Angel Ramos (industrialist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Angel Ramos (1902 – 1960), born in Manati, Puerto Rico, was the founder of Telemundo, the second largest Spanish Language speaking television network in the United States.
Ramos was born into a poor family in the northern town of Manati. He was 3 years old when his parents died. He was raised by an aunt and finished his primary education, but in 1917, when he was 15 years old, he felt that in Manati he didn't have a future and left his home; he then moved to San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico.
Whilst living in San Juan, he went to school at the Central High School and found a job in "El Mundo", a recently founded newspaper. He started as a typesetter, and upon finishing high school, he quickly worked his way up in the company. In 1924, when he was 22 years old, he was promoted to the position of administrator.
In 1944, Ramos purchased the newspaper's holding company thus and so became the sole owner and publisher. On a business trip to New York City he met his future wife, an Italian girl by the name of Argentina Schifano. After they were married, the couple continued to live in Puerto Rico where Ramos's company was based.
Ramos went on to found WEMB-Radio El Mundo and within a period of two years he also purchased another radio station, WKAQ, thus establishing "Radio El Mundo" as the number 1 radio station in Puerto Rico which controlled 80% of the total air time.
In 1954, Ramos founded the first Puerto Rican television station, WKAQ-TV that was transmitted through Channel 2 and which he named "Telemundo". On August 22, 1955, Telemundo became a soap opera pioneer when it transmitted the first locally produced "telenovela" (soap opera), titled "Ante la Ley", which included the participation of the renowned Puerto Rican actress, Lucy Boscana. Argentina Ramos was active in her husband's newspaper, radio and television companies. They later set up a network in the former British colony of Guyana, though it was not particularly successful it was an indication of his ambition being carried over into those who followed in his footsteps. Sadly, they failed in their attempt because Spanish was not a common language in that country.
Angel Ramos died in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1960. His wife Argentina became the head of El Mundo Enterprises. She established the Angel Ramos Foundation, which is now the largest private philanthropic foundation in Puerto Rico. In 1963, Argentina remarried and moved to Miami, Florida. On April 14, 1983, Telemundo was sold to John Blair and Co. and on October 1987 it passed to the hands of Reliance, Inc; finally, in 2001, Telemundo became part of NBC Universal and Telemundo is now the second largest Spanish speaking television network in the United States and, through its international channel, is also seen in most of Latin-America.
