Pre-Revolutionary Radio: 1922 to 1958

  On 10 October 1922 Cuba became the first country in Latin America to broadcast radio. Perhaps the 200 Cubans who owned radio sets (and until then had listened to U.S. stations) tuned in to that first broadcast-a speech in English by Cuban president Alfredo Zayas, made possible by the local phone company. Four days later, a second broadcast featured a speech by the president of the American Club of Havana, encouraging U.S. citizens to visit Cuba. Through 1934 the phone company station (PWX) broadcast music, vignettes about Cuba's natural and historical attractions, and news in English and Spanish to the United States.

     A regulatory radio commission was created in 1929, but the government's role was limited to establishing power standards, assigning frequencies, and awarding licenses-which it often did in exchange for fees or favors. By 1930 there were a half­ million radios and 6 stations on the island. Radio was quickly popularized as an entertainment medium featuring talk shows and live popular music (orchestras would play free in exchange for promotion).

     Stations were private and were financed mostly by advertisers. They initially leased airtime to private announcers, who in turn solicited advertisers to finance their programs. In the 1930s these freelance announcers were replaced by advertising agencies, and soon two large soap manufacturers were in fierce competition for domination of the airwaves through their advertising departments.

​​     In the 1940s, the two largest radio networks became associated with these manufacturers: Crusellas, with station CMQ, formerly PWX, became a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive; and Sabates, with Radio Habana Cuba-Cadena Azul, became a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble. It was not until the mid 1950s that the Cuban company Gravi shifted the balance by creating a third network.

     In 1942 industrialists Abel and Goar Mestre bought 50 percent of station CMQ. After visiting the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) studios in New York, Goar Mestre decided to introduce rational planning in programs and schedules by organizing commercial spots into regular rotating blocks. Mestre also experimented with new formats such as specialized programming. Affiliate station CMBF played classical music only while Radio Reloj, founded in 1947, became the first 24-hour news station in the world. At this time, with a total audience of 8-5 percent of the population listening to radio daily, sophisticated survey research was introduced to serve commercial interests. By the end of the decade, CMQ was ahead of Radio Habana Cuba (RHC) in the ratings. Radio Progreso, with music and soap operas, rated third, and Mil Diez, an entertainment station run by the Popular Socialist Party, was fourth. 

     In 1947 CMQ's director of programming, Gaspar Pumarejo, started his own radio network, Union Radio, which became CMQ's main competitor. Two years later he inaugurated the first Cuban TV station. The introduction of the new medium caused a slight decline in radio's popularity. Resources were diverted to television, and with them went both advertisers and audiences, especially during the evening hours. Political battles, however, continued to be waged over the radio. As a result of frequent heated arguments, in 1950 the government passed a "right to reply" law that gave citizens the right to reply on the air to any accusations made against them. One very controversial program was that of Orthodox Party senator Eduardo Chibas on CMQ, which ended in 1951 when Chibas killed himself on the air. Radio Reloj, in turn, became the object of such battles in more dramatic ways-rebel forces occupied its facilities twice-once in 1952 by pro-Batista militias, and again in 1957 by revolutionaries.

     At the end of the decade, the Batista government exerted tight control over broadcasts via financial subsidies as well as through direct censorship. In 1957, for example, rock and roll music was banned for allegedly promoting immorality. At the time there were 32 local commercial stations and five national networks-Union Radio, Radio Progreso, Circuito Nacional Cubano (founded in 1954 and using the former RHC infrastructure), Cadena Oriental de Radio, and CMQ. CMQ's signal was loud and clear thanks to high-power transmitters. However, the other stations' use of phone lines provided better coverage of the island at the expense of sound quality.

Radio and Revolution

     On 1 January 1959, CMQ was taken over by employees involved in the underground struggle against the Batista regime; they announced the news of Fidel Castro's victory to the Cuban people. The new government immediately moved to control the media, which it had used for ideological purposes since Che Guevara founded Radio Rebelde in the Oriente Mountains in February 1958. The revolutionaries immediately eliminated all state subsidies, and over the course of two years, all stations were nationalized and placed under the administration of the Independent Federation of Free Radios (FIEL)­ beginning with those such as Circuito Nacional Cubano that were associated with the former regime. As both foreign companies and advertising agencies were also nationalized, commercial advertising disappeared. By March 1961, public service announcements and political propaganda spots had replaced advertisements. Propaganda campaigns such as the 1962 Literacy Campaign and the 1970 Ten-Million-Ton Sugar Harvest Campaign were carried out to a great extent over radio.

     To oversee operations and broadcasts, the Instituto Cubano de Radio (ICR; Cuban Institute of Radio) was founded on 24 May 1962. (It was renamed Cuban Institute of Radio and Television in 1976.) Revolutionary army commander and state prosecutor Jorge "Papito" Serguera was ICR's director between 1967 and 1974, when he was replaced by former urban guerrilla Nibaldo Herrera, a member of the council of ministers. A vice president for radio oversaw radio operations in coordination with the Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC; Cuban Communist Party). The PCC Central Committee nominated all ICR officers, including the president, vice presidents, and station directors. The Communist Party Department of Revolutionary Orientation was in charge of media policies and exerted control over broadcast content.

     Both the 1971 National Congress of Culture and Education and the 1975 First Cuban Communist Party Congress cemented radio's role in education and propaganda. The 1976 Communist Party Theses on Mass Media established policy guidelines in program design and production, which directed the media to "educate, inform, orient, organize and mobilize the population by appealing to reason and consciousness." The National Culture Council had an advisory role in educational programming. In addition, the armed forces and mass organizations (such as the Federation of Cuban Women and the Union of Communist Youth) used radio to disseminate their agendas and promote organizational membership.

     Throughout the mid 1980s, Cuba's national stations were Radio Rebelde, based in Havana's former Circuito Kacional Cubano studios and focusing on educational programming, including Russian lessons; Radio Liberacion, formerly CMQ; CMBF, still an all-classical-music station; Radio Enciclopedia, dedicated to culture and the arts; and Radio Progreso, which featured variety programming. Because all stations shared the goal of ideological education, there was collaboration rather than competition between them. Most programming was locally produced, except for shows acquired by ICR through international exchanges, usually with other communist countries. Government control over content was absolute and extended to music programming, which had to be more than two-thirds Cuban, with all music by exiled artists excluded. Between 1973 and 1975, there was a ban on British and U.S. pop music that paralleled the repression of hippie aesthetics during that period.

Ideological Confrontation and International Broadcasts

     The use of radio to disseminate ideology was not unique to the Cuban government. Since World War II, the United States used radio to combat communist ideology in Eastern Europe and, after Castro's victory, in Cuba as well. The United States and Cuba have a long history of disputes over frequencies and broadcasting power. In 1937, Cuba caused interference on 60 U.S. stations in retaliation for U.S. stations' intrusion into Cuban AM frequencies. In February 1960 both Cuba and the United States signed the updated North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA). One month later the Eisenhower administration approved anti-communist broadcasts to Cuba, thereby subverting the agreement. Between 1960 and 1969, Radio Swan (later known as Radio Americas) broadcast to Cuba from Honduras. Swan featured old CMQ shows and exiled announcers whose voices were familiar to the Cuban public. As the U.S. administration initiated plans for the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, Swan's programming extended to 24 hours per day. At the same time, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) initiated clandestine broadcasts, and the Voice of America increased its Spanish programming from 30 minutes to 22 hours daily in both shortwave and AM (on Radio Marathon). Cuba jammed Radio Swan with CMBN's La Voz de! INRA ("The Voice of the National Institute for Agrarian Reform") on the same frequency and with higher power. CMBN had a commercial format and broadcast mostly music and entertainment shows interspersed with propaganda messages and Castro's speeches. Russian transmitters and jamming devices allowed Cu ban stations to broadcast at high power over several frequencies, to avoid U.S. penetration.

     In May 1961 Radio Habana Cuba began shortwave broadcasts to disseminate the official views of the Cuban government and provide an alternative to the Voice of America, which was becoming its biggest competition. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, RHC also offered a voice to representatives ​​of leftist movements, from Colombian guerrillas to U.S. black nationalists such as Bobby Seale and Stokely Carmichael. Also in 1961, Cuba launched CMCA, "the friendly voice of Cuba," to the United States. CMCA was on the AM band 17 hours per day through 1967, with mostly Cuban music and cultural programming in English. Mainly staffed with North Americans, one of its typical features was a biweekly program about the plight of African-Americans, entitled Negroes in Today's World. During the same years (1962-67), Radio Free Dixie was recorded at Radio Progreso studios and broadcast in English three times per week to the southern United States, where it was widely heard. The brainchild of black nationalist Robert F. Williams Jr. (who lived in Havana at the time), the show featured African-American music and news about the Civil Rights struggle. In the 1970s, Cuban broadcasts to the United States became more sporadic, except for rebroadcasts of the Voice of Vietnam from RHC (in English) until 1976.

Responding to Radio Marti

     Improved U.S./Cuban relations during the Carter administration (1976-1980) brought about a radio truce, but Ronald Reagan's election as U.S. president in 1980 refueled the confrontation. In 1980, Cuba resumed English-language international broadcasts that interfered with U.S. stations, and often rebroadcast Moscow Radio in English to the United States on several frequencies. On 27 August 1982, Reagan announced plans to launch Radio Free Cuba (later known as Radio Marti for Cuba's independence hero, Jose Marti}. Although the bill would not be passed until more than two years later, Cuba immediately suspended a bilateral migration agreement and announced plans to upgrade its transmitting equipment and increase broadcasting power. In 1982 it backed out of the NARBA agreement, and on the night of 30 August 1982, it broadcast English-language programming for four hours, blacking out stations on five frequencies across much of the United States. North American newspapers reported a Cuban radio announcer saying in English, "We are bringing you the world news and some good Cuban music for your enjoyment." This was the strongest signal ever broadcast from Cuba, according to the Federal Communications Commission, and it moved the National Association of Broadcasters to oppose passage of the Radio Marti bill in order to avoid further Cuban interference. Cuban plans to launch the Voice of Cuba and Radio Lincoln in English to the United States were not carried out for financial reasons. Instead, the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television assessed Radio Marti's possible level of intrusion throughout the island and measured the power increases necessary for local stations to neutralize Marti's signal. Cuba also filled most available frequencies with domestic broadcasts.

     United States Public Law 98-11 i was passed on 4 October 1983, approving Radio Marti as a division of the Voice of America. Broadcasts began on 20 May 1985, Cuba's independence day. Cuba protested before the United Nations and responded by jamming Marti with noise. A center was established in Havana for the purpose of monitoring and transcribing Radio Marti's broadcasts, but no direct response was broadcast. However, when Cuban exile station Radio Mambi reached the Havana airwaves five months later, the Cuban government retaliated and immediately launched Radio Taino toward Florida. Taino began broadcasting in November 198 5 on the same frequency as Radio Marti, in both English and Spanish. Like PWX in the 1920s and CMCA in the 1950s, Radio Taino was a friendly voice, featuring cultural programming that included vignettes about Cuba's natural wonders and tourist attractions. Radio Taino appealed to the nostalgia of older Cuban expatriates. The station's identification announcement was identical to that of 1950s CMQ, and popular announcers from pre-revolutionary radio days presented Cuban music from the 1940s and 1950s.

The "Rectification" Process

     By 1983 there were 54 radio stations in Cuba-five national, 14 provincial, and 35 local, covering 99 percent of the island. At that time, an administrative redesign of the provinces required an accompanying readjustment of the network system in terms of frequencies, power, and schedules. As a result, Radio Liberacion was merged with Rebelde in 1984, and all national stations improved their coverage. Both national and provincial stations extended their broadcasting day to 24 hours. Stereo was introduced in 1984 and FM in 1986.

     During Radio Marti's first two years (1985-87), audience ratings for all Cuban stations declined. The ICRT decided to face up to the competition by improving the quality of programming and by appealing to young people, who preferred foreign stations' music and entertainment news. At the same time, Russian premier Gorbachev's perestroika translated in Cuba into a "Process of Rectification of Errors" that called for journalistic "transparency" and attention to young people's needs. To lead this renovation, Carlos Aldana was nominated head of the Communist Party's Department of Revolutionary Orientation, and Ismael Gonzalez, a social psychologist, became head of the ICRT. Both men had a history as youth leaders in communist mass organizations. Following guidelines issued at the 1986 Third Communist Party Congress, Gonzalez promoted audience research and led a generational renewal, at a time when the average age of media producers was 59 years. Radio Rebelde became a symbol of this renovation. In May 1984 it appeared on the air with a completely new sound. Live news and sports broadcasts were interspersed with commercial-sounding propaganda spots that used catchy slogans and jingles. Announcers followed no written scripts, addressed the audience informally, and took live phone calls for the very first time. Also for the first time, drama shows presented the hardships of everyday life. Beginning in 1987, Rebelde's top show was Hacienda Radio (Doing Radio), whose title recalled the new transparency line. It was a news program featuring live news broadcasts and investigative reporting of controversial issues.

     More controversial was a local Havana station, Radio Ciudad de La Habana (Havana City Radio), that garnered top ratings with political humor and rock music shows. With a young and talented staff, Radio Ciudad emerged as the voice of Havana's youth. From 1986 to 1991, El Programa de Ramon (Ramon's Show) was its number one program. The first radio show named for an individual, it included biting political humor and featured the music of local underground rock bands. It was broadcast live every evening, reaching an audience of 300,000 in the city of Havana alone, with pirate tapes of the show circulating throughout the island. Next in popularity among young people was the classic rock show Melomania, featuring the best of North American and British rock. But in 1990 Ismael Gonzalez was deposed, and shortly thereafter these two shows were eliminated. The Rectification Period ended. Enriq'ue Roman, a former vice director of the Communist Party's Department of Revolutionary Orientation and director of the Communist Party's daily newspaper Granma, became the new ICRT president. A few mondts later, Carlos Aldana was also deposed on corruption charges and replaced as head of the Department of Revolutionary Orientation by former ambassador to Moscow and army colonel Ramon Balaguer.

Crisis and Reform

     In the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet bloc, Cuba suffered a severe economic crisis. The ICRT was in desperate need of financial support-radio equipment was of Eastern European manufacture and fell into disrepair due to lack of spare parts. Advertising was now conside;ed a viable solution to the problem, and incoming foreign investors were eager to promote their products in the emerging Cuban market. In 1994, Radio Taino, a station born out of ideological confrontation with the United States (but with poor audience ratings), was revamped and became the first advertising broadcast outlet on the island since 1961. It was assigned an FM frequency for better sound quality, and new transmitters soon sent its signal to the island's urban centers and tourist resorts. While other stations curtailed their airtime in the face of crisis, Taino expanded to 18 hours a day. Its new commercial format included dance music and entertainment news in both Spanish and English. Former Radio Ciudad de La Habana producers were hired by Taino to appeal to urban youth. In its first year ​​alone, Radio Tafno's hard currency revenues amounted to $250,000.

     Due to pressures by new stakeholders such as advertisers and leaders in the music industry, the nature of radio production and broadcasting changed. Radio Tafno's premier program was De 5 a 7-the most popular music radio show. during its six-year run. Although overt social critique was absent from De 5 a 7, stylistically it represented a revolution in Cuban radio broadcasting with its use of audio effects such as record scratching and a variety of special sound effects. The music played included the latest U.S. salsa hits, peppered with light show business news and cheerful concert announcements. The role of mass media was transformed. Rather than serving primarily as an instrument for ideological education, it became a tool for marketing products, services, and popular culture.

     The need for economic recovery made Cuba's radio war with the United States a secondary concern. Cuba jammed U.S. stations with special programming only occasionally, as in retaliation for TV- Marti broadcasts (1989-90), to protest U.S. military intervention in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, and during the custody battle over six-year-old Elian Gonzalez (1999-2000). In 1999 !CRT vice president Ernesto Lopez replaced Enrique Roman to preside over the new commercial era and manage a $6 million budget for the years from 2000 to 2002, the highest ever.

     In 2000 there were 55 radio stations in Cuba, all controlled by the state: six were national (Reloj, Rebelde, Progreso, CMBF, Tafno, and Enciclopedia), 16 provincial, 32 local, and one in shortwave (Radio Habana Cuba). There were 2.12 million radio sets, according to CIA estimates. The shows with highest audience ratings were Radio Reloj's morning news, Radio Progreso's late morning soap opera, and Radio Tafno's Latin dance music shows.

Cuba is a member of the International Telecommunication Union and is therefore bound by the Administrative Radio Regulations adopted by the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference. Cuban stations are members of the Latin Ameri­ can and Caribbean Union of Radio Broadcasters, an association of public radio stations founded in 1985.