Cadena nacional

In several Latin American countries, a cadena nacional ("national network", also referred to as a cadena oficial or red voluntaria) is a joint broadcast, over various media (usually radio and television), directed at the general population of a state. Initially conceived as a form of emergency population warning, these broadcasts are often of a political nature, as most of them are messages by governmental authorities about various topics of general interest.

Depending on the country, the characteristics of cadenas nacionales vary. In some countries, they are enshrined in law; in others, they are informal and cooperative. In some countries, including Argentina and Venezuela, all stations are mandated to air these messages (similar in nature to Emergency Action Notifications in the United States).

The use of cadenas nacionales in Argentina is regulated by Article 75 of the Law 26,522 of Audiovisual Communications Services (), signed into law in 2008. This article specifies that the executive branch of the national government or of provincial governments may, in exceptional circumstances, use all of the broadcast stations in a state. When such a message is delivered, all Argentine television stations must cease all programming to allow for the broadcasting of the message. Article 74 of the same law requires broadcasters to make airtime available to political parties according to the electoral law.

Article 75 of Law 26,522 superseded the Decree-Law 22,285 of 1980, the National Broadcasting Law, which similarly required broadcasters to carry cadenas nacionales as defined by COMFER, the predecessor to today's ENACOM.

A new law, effective as of August 8, 2011, requires television and radio broadcasters to transmit two presidential speeches a year, produced by the state media Radio Illimani and Bolivia TV. These speeches have averaged a length of three hours since the law came into effect.

Since Chile's return to democracy in 1989, most cadenas nacionales have been voluntary in nature, but in the government of Augusto Pinochet and his predecessors, stations were obliged to carry these messages. They are aired by television stations in the National Television Association (ANATEL), which subcontracts the production to Endemol, and it is not required of radio stations. One type of cadena nacional is obligatory for all television stations according to the electoral law, the franja electoral or simultaneous transmission of campaign material from the major political parties; this is the only time election campaign ads are broadcast on television.

...
Wikipedia