"It is a great step towards the democratization of access to communication in Brazil", the minister for Communications, André Figueiredo, stated today during the ceremony that marked the beginning of broadcasting of the Executive Branch channels on open digital TV in Brasília.

Several public TV channels are going to use the same digital channel to broadcast content, by means of the multiprogramming resource. In the same signal as TV Brasil (2.1), the viewers may also tune in to NBR (2.2), TV Escola (2.3) and Health Channel (Canal Saúde) (2.4). The viewers will also have access to the interactive platform of public service information, called Brasil 4D, which is based on four axes: Digital, Development, Diversity and Democracy.

Accompanied by the executive secretary of the Ministry of Communications, Francisco Ibiapina, minister André Figueiredo stressed that the platforms are going to become a great channel for the transmission of knowledge and nation-wide integration. According to him, the goal is to move forward with increasingly specific programs, aimed at areas such as education, health and culture.

The multiprogramming begins this month in the Federal District. In January, it will arrive in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and by the end of the first semester of 2016 in Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre. The forecast is to implement the Executive Branch channels in over 460 cities by 2019, reaching a contingent of over 120 million people.

Modernization

The bodies responsible for the channels will engage Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC) to set up the necessary infrastructure and for the broadcasting of the channels. In the ceremony, the chief executive officer of EBC, Américo Martins, highlighted the role of the Ministry of Communications (MC) at the helm of the initiative, and thanked the invitation extended to the company to lead such process in the technical front.

EBC’s manager finished his speech by stating that multiprogramming is a milestone for public communication in the country, and will revolutionize the population’s access to Brazilian public TV. "It is a great leap in the possibility of offering the citizens qualified content ".

The agreement to offer the channels in such format is coordinated by the MC, with the project being made in partnership with the Communications Office of the Presidency of the Republic, which is responsible for NBr, EBC and the ministries of Culture, which currently plans the creation of the Culture Channel; Education, responsible for TV Escola and in the future for the Education Channel; Health, which has Fiocruz as the programmer of the Health Channel. Anatel (Brazilian Telecommunications Agency), Telebrás and the Brazilian Teaching and Research Network (RNP) are also part of the group.

Source: Ministry of Communications

Photo: Herivelto Batista/EBC