Rede Bandeirantes

Rede Bandeirantes (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁedʒi bɐ̃dejˈɾɐ̃tʃis], Bandeirantes Network), or simply known as Band (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈbɐ̃dʒi]), is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It began broadcasting on May 13, 1967 on VHF channel 13 in São Paulo. Its founder was businessman João Saad with the help of his father-in-law and former São Paulo governor Adhemar de Barros. In terms of audience and revenue, it is currently the fourth largest Brazilian television network. It broadcasts throughout Brazil through its owned-and-operated stations and affiliates. It also has a series of pay TV channels and it broadcasts internationally via Band Internacional.

It was the first station to have all of its programming in color in 1972, and it was also the first to broadcast via satellite, being the pioneer network in the use of exclusive satellite channels for its simulcasts throughout Brazil in 1982. In 1990, when it was called Bandeirantes, the station changed the name to simply "Band". However, due to the fact that the public was not pleased with this change, it was turned back to "Bandeirantes". The first use of the name "Band" was during a broadcast of the carnival in 1995, and on the same occasion, it became the first Brazilian station to insert its logo on the corner of the screen, being the so-called "watermark".

During the 1980s and 1990s, it became known as "the sports channel", due to the network broadcasting the most varied sports genres, under the influence of announcer Luciano do Valle, being the first to broadcast the IndyCar Series, the NBA and the Italian and Spanish football championships. The journalistic coverage was another recognition of Band, in carrying out debates between political candidates on television. It became the second TV station to hold a debate for the Governor of São Paulo in 1982 and it was the first to carry out debates between political candidates for the Presidency in 1989.