Canal 4 (Canal Cuatro), previously known as Monte Carlo Televisión, is a television station located in Montevideo, Uruguay. Owned by Grupo Monte Carlo, it is the second oldest television channel in the country, beginning its broadcasts on April 23, 1961. Canal 10 started on December 7, 1956. Canal 12 was the third channel, May 2, 1962, and Canal 5, state-owned, was the last station to start broadcasting, on June 19, 1963.[1][2]
This TV station, originally named Monte Carlo Televisión Canal 4, was initiated by Carlos Romay, entrepreneur who had founded Radio Monte Carlo in 1924, and his wife, María Elvira Salvo, whose family had built the iconic Palacio Salvo in Montevideo.[3]
In 1961, from a set that was built in downtown Montevideo, at exactly 9 p.m., Uruguayan viewers had the chance to tune Casino Monte Carlo, a variety show that became the first program to be aired in the new station.[1]
After almost 5 years of having only one station in the Uruguayan TV market, Canal 4 decided to launch by investing heavily on regional stars and international TV series. In addition, Canal 4 introduced videotape machines in the Uruguayan television industry. Before that, because of the absence of such equipment, all programming was live, including the commercial breaks.
TV anchor Carlos Giacosa hosted Telenoche 4 for the first time in 1968.
On July 20, 1969, the day Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission, Carlos Giacosa, main anchor of Telenoche 4 at that time, surprised everyone by conducting a live interview, by phone, with Wernher von Braun. Giacosa had visited NASA years before, and he had kept a business card with the phone number of his secretary.[4]
Fernando Vilar was the main anchor for TeleNoche 4, the station's signature news show, during 22 uninterrupted years, from 1993 to 2015.[5]
During 2016, Uruguay celebrated 60 years of television in the country, which prompted many newspapers and magazines to feature special articles to highlight the occasion.[4]
In 2017, Canal 4 decided to join the regional trend to feature Turkish television series, a genre that is highly popular in South America, at the 11 p.m. time slot.[6][7] Telenoche 4 decided to upgrade its sets, graphic packages, and style, while no longer using its main newsroom set, called Centro Monte Carlo de Noticias.[8]
In 2020, Canal 4 launched its international channel, Canal 4 Internacional, available for subscription only, outside of Uruguayan soil, via streaming.[12]
