Protab

Protab was a Chilean television production company whose work helped establish locally produced serial drama and variety programming during the formative decades of Chilean broadcasting. The company was formally created on 11 August 1967 by Osvaldo Barzelatto and Ricardo Miranda through an alliance between Protel, a Chilean television-services company, and the American Broadcasting Company. Protel held 52 percent of the capital and ABC held 48 percent. The company's roots lay in Protel, short for Promoción, Propaganda y Televisión Ltda., which was founded in 1962 and formally constituted by notarial act on 14 January 1963. Protel was connected with Canal 13 and initially handled the distribution and marketing of filmed foreign television material, including series and telenovelas. It also processed film for the Canal 13 news program El repórter Esso and supplied filming and technical services for major events, including the 1966 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at Portillo. This technical and production background gave Protab access to equipment and personnel at a time when Chilean television was expanding its locally made output. Protab operated studios in central Santiago at Tarapacá 752 and possessed one of Chile's early mobile outside-broadcast units. In January 1969, ABC increased its investment by providing two trucks equipped with laboratories for outside broadcasts. The company's production staff included prominent Chilean filmmakers, directors, writers, and technicians such as Silvio Caiozzi, Germán Becker Ureta, Helvio Soto, Patricio Kaulen, Juan Agustín Vargas, Leopoldo Contreras, José Caviedes, and Arturo Moya Grau. Their involvement connected television production with the broader Chilean film and cultural industries. During the 1960s and 1970s, Protab produced fiction, variety, music, comedy, documentary, and studio entertainment for several Chilean broadcasters. Its principal clients included Canal 13 and Televisión Nacional de Chile, but its work also reached Canal 6, a temporary University of Chile service created after the takeover of Canal 9, and UTE TV 11, a planned station associated with the Technical University of the State. Protab also supplied foreign programs, particularly American cartoons, television series, and films, to Canal 3 TVUN in Antofagasta after that station resumed transmissions in February 1973. The company's fiction output included early serials such as El litre 4916, Haras La Revoltosa, Juani en sociedad, El socio, Amalia, El rosario de plata, La chica del bastón, Martín Rivas, María José, La otra Soledad, Los amigos, El secreto de Isabel, and La Colorina. These productions contributed to the development of Chilean television drama and are associated with Protab's reputation as a creator of the country's telenovela industry. Its non-fiction and entertainment work included programs such as Este Lucho sabe mucho, El show de Silvia Piñeiro, Canturreando, La vuelta al mundo, El doctor Mortis, and Quién soy yo. Protab also undertook large-scale event production. In 1978 it produced the international final of the OTI Festival, with Fernando Leighton as director and Pedro Miranda as general producer. By that period, however, the company was facing serious technical and financial pressure. The transition from black-and-white broadcasting to color television made much of its equipment obsolete, while Protab lacked the resources to modernize at the necessary pace. The company was declared bankrupt in December 1977 and ceased to exist on 28 June 1979. ABC transferred its assets to Pan American Television and Cinema Corp., represented by Ricardo Miranda, while Protel transferred its assets to Fundación Civitas. At the time of its closure, Protab was producing La leona, a historical telenovela set during the War of the Pacific and written by Fernando Cuadra. Canal 9 stopped broadcasting the series in May 1979, although the project received an allocation of CL$344,000 from Chile's National Television Council. The former Protab facilities continued to have a television afterlife: in 1981 they were used for recording Canal 13's telenovela Casagrande, while the associated Estudios KV 1850 were used for La madrastra. Although defunct, Protab remains significant in Chilean television history because it combined production, technical services, imported programming, and local drama at a pivotal stage in the medium's development.

Protab developed from Protel, or Promoción, Propaganda y Televisión Ltda., a Chilean company founded in 1962 and formally incorporated on 14 January 1963. Protel was linked to Canal 13 and worked with filmed foreign programming, news-film processing, and television technical services. Its assignments included processing footage for El repórter Esso and operating filming equipment for the 1966 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at Portillo. On 11 August 1967, Osvaldo Barzelatto and Ricardo Miranda established Protab through a partnership between Protel and the American Broadcasting Company. Protel contributed 52 percent of the capital and ABC 48 percent. The new company operated from studios at Tarapacá 752 in central Santiago and became one of the early Chilean production businesses to combine studio programming with mobile outside broadcasting. ABC expanded its contribution in January 1969 by supplying two laboratory-equipped trucks. Protab employed or collaborated with a number of important figures in Chilean film and television, including Silvio Caiozzi, who served as a television director from 1968 to 1969, as well as Germán Becker Ureta, Helvio Soto, Patricio Kaulen, Juan Agustín Vargas, Leopoldo Contreras, José Caviedes, and Arturo Moya Grau. The company produced a broad range of entertainment, serial drama, and technical television work. Its programs appeared on Canal 13 and TVN, and by 1973 it also served Canal 6 and the planned UTE TV 11 project. It additionally supplied American cartoons, series, and films to Canal 3 TVUN in Antofagasta. The company's fiction catalog included El litre 4916, Haras La Revoltosa, Juani en sociedad, El socio, Amalia, El rosario de plata, La chica del bastón, Mi papá y mi mamá, Cuarteto para instrumentos de muerte, Martín Rivas, El padre Gallo, María José, La otra Soledad, J. J. Juez, Los amigos, Sol tardío, El secreto de Isabel, and La Colorina. Alongside these serials and telenovelas, Protab made programs such as Este Lucho sabe mucho, El show de Silvia Piñeiro, Canturreando, La vuelta al mundo, El doctor Mortis, and Quién soy yo. This output is why Protab is commonly credited with helping create Chile's telenovela industry. Protab remained active into the late 1970s and produced the international final of the OTI Festival in 1978. Its business model was increasingly undermined by the arrival of color television. The company relied on black-and-white equipment that was becoming obsolete and could not modernize its technical base adequately. It was declared bankrupt in December 1977 and disappeared on 28 June 1979. ABC's assets were transferred to Pan American Television and Cinema Corp., represented by Ricardo Miranda, while Protel's assets went to Fundación Civitas. The final major production associated with Protab was La leona, a historical telenovela set during the War of the Pacific, with scripts by Fernando Cuadra. Canal 9 stopped broadcasting the series in May 1979, although the National Television Council allocated CL$344,000 to it. The former Protab facilities were later reused by Chilean television: Canal 13 recorded Casagrande there in 1981, while Estudios KV 1850 hosted production of La madrastra.

• 1981

  Former studios are reused

  [1]Protaben.wikipedia.org

  The former Protab studios are used for recording Canal 13's Casagrande, while Estudios KV 1850 is used for La madrastra.

• 1979

  Operations end

  [1]Protaben.wikipedia.org

  Protab disappears on 28 June, with assets transferred by ABC and Protel to separate successor entities.

• 1978

  OTI Festival international final

  [1]Protaben.wikipedia.org

  Protab produces the international final of the OTI Festival.

• 1977

  Bankruptcy

  [1]Protaben.wikipedia.org

  Protab is declared bankrupt in December as its black-and-white production infrastructure becomes technologically outdated.

• 1969

  ABC expands Protab's technical capacity

  [1]Protaben.wikipedia.org

  ABC contributes two laboratory-equipped mobile trucks, improving Protab's outside-broadcast capabilities.

• 1967

  Protab is created

  [1]Protaben.wikipedia.org

  Protab is formally created on 11 August through an alliance between Protel and ABC, with respective capital shares of 52 percent and 48 percent.

• 1963

  Protel is formally constituted

  [1]Protaben.wikipedia.org

  Protel is officially established by notarial act on 14 January 1963.

• 1962

  Protel is founded

  [1]Protaben.wikipedia.org

  Protel, the predecessor organization from which Protab emerged, is founded in Chile to work in television promotion, advertising, distribution, and technical services.

A full-service Chilean television production and technical-services company focused on locally produced fiction, entertainment, event broadcasting, and the distribution of filmed foreign programming.

• Telenovela · 1967

  Juani en sociedad

  A long-running Canal 13 serial produced by Protab from 1967 to 1972. It belongs to the company's early period of sustained local fiction production and illustrates its role in building Chilean television drama.

• Television series · 1970

  Martín Rivas

  A Protab-produced adaptation broadcast by TVN in 1970. Its inclusion in the company's catalog reflects Protab's work across Chile's principal television networks rather than exclusively for Canal 13.

• Television series · 1972

  El doctor Mortis

  A Canal 13 program produced by Protab during 1972 and 1973. It was part of the company's varied scripted and entertainment output beyond conventional melodrama.

• Music and entertainment program · 1974

  Canturreando

  A Canal 13 entertainment program produced from 1974 through 1979, continuing almost to the end of Protab's operating life.

• Television program · 1967

  Quién soy yo

  A program produced for both Canal 13 and TVN between 1967 and 1978, demonstrating Protab's ability to deliver recurring programming to more than one broadcaster.

• Historical telenovela · 1979

  La leona

  An unfinished historical telenovela set during the War of the Pacific, with scripts by Fernando Cuadra. It was being produced when Protab closed; Canal 9 discontinued its broadcast in May 1979.

• Television event production · 1978

  OTI Festival international final

  Protab's large-scale production of the 1978 international final of the OTI Festival, directed by Fernando Leighton and managed as general producer by Pedro Miranda.

• 1977

  Closure following bankruptcyOther

  Background

  The transition from black-and-white to color television made Protab's equipment increasingly obsolete, while the company was unable to modernize sufficiently.

  Action taken

  Protab entered bankruptcy in December 1977 and ultimately ceased to exist in June 1979.

  Aftermath

  ABC and Protel transferred their respective assets to Pan American Television and Cinema Corp. and Fundación Civitas.

  Source

• 1969

  Investment in mobile broadcast infrastructureStrategy

  Background

  Television production increasingly required the ability to cover events outside fixed studios.

  Action taken

  ABC increased its contribution by providing two mobile trucks equipped with laboratories.

  Aftermath

  Protab expanded its capacity for outside broadcasts and large-scale television production.

  Source

• 1967

  Creation of a joint television production companyStrategy

  Background

  Protel and ABC sought to combine Chilean television-market knowledge and production infrastructure with the resources of a major American broadcaster.

  Action taken

  They created Protab with a 52 percent Protel share and a 48 percent ABC share.

  Aftermath

  The partnership gave Protab a base for studio production, imported-program distribution, and technical broadcasting services.

  Source

1. 1Protaben.wikipedia.org