Telemontecarlo

Tele Monte Carlo
Launched	August 5, 1974
Closed	June 24, 2001
Owned by	Telecom Italia
Country	Monaco Italy
Language	Italian
Headquarters	Rome, Italy

Tele Monte Carlo (TMC) was the Italian language television channel from the Principality of Monaco.

Telemontecarlo was founded in 1974 in the Principality of Monaco. During that time, the channel was the only competitor of Italian public television network RAI, broadcasting in color. Since the introduction of Mediaset channels, TMC survived with some difficulties until 2001 when the last owner, the film producer Vittorio Cecchi Gori, sold the network to SEAT Pagine Gialle.

The first show transmitted by Telemontecarlo was Un peu d'amour, d'amitié et beaucoup de musique (A Little Bit of Love, Friendship and a Lot of Music), hosted by Jocelyn, who couldn't speak proper Italian at the time.

On March 12, 1982, RAI acquired the remaining 10% of the network.

On August 4, 1985 Brazilian company Organizações Globo acquired the remaining 90%. The programming changed and included more Brazilian programs like telenovelas and other television series. The channel also broadcast the Rio Carnival live. In general, the channel adopted the same station identification and commercial bumpers from Rede Globo, with the music and graphics being adapted for the channel..

In 1993, an Italian businessman, Raul Gardini, acquired Telemontecarlo. At the same time, the channel became a member of Eurovision Network where they were broadcast parts of 1992 Summer Olympics, the 1992 America's Cup and the UEFA Euro 1992 soccer championship.

In 1995, Italian film producer Vittorio Cecchi Gori, who at that time already owner of Videomusic, acquired TMC and created TMC2 to compete with RAI and Mediaset networks. However, his intentions were thwarted and ratings were at an all-time low, because the channel lacked nationwide coverage in Italy.

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