Channel 10 (Canal Diez, legally known as SAETA TV Canal 10) is a Uruguayan free-to-airtelevision network based in Montevideo. It began its transmission in 1956 as the first television broadcaster in the country and the fourth in Latin America.[1] Its owned and operated by Sociedad Anónima Emisora de Emisión Televisión y Anexos (Spanish for 'Public Limited Company Broadcasting Television Broadcasting and Annexes').[2] The network's headquarters are in the Palermo neighbourhood.[3]
In 1949, businessmen Raúl Fontaina and Enrique de Feo created, together with the National Association of Uruguayan Broadcasters, the Sociedad Anónima Emisora de Ediciones Televisión y Annexes (SAETA), and approved the statute for the creation of Channel 10.
In 1956, during the First National Production Exhibition held at the Cilindro Municipal, the first transmission of the network were made.[4] Raúl Fontaina Islas was the first television presenter of the network and the country. After the presentation, the National Anthem of Uruguay was sung in a ceremony attended by the then Minister of Public Works, Héctor Grauert.[5]
Channel 10's transmitting antenna, measuring 187 meters in height, is called the Saeta Tower. It was built and inaugurated sometime after the channel moved to its current address. It stems from the idea and subsequent efforts of Milton Fontaina. Today it is the highest structure in Montevideo and can be seen from many parts of the city. Over the past 5 years, Channel 12, of Uruguay, rent a portion of the antenna to transmit their programming.
Logo
In 1972, the channel adopted a new logo depicting the number 10 surrounded by a CRT shape, with the number 1 depicting an arrow, and the number 0 identical to the American network CBS Eye logo. A blue background was used with the advent of color television. In 1992, the central sphere of the 0 became colorized. In 2002, the arrow 1 was removed, and the Uruguayan flag was adopted as background. The logo was last modified in 2006, with the chromed contour removed and the background changed back to blue.
Film
In the year 2006 the channel signed a contract with film companies: Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and Dreamworks, to transmit the most recent releases of these film companies. These releases are already being cast in "Film Festival", a program that airs Monday at 9:00 pm. A person specializing in film on Channel 10 is Jackie Rodriguez Stratta, for many years in Saeta.
Competitions
It was the first channel to create a talent competition, in 1996, by virtue of its 40 years. Then Channel 4 did the same in 2004, and in 2006, celebrating its 50 years of new Channel 10 conducted a contest called CONTA, which was to create: series, novels, cartoons, etc., all of this for CONTA and Channel 10. In 2007 premiered the first prize in the national fiction series: "Flat 8". The 5-Setiembre/2007 premiered another production CONTA called History Clinic. The cooking competition MasterChef was aired from 2017 to 2019, and Got Talent Uruguay debuted in 2020.
Sports Events
Channel 10 broadcasts live matches of FIFA tournaments and qualifiers in simulcast with Tenfield (vía VTV).
