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  • Televisa Television Painting
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Televisa Television Painting

Object Details

Description
Emilio Nicolas, Sr., a television executive at KWEX in San Antonio, Texas, commissioned this painting of the Televisa studios in Mexico City in the 1960s. He managed the flagship station for the Spanish International Network, the first Spanish language network in the United States established in 1961. Nicolas traveled frequently to Mexico City to work with writers and artists at Televisa, Mexico’s oldest national television network, to produce programming that would be distributed through SIN to Spanish-speaking audiences in the U.S.
When Nicolas asked a local artist to paint the studio, he documented the behind-the-scenes technology and work of programming in the golden era of television.
In the 1950s, consumers made television the centerpiece of the home, fueling competition among broadcasters to create new products, new programming, new stations, and even new networks. Innovators, such as those behind the creation of independent Spanish-language stations and eventually the Spanish International Network (SIN), challenged established broadcasting companies by creating new programming in Spanish and catering to underserved audiences. Established in the early 1960s, SIN knit together independents and created new stations to serve a national audience. With a complex business and legal history, SIN eventually became Univision in the 1980s. In the decades after 1980, Spanish-language programing options grew with recognition of Latinx communities as powerful consumer groups and the advent of new broadcasting technologies such as cable and digital TV.
Description (Spanish)
El Sr. Emilio Nicolas, ejecutivo de televisión de KWEX en San Antonio, Texas, comisionó esta obra de arte de los estudios de Televisa en la Ciudad de México en la década de 1960. Nicolas dirigió la estación insignia y el centro de operaciones de Spanish International Network (SIN), la primera red de difusión en español en los Estados Unidos, establecida en 1961. Viajaba con frecuencia a la Ciudad de México para trabajar con escritores y artistas de Televisa, la cadena nacional más antigua de México, para producir programación que se distribuiría a través de SIN a las audiencias de habla hispana de los Estados Unidos.
Nicolás trabajo de programación en la epoca dorada de la televisión. Le pidió a un artista local que pintara el estudio, quien documentó la tecnología detrás de escena.
En la década de 1950, los consumidores hicieron de la televisión un componente central de sus hogares, fomentando la competencia entre las difusoras para crear nuevos productos, nueva programación, nuevas estaciones, e incluso nuevas redes. Los innovadores, como los creadores de los canales independientes de habla hispana y el Spanish International Network (SIN), desafiaron a las emisoras establecidas creando nuevos programas en español centradas en audiencias históricamente ignoradas. Establecido a principios de los sesenta, SIN unió a difusoras independentes y creó nuevas estaciones para responder a una audiencia nacional. Tras una compleja trayectoria empresarial y legal, SIN se convertiría en Univisión en la década de 1980. Durante las próximas décadas, las opciones de programación en español crecieron gracias al reconocimiento de la comunidad Latinx, como poderoso grupo de consumidores, y a la introducción de nuevas tecnologías de difusión, como el cable y la televisión digital.
Data Source
National Museum of American History
date made
1966
ID Number
2017.0213.01
catalog number
2017.0213.01
accession number
2017.0213
Object Name
painting
Physical Description
green; yellow (overall color)
oil on board (overall production method/technique)
Measurements
overall with frame: 22 in x 29 1/2 in; 55.88 cm x 74.93 cm
See more items in
Work and Industry: Work
Work
Exhibition
American Enterprise
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
classified
Latino
Hispanics
used
Spanish
classified
Television broadcasts
Broadcasting
Record ID
nmah_1866343
Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b3-90ce-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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Our entrance is on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE.

street map of Postal museum

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Owney, the Railway Mail Service Mascot

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