from abroad and was controlled by technicians and engineers from Radio Managua and the United States. Its manager was journalist Luis Hidalgo. The lineup was limited, the station regularly broadcast from 6:30pm to 9pm, with live and filmed programming, later adding folklore programming and baseball matches.
During the channel's early years, the channel carried a significant number of sports broadcasts, including soccer and baseball matches, with the aim of competing with radio. In 1961, the channel improved its equipment and its coverage extended to the Pacific area. Channels 8 and 6 merged in 1962. It is unknown when did the channel cease operations under government control.

As a private channel under Carlos Briceño

In the early 1990s, the Nicaraguan television monopoly held by the dissolved Sistema Sandinista de Televisión, thereby split in two companies, one for each channel, came to its end, and the license to operate channel 8 was given to Telenica, which was founded by journalist Carlos Briceño, a former Univisión correspondent in Miami and later worked at Sistema Nacional de Televisión, on 3 February 1992, beginning operations on 9 December that same year, though some sources claim it started broadcasting in July. When the channel started, it had the aim of being an alternative to the existing channels, nonetheless the channel operated with limited human resources, prompting the channel to rely heavily on imported programming, provided that the financial resources were sufficient. The equipment was obtained from bank loans and donations from international aid agencies. In the mid-90s, Telenica/TN8 eyed for a possible reconversion to an all-news channel.
In early 1994, the channel broadcast between 3:30pm and 11pm. At the time, 15% of the content was news and 10% current affairs programming. When the channel launched, this occupied 53% of the schedule. Three quarters of the programming were international. The channel, like Canal 4, was unaffiliated to ATELCAP, meaning that it obtained foreign programming illegally by satellite, without the license of the producers. Telenica also avoided the broadcast of telenovelas and TV series. The reach of the channel was limited to urban areas in and around Managua.
Under Briceño's control, its programming was aimed to the family audience, concentrating on news broadcasting, informational programming, sports and commentary, specials, series and musical shows. Its high standards of content and productions made it a favorite channel among Nicaraguan viewers. "A synonym of objectivity, credibility and experience, their renowned journalists bring us the most complete information every evening on local and international events". TN8 produced in the latter years of Briceño's administration, an average 5.5 hours of live news programming, for a monthly average of 121 hours, and for national content overall, 13.5 daily hours for a monthly average of 297 hours. While the other channels specialized in telenovelas and movies, TN8 was heavily specialized in news and current affairs programming, motivated by the success of its newscasts.
In 2004, it was reported that TN8 had the highest ratings among the local TV channels, Noticiero Independiente also had surpassed Canal 2's TVNoticias.
In early 2005, its newscast Noticiero Independiente, surpassed the ratings of Sábado Gigante and the telenovelas on Canal 2. The channel was added to the JumpTV website in December 2006, alongside Radio 8 and two other independent channels, 100% Noticias and ESTV.

Acquisition by Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo

In late 2009, TN8 was acquired by Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo, son of president Daniel Ortega, however it was not officially announced to the public until January 2010. The channel was bought for a sum of US$9.7 million, relying on funding from Albanisa, a company with mixed shares from Venezuela and Nicaragua's state-run petrol companies. TN8 therefore became private property of Juan Carlos Ortega. Human rights organizations criticized the sale of Telenica, as the details of the sale were kept in secret and that the presidential family showed a clear lack of transparency. The negotiations with Albanisa were held for months, as one of the three potential options for the sale of the channel, including a negotiation related to a debt the channel has been accumulating since 2000. Briceño confirmed on January 14, 2010, that the channel was set to be under the Juan Carlos Ortega administration effective January 25.
The new administration initiated a rebranding process from its first week in control of the channel. One of the channel's main shows under the Briceño administration, Esta Semana, was replaced with Sin Fronteras, hosted by the pro-government presenter William Grigsby, international news reports from Telesur and excerpts of speeches from Daniel Ortega during commercial breaks. There was a massive concern over the future of the channel, with many speculating over a potential rebrand to ALBA-TV, and with further concerns about the fact that 51% of the channel was under Venezuelan control, which was illegal by the law. Grigsby's Sin Fronteras was cancelled on 11 February 2010, as the new owner was changing the format of the channel, from a predominantly news service to an entertainment channel, with telenovelas and movies.
On 6 September 2010, the newscasts that existed under the Briceño administration, after being subjected to a change of contents to align it with the FSLN, were replaced by a new one, Crónica TN8. On September 18, Lado Oscuro moved here from CDNN 23.
Related to the change in content, the channel started buying a high number of imported television series and movies, mostly from the United States and Japan, setting deals with international production companies, this included a volume deal with Viacom to provide content for a children's programming slot, Hora Nick. In 2015, Álvaro Rocha, TN8's director of programming, stated that the channel's programming was 20% internal and 80% external, competing with cable, and also had imports in English, a strategy that "worked very well" for the channel.
According to a 2020 investigation by Reuters, TN8 was owned by Yadira Leets, wife of Rafael Ortega. It's unknown if Leets was involved in the 2010 purchase of the channel.
A spin-off of Crónica TN8, Crónica TN8 Internacionales, premiered at 5pm on 29 September 2021, replacing the sitcoms that aired in that time slot up until then. This caused the creation of an extended block of news programs, as it precedes 8 Deportivo and the main edition of Crónica TN8. Longtime TN8 presenter under Juan Carlos, Karleydi Zelendón, left the channel in 2023 and joined the editorial team of Canal 4.

Programming

Current programming on TN8 includes:
  • Crónica TN8
  • Crónica TN8 Internacionales
  • Estudio TN8
  • 8 Deportivo
  • Rebeldes
  • El Lobby
  • Hora Nick
  • Hogar y Estilo
  • International feature films
  • E-sports tournaments

    La Rock 22

Juan Carlos Ortega started UHF channel 22 on 23 December 2015, assigned to another company he controls, Difuso Comunicaciones. The channel was sanctioned on 17 July 2020, by the United States Department of Treasury, owing to such sanctions, advertising slots on the channel stopped. At the time of the sanctions, much of the programming consisted of US imports. Juan Carlos Ortega subsequently renamed the channel to Rock FM and switched its to predominantly rock music videos to evade the sanctions. The channel was taken off the air on 29 July 2020, from cable operators. At an unspecified date, the channel resumed operating under its current name, La Rock 22. The channel is alongside TN8 engaged in the promotion of events like Rock City, with support from the government platform Nicaragua Emprende.

Controversies

Zeta Gas affair

In July 1998, Mexican oil company Zeta Gas sued the channel due to its airing of a 60 Minutes report about Zeta Gas' ties to drug traffickers.

Under the Juan Carlos administration

In September 2020, Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo tweeted about a situation involving the buying of the Dragon Ball and Saint Seiya anime franchise to the channel that took place in 2011. Toei Animation offered them first-run prices, but Juan Carlos said that Canal 12 had aired the former before, and hadn't paid for the rights.