I am always asked about television programming on my monthly relocation and retirement tours and at the many lectures for potential retirees that I give. It is important to many English-speaking foreigners to have television as a form of entertainment. Many expats want to continue to watching their favor sitcoms like “Two and One-Half Men, ” to follow sporting events on ESPN, stay up the latest news on CNN and watch movies on HBO and Showtime.

Currently their are several options that allow you to view all of your favorite shows and more. Both Amnet and Cable Tico offer cable television and Internet access. If you want a satellite television dish in your home, Sky TV is similar to DirecTV who they replaced. Finally, the Satellite Dish Network is also available here through small private companies like Sun Sat TV (www.sunsattv.com).

These choices weren’t always available in Costa Rica. In 1960. Costa Rica only had a little over one million people. René Picado Esquivel became the pioneer and visionary of television in Costa Rica. On August 5, 1959 a contract was signed with the ABC network which eventually gave birth to television on Costa Rica with the founding of Channel 7 by Señor Picado. At first he had to make due with second-hand equipment that was donated by the ABC network. All of the equipment had to come by boat and be reassembled once it arrived in Costa Rica. This proved to be a daunting task. Finally on April 6, 1960 channel 7 Teletica was inaugurated. From that date on Costa Rica would never be the same.

Some of the first programs shown on Costa Rican television were The Lone Ranger, I Love Lucy, and Combat. In the 1960s not everyone could afford a television. So, it was not unusual for neighbors who were fortunate enough to have a TV to invite friends to their homes to view programs.

By the 1970s not just the wealthy had televisions in their homes. Programs began at 4:40 p.m. and ended around 10 p.m. At 6:30 the news called, La Palabra de Costa Rica, was broadcast. Telenoticias as we know it today soon replaced the original newscast. As strange as it seems at first it was difficult to get advertisers to sponsor TV programs. Merchants in San José thought that newspapers were a better way to advertise their products than on television. This eventually changed when TV became very popular and everyone wanted to advertise their products through this new form of media since it became the best way to reach the people.

The success of channel 7 led to the birth of channels 9, 4, 6 , 11 and 13 in the 1960s and 1970s. Starting in the 1980s satellite TV led to cable television coming to Costa Rica. Cable Color which eventually became AMNET was the first cable station followed by Cable Tica which was started by the Picado family who started channel 7 the country’s original national television station. The next novelty, which is in the works already, is television programming over the Internet.