• Source: TV Gazeta de Alagoas

      • TV Gazeta de Alagoas (channel 7, also known as TV Gazeta) is a Brazilian television station based in Maceió, capital of the state of Alagoas, carrying TV Globo for the state, owned-and-operated by locally based Organização Arnon de Mello, a communications group linked to the former President of the Republic Fernando Collor de Mello.


      History




      = Early years

      =
      The concession of the first television station in Maceió and Alagoas was granted by President Ernesto Geisel on May 16, 1974, to the journalist and politician Arnon de Mello, owner of the Gazeta de Alagoas newspaper and Rádio Gazeta. Signal tests on VHF channel 7 began in August 1975, with the transmission of Rede Globo's national programming in color and local programming in black and white. On September 3, the cornerstone of the station's headquarters building was laid, located in the Farol neighborhood, in Maceió, in the presence of the governor of Alagoas, Afrânio Salgado Lages and its CEO, Pedro Collor de Mello.
      The inauguration, initially scheduled for October 1, took place a few days earlier on the afternoon of September 27, in which a plaque was fixed with the following text written by Arnon de Mello: "We are untying the knot that tied Alagoas to the humiliating as the only state without a television station. Channel 7, which we inaugurated today, is proof of our willingness to serve you, the people of Alagoas, TV Gazeta de Alagoas." Before the launch of the station, the state received retransmissions from TV Rádio Clube and TV Jornal do Commercio, both from Pernambuco.
      Gazeta was the first station in the Northeast of the country to relay Globo directly from the national signal — the affiliates installed then in the region received reception from TV Globo Nordeste, from Recife. Due to the costs of simultaneously showing network programming, the station obtained Quadruplex tapes with Globo programs from the Pernambuco branch, which, after broadcast, arrived within a month, restricting live transmission to Jornal Nacional and Fantástico. The broadcaster already had some small shareholders, including João Tenório (later the owner of TV Pajuçara), Carlos Lira Neto and Ricardo Brennand.


      = Crisis and end of TV Globo affiliation

      =
      On June 25, 2019, the Union of Professional Journalists of the State of Alagoas went on strike in the state's broadcasters, including Gazeta, against a proposal to reduce the category's salary by 40%, authored by the channels of the Arnon de Mello and supported by TV Pajuçara and TV Ponta Verde. The movement ended on July 3, after the Regional Labor Court of the 19th Region decided to maintain the salary with a 3% increase in value. The following day, Gazeta fired journalists who joined the strike, being the target of an action by the Public Ministry of Labor of Alagoas on the 9th, which ordered the reinstatement of the professionals under penalty of a daily fine of 50 thousand reais.
      On July 10, 2019, the Federal Public Ministry and the Federal Court decided to revoke and not renew the concessions of TV Gazeta de Alagoas and its sister stations, radio stations 98 FM and Gazeta FM, due to the broadcasters having in their corporate structure the then senator Fernando Collor de Mello, which is not permitted by law. However, the stations remain on the air until the process becomes final in all spheres.
      On May 31, 2023, with the decision of the STF that sentenced Fernando Collor to eight years and ten months in prison for passive corruption and money laundering, irregularities committed by the former senator using TV Gazeta de Alagoas came to light. The station's accounts were used to receive bribes, paid in return for contracts signed by UTC Engenharia with BR Distribuidora. The conviction also revealed that the judicial recovery of TV Gazeta and the Arnon de Mello Organization was caused by simulated loans to Collor, made with the aim of justifying the amounts received.
      On October 4, 2023, TV Globo announced to the management of TV Gazeta de Alagoas the decision not to renew its affiliation, alleging the decision of the STF that had condemned the broadcaster for the Alagoas station being used in corruption schemes. On October 26, 2023, the F5 website, linked to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, reported that TV Globo decided to end its affiliation with TV Gazeta after 48 years, being replaced in the first half of 2024 by a new station, owned of Grupo Nordeste de Comunicação (which also controls the affiliate TV Asa Branca in Caruaru, Pernambuco). The station had been undergoing tests since February under the name "TV Elo", when rumors were already emerging about a possible affiliation with Globo.
      On November 8, 2023, TV Gazeta filed a lawsuit (similar to the action used by TV Tribuna, from Vitória, Espírito Santo) requesting the mandatory renewal of the affiliation contract with the Rio broadcaster, which expires on December 31. The reason used by the local station is the request for judicial recovery, opened in 2019. The opening of the process was seen as "cowardly" by TV Globo in response to the process on the 17th. On the 29th, the Public Ministry of Alagoas accepted a favorable injunction for the channel from Alagoas and decided to make it mandatory to renew Globo's affiliation with Gazeta for at least three years. Such a decision is not definitive, as it depends on the courts to provide a definitive opinion. On December 1, differences arose between TV Gazeta and Globo regarding the renewal of the affiliation contract, mediated by the Public Ministry of Alagoas (MP-AL). TV Gazeta claimed that the contract had not been renewed after 48 years, citing ethical issues. MP-AL proposed a three-year extension of the contract, but TV Gazeta sought an injunction to ensure continuity until 2028. On December 2, allegations emerged about the possible omission of Braskem's name in TV Gazeta's reports, in addition to criticism about the broadcaster's discreet approach to the issue. During Globo's attempt to produce a story for Jornal Nacional about the sinking of the soil in Maceió, they faced communication difficulties with TV Gazeta. Subsequently, after intervention by the Journalism department, TV Gazeta provided the article to Jornal Nacional. On December 5, TV Gazeta had a favorable decision in a legal action. The decision was for Grupo Globo to renew the contract with the broadcaster for another five years. The Alagoas court argued that failure to immediately renew the contract could result in more than 200 layoffs at the Arnon de Mello Group, causing a significant impact on the local economy.
      At the turn of the year 2024, TV Globo was unsuccessful in overturning the Alagoas court injunction through the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice due to the judicial recess due to the end-of-year holiday period. The contract with TV Gazeta ended on December 31, 2023, but by court order, the Alagoas channel remained affiliated with the Rio broadcaster. The imbroglio caused "TV Elo" to go on air, temporarily retransmitting Canal Futura. Globo chose to give up the signal of its educational channel to avoid having two stations broadcasting TV Globo until the issue is resolved in court, fearing a deterioration of its image.
      On January 3, 2024, Globo obtained a victory in the Alagoas Court, overturning the injunction that forced renewal until 2028. In the decision, judge Paulo Zacarias stated that "no company can be forced to do business with another that it does not want". As a result, the retransmission of the programming on TV Gazeta de Alagoas was only guaranteed until the full judgment of the merits in the Plenary of the 3rd Chamber of the Court of Justice of Alagoas, which should take place from January 22.
      On February 6, 2024, the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, in an access to the report sent by TV Globo to the Alagoas court, disclosed that the Rio channel accused TV Gazeta of moral harassment against its own employees, citing some condemnations of the local station in lawsuits filed by former employees, in addition to overbilling of salaries, with one of the high-ranking executives receiving R$67,000, exceeding the amounts paid by the Brazilian market and the financial situation of the Arnon de Mello Organization, alleged in the lawsuit filed with the MP- AL by Gazeta to maintain Globo's affiliation until 2028. Furthermore, the convictions by the STF were highlighted in the document.
      Despite having accepted the decision presented by TV Gazeta in November 2023, the MP-AL decided to reverse the action in favor of TV Globo on March 16, 2024, leaving only one vote to end the affiliation, which depends solely on the 3 ° Court of Justice of Alagoas, whose trial was scheduled for April 10, but was postponed twice due to problems among the judges.


      Technical information



      The broadcaster began testing its digital signal in June 2010, during Globo's broadcasts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, through channel 21 UHF. On November 29 of the same year, the station officially began its digital transmissions. On March 26, 2012, the station's newscasts and programs began to be produced in high definition.
      Based on the federal decree transitioning Brazilian TV stations from analogue to digital signals, TV Gazeta, as well as the other stations in Maceió, ceased broadcasting on channel 7 VHF on May 30, 2018, following the official schedule of the ANATEL.
      In December 2014, Gazeta signed an agreement with the Alagoan Football Federation to exclusively broadcast the Campeonato Alagoano from the 2015 edition onwards. The tournament was shown on the station until 2019, as the following year the rights were passed on to its sister company, TV Mar, which only covered that season.


      References

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