Joseph Wallach on the Beginnings of TV Globo

Joseph Wallach tells the story like this: He arrived in Brazil in July 1965 as a Time-Life executive to check in on the company's investment in a television network that had begun operations in Rio de Janeiro. The network had 700 employees, counting  70 in the orchestra, and Brazil had just 3 million television sets. It was airing live programs— popular variety-show segments featured dancing girls and pie-eating contests—and American shows like the Beverly Hillbillies.

Fifteen years later, Wallach left Brazil. Time-Life had long since pulled out, having never made a penny on the investment. But in those 15 years, the project grew into one of the largest, most successful private television networks in the world, a media powerhouse that put Brazilian programs on the 31 million television sets around the country and countless more around the globe. See the full story »

In this audio clip, Wallach talks about how a station burned to the ground and TV Globo won its independence from Time-Life.

 Download Podcast

Duration: 10:16