Torre da TV Bandeirantes explained

Monument Name:Torre Maria Helena Mendes de Barros Saad
Coordinates:-23.5556°N -46.6656°W
Location:Rua Minas Gerais, 454
São Paulo, Brazil
Height:212 m
Begin:1992
Complete:1995

The Maria Helena Mendes de Barros Saad Tower, more commonly known as Torre da TV Bandeirantes, or Torre da Band, is a television and radio lattice tower located in the district of Consolação, near the Avenida Paulista in São Paulo, Brazil. Owned by the Brazilian media company Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicação, the tower is 212 m (696 ft) high, making it the tallest tower in São Paulo and one of the tallest towers in Latin America. Its name is in honor of the wife of the founder of Rede Bandeirantes, João Saad.

History

The tower is privately owned by Brazilian television network Rede Bandeirantes and the tower is not accessible to the public. It was completed in 1997 replacing the old transmitters of TV Bandeirantes São Paulo and Band FM in Pico do Jaraguá. 650 tons of steel were used in the construction of the tower. The tower is one of the tallest freestanding towers in Latin America and the tower is among the tallest structures in South America.[1]

The tower used yellow lighting until June 2011 when it was replaced by a new lighting system using nearly 30,000 LED lamps designed by Peter Gasper and Fabio Ribeiro.[2] The inauguration of the new lighting system was shown live by Rede Bandeirantes, through the special Band Ilumina a Cidade. The lighting system has since been switched off to save on electrical costs.[3] At the end of 2019, BandNews FM São Paulo moved its broadcasting system to the tower, replacing the old one that was at Edifício Paulista I, on Avenida Paulista.[4]

The Bandeirantes Tower was the tallest structure in São Paulo until 2006, when a tv tower for Rede Globo was built on top of Alameda Santos, 680.[5]

Tower tenants

Television

Channel Analog/Digital Broadcast station In service
VHF 13 Analog 1996–2017
UHF 21 Analog 1996–2017
UHF 23 Digital 2007–present
UHF 22 Digital 2007–present
UHF 49 Digital 2016–2017
UHF 21 Digital 2017–present

Radio

Frequency Broadcast station In service
FM 96.1 MHz 1996–present
FM 96.9 MHz 2019–present

Notes and References

  1. Web site: São Paulo ganha um novo cartão postal. band.uol.com.br. Grupo Bandeirantes. 13 June 2015. pt.
  2. Web site: Band inova e inaugura nova iluminação de torre de transmissão.
  3. Web site: Em contenção de despesas, Band 'apaga' torre da Paulista. 31 January 2018.
  4. News: Tudo Rádio - Curiosidade: CBN investe em nova estrutura de transmissão para sua FM em São Paulo - Rádio News. tudoradio.com. 12 December 2019.
  5. Web site: Torre da TV Bandeirantes. https://web.archive.org/web/20150615085802/http://www.emporis.com/buildings/119794/torre-da-tv-bandeirantes-sao-paulo-brazil. dead. June 15, 2015. Emporis. Emporis. 13 June 2015.