Long before Brazil got used to watching a national news program every night, the idea of connecting the country through television was still just a project. A bold business plan, which Nelson Sirotsky, publisher and chairman of the Management Board of the RBS Group, saw being created up close.
“This idea for Jornal Nacional came up in Porto Alegre. I was young, 18 years old, and I was accompanying my father to this meeting where the possibility of creating a news newspaper broadcast live to the Southeast and South of Brazil was discussed. Embratel had provided a link that could do this”, recalled Sirotsky in an interview for the program From Zero to Top.
A milestone not only for TV, but for the entire communications industry.
Television x business model
The creation of the network television model was driven by a strategic vision that connected national content and local relevance. By investing in this format from the beginning, being one of the pioneers in this concept of affiliates, RBS anticipated a movement that would become central to competitiveness in the communications sector.
“Dr. Roberto Marinho understood that he needed to form a national television network. My father believed in this network concept. But there was an essential condition for success. It needed to have national content, but we couldn’t give up local content”, says Nelson.
The decision to invest in regional production was not just an editorial one, according to Sirotsky, but also a business one. This combination ended up shaping the television model that was consolidated in the country.
“This idea of having a national network with local content was a fundamental concept. Television was and continues to be a great element of national integration”, concludes the publisher.
To find out more details about the trajectory of Grupo RBS, see the full episode on . The program is available in its podcast version on the main streaming platforms such as , , , and
About From Zero to Top
The Do Zero ao Topo podcast is a production of InfoMoney and brings, every week, the stories of prominent women and men in the Brazilian market to tell their story, sharing the biggest challenges faced along the way and the main strategies used in building the business.
