The founder of Cuban television was the Spanish Gaspar Pumarejo Such, born in Santander on November 8, 1913.
HAVANA.- 75 years ago, at 9:30 in the morning of October 24, 1950, the image of a pack of Competidora Gaditana cigarettes appeared on the screens of the few televisions in Cuba, accompanied by a jingle composed by Ñico Saquito. This is how Cuban television was born.
After a priest from the Iglesia del Carmen blessed the studios, the official inauguration took place at 12 noon, with a remote control from the Presidential Palace and the words of the president Carlos Prío Socarrás.
For days before, Havana residents had curiously observed the televisions placed in the windows of some stores, where the test pattern was shown and the public was asked to report how the signal was received.
The founder of Cuban television was the Spanish Gaspar Pumarejo Such, born in Santander on November 8, 1913. He arrived in Cuba at the age of eight with his parents and siblings. At 17 he began working at the Humara y Lastra agency, exclusive distributor of RCA Víctor equipment, where he soon became its main representative.
He left that job to join Radio Salas. Although he aspired to be a broadcaster, he debuted as a tango singer. Later he stood out with the radio newspaper The Wordrecognized for his original greeting: “Hello, hello!” Later he went to the station CMQthen located on the corner of Monte and Prado and owned by Miguel Gabriel and Ángel Cambó, who sold the company to the Mestre brothers in 1943.
At CMQ, Pumarejo was named programming director. It was his idea to create Clock Radiowhich began operating on July 1, 1947. That same year he resigned from his position due to disagreements with the owners, who had not included him in the board of directors.
Thanks to his experience and contacts in the field, he founded Radio Union (CMCF) and tried to organize a cooperative system between broadcasters to retransmit programs. Although the project failed, Pumarejo then set his goal on a new horizon: television.
In direct competition with the Mestres, he created Radio Television Union. He sent a group of collaborators to the United States to observe how the programs were produced, gain experience and import the equipment, mainly RCA cameras, a company with which he had close ties.
To build the first television studios, he used his in-laws’ residence and his own, at Mazón No. 52, corner of San Miguel, where the Educational Channel is today. He turned the patio and garden into the “Outdoor Studio,” and took advantage of the kitchen to create the emblematic program. Minute Cookingled by Nitza Villapol.
At the beginning it only had three cameras, which were dismantled and moved to places where other programs were held. Over time, he added more equipment and established new studios in the Ámbar Motors building and, later, the largest of all in Prado, between Trocadero and Colón, in Old Havana.
On March 1, 1958, Pumarejo founded Channel 12, the first to transmit in color, installed in spaces of the then Habana Hilton hotel.
Despite not having the financial resources of his main competitor, Goar Mestre, Pumarejo managed to carry out ambitious projects thanks to his business talent, his extensive culture, personal charisma and unmistakable radio voice (although with slight diction problems). His energy and power of conviction made him a magnetic figure.
An example of its popularity was the success of “Choripán”, a product that Pumarejo advertised and tasted in front of the cameras. Although it was of low quality, it sold massively. For this reason he earned the nickname The Choripán Manand the Artie Valdés trio even dedicated a guaracha to him titled “Pumarejo is going to ruin me.”
Among the many programs he created, the following stand out: Home Club —with prizes that reached subscribers’ homes—, The Kids Club, Television School, Queen for a Day, Tropical Night, The Question of 64,000 pesos, The Great Theater of Saturday, Selected Music, Half Hour of Spainas well as humorous and circus spaces.
A curious anecdote illustrates his sense of spectacle: in a live broadcast, the Chilean singer Lucho Gatica, hired by Pumarejo, appeared dejected. When asked, he explained that an earthquake had occurred in Chile and he had no news about his mother. Pumarejo told him not to worry, that he had a surprise. Immediately afterwards, a side door of the study opened and Gatica’s mother appeared. Both merged in an emotional hug that moved the public.
In 1960, after the intervention of the media by the Castro regime, Pumarejo went into exile. He first settled in Miami and then in Puerto Rico, where he continued working as an announcer and television presenter until his death in 1969.
In the 1970s, when I attended a television cameraman course—which I did not complete—I was able to witness how live broadcasts were made. That is why I can imagine what they must have been like in Pumarejo’s time and affirm that, with the limited technological resources of that time, they achieved true wonders.
Despite having advanced technology and more channels today, Cuban television, excessively politicized and boring, has lost the ability to engage the public. There are many who prefer not to waste time—or electricity, when there is any—on programming that no longer excites anyone.
