TV Tupi Rio de Janeiro

As early as July 1944, when Assis Chateaubriand had talks with RCA executives David Sarnoff and Vladimir Zworykin, he demanded that his conglomerate should build two television stations, one in São Paulo and the other in Rio de Janeiro.[1]^: 85–87

On January 27, 1948, Diário da Noite reported the arrival of television to both Rio and São Paulo.[1]^: 110

The station conducted camera tests in April 1950.[1]^: 131

Experimental broadcasts started on October 5, 1950, callsign PRG-3.[1]^: 260 The station signed on for the first time on January 20, 1951, seven days before awarding its license.[1]^: 262

Launch day solemnities atop Sugarloaf Mountain were held from 12pm, reaching out to at least 5,000 television sets installed. A succession of speeches then followed.[1]^{: 262–263} After the ceremony ended, the station put its test pattern until 8:30pm when Luiz Jatobá gave a three-minute introduction of the coming programs. This was followed by a concert by Orquestra Tabajara with Brazilian songs, Calouros em Desfile presented by Ary Barroso at 9pm, and a special show at 9:30pm: Tupi e a Televisão, starring many celebrities of the time, including comedian Mazzaropi, who attended the launch of the São Paulo station and became the first face to appear in two station launches. At 10:30pm, a special edition of Telejornal was broadcast with a film about the launch of the station and a report about its launch ceremony. The schedule ended with a jiu-jitsu fight between Hélio and Carlos Gracie. TV Tupi Rio had a 5KW transmitter that covered the entire city and neighboring Niterói and Petrópolis.[1]^: 264

The station broadcast the Brazilian telenovela, Sua Vida Me Pertence (Your Life Belongs to Me), starting from the end of 1951, and broadcast the first televised kiss on February 8, 1952.