TV Grande Rio (channel 19) is a TV Globo-affiliated stations licensed to the city of Petrolina, in the state of Pernambuco. The station is owned by Sistema Grande Rio de Comunicação.
History
In 1990, the Ministry of Communications, under the then-minister Antônio Carlos Magalhães, granted a television license to TV Grande Rio in Petrolina. The station started broadcasting on August 1, 1991.[1] The license was granted to PTB politician Geraldo Coelho, deputy of the state of Pernambuco, who also gained the license for its FM sister station.[2]
The station's launch was derived from the growing economical development in the São Francisco River Valley, which deserved a local television station for the delivery of local information, owing to its proximity. On launch night, it aired its first local production, the local NETV (now GRTV) before Jornal Nacional. Finding qualified journalists was impossible, because Petrolina at the time had no journalism school, instead, resorting to trained staff from Globo affiliates in other states.[3]