| Abril S.A. | |
| Type: | Private |
| Location: | São Paulo, Brazil |
| Owner: | Civita family |
| Key People: | Benjamin Ramalho (CEO and Chairman) |
| Industry: | Media conglomerate |
| Products: | Publisher, Internet, Television |
| Revenue: | US$5.0 billion (2012) |
| Net Income: | US$400.0 million (2012) |
| Num Employees: | 9000 |
| Subsid: | Editora Abril, TVA, Abril Radiodifusão |
Grupo Abril (simply also known as Abril) is a Brazilian media conglomerate headquartered in São Paulo. The company is the holding company of Editora Abril, which publishes the weekly newsmagazine Veja.
Victor Civita, an Italian businessman, founded Editora Abril in 1950,[1] which was the first publisher of Walt Disney comics in Brazil. He also published other comics and books. Gradually, he developed magazines for specific markets. In the 1960s, with his son, Roberto Civita, he expanded to publishing several market-specific magazines, such as Quatro Rodas, Claudia, and others. Veja, the weekly newsmagazine, was founded in 1968 and led by the younger Civita.[2]
Abril had several partnerships in the emerging Brazilian pay TV market during the 90s, including local franchises of American channels such as Disney Channel, MTV and ESPN. The company also launched a cable TV provider service called TVA (Televisão Abril), which by 1999 was considered one of the top two cable carriers in Brazil, along with Globocabo (Grupo Globo).[3]
With exception of MTV and TVA, all properties were sold at the beginning of the 2000s. In 2007, Fiz TV and Ideal channels were launched in an effort to return to the pay TV market, but the project was a failure and it was discontinued in 2009. Later in 2012, TVA was completely sold to Telefónica, the MTV brand returned to Viacom, and in late 2013 its broadcast network was sold to Grupo Spring, which publishes the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone.[4] [5]
Grupo Abril also is the owner of Fernando Chinaglia, the largest distributor of publications in Latin America (acquired in 2007).
In addition to its media interests, the group has entered the education market with assets that produce many curriculum and instructional materials, including internet applications.
Today, the group is chaired by Fábio Barbosa following the death of Roberto Civita on May 26, 2013.
Abril Vídeo was Grupo Abril's home video division that distributed TV shows, videos and movies on VHS. It began operation on April 6, 1983 and closed in 1999. It distributed films from The Walt Disney Company and 20th Century Fox on VHS for the Brazilian market.