As he had time off on Sundays, Abravanel revisited his pursuit of a broadcasting career by joining Rádio Mauá. He later moved to
Rádio Tupi, and added another position at Rádio Continental in
Niterói—to which he travelled by ferry from Rio. Seeing an opportunity in adding entertainment for passengers, he began a business venture of bringing a
PA system aboard the ferry to play music and
commercials. Abravanel quit Rádio Continental to focus on the ferry venture instead, which proved successful. After the ferry company added bars to the ships, Santos spearheaded
raffle promotions where passengers could receive a ticket by buying a beverage. In 1966, TV Paulista became part of the new
Rede Globo, which signed Santos to a five-year deal. In 1971, Santos began to present the
Troféu Imprensa, an awards presentation for Brazilian television. He opened a studio, Estudios Silvio Santos Cinema e Televisao, at the former facilities of
TV Excelsior in 1974. |280x280px When the Brazilian government began taking applications for a new VHF station in Rio on channel 11, Santos would bid for its concession with the support of Manuel de Nóbrega and other television personalities (including
Carlos Eduardo Imperial, who had previously been critical of Santos's programming). Santos would be awarded the concession for channel 11 in December 1975, becoming the first Brazilian television artist to own a broadcast station.
Programa Silvio Santos would subsequently move from Globo to TVS in August; it would also be simulcast by TV Record (with Santos having completed his purchase of a 50% stake), and
Rede Tupi. The São Paulo station signed on 19 August 1981, and the Porto Alegre station soon afterward; the two stations and TVS would form a new network known as the
Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (SBT). Meanwhile, Bloch's stations became the core of another new network,
Rede Manchete. Santos had also won the concession for a station in Rio; this station would be transferred to Paulinho Machado de Carvalho, and operate as an affiliate of TV Record. and signing names such as
Hebe Camargo,
Carlos Alberto de Nóbrega, and
Jô Soares. In January 1988, Santos traveled to
Boston to undergo medical treatment for
vocal cord issues that had caused him to lose his voice, and a
tumor on one of his eyelids, which was found to be benign. As his spouse Maria Aparecida Vieira had died from cancer in 1977, the 57 year-old Santos had
introspections between himself and his colleagues regarding his health and future, leading him to begin the process of naming a successor. During the
Rio Carnival the following month, Santos personally intervened with Globo's president
Roberto Marinho to keep
Gugu Liberato—an SBT personality who had been offered a
Sunday variety show on Globo—from defecting to the competitor. Santos would give Gugu a larger salary, and prominent hosting roles in SBT's Sunday lineup (which would later include his own variety show,
Domingo Legal).
Further projects . In 1989, 20 days before the
Brazil's first direct presidential election since 1960, Santos announced that he would
run as a candidate for the Brazilian Municipalist Party. However, the party was delisted from the ballot shortly afterward due to multiple technicalities. Amid financial issues at the broadcaster, agreements were reached to sell Rede Record to
Edir Macedo, founder of the
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. In 1991, Santos would premiere one of his most popular series, the
hidden camera game show
Topa Tudo por Dinheiro. Adapted from the American series
Anything for Money, the show would introduce a trademark of Santos throwing
paper planes made from
banknotes into the studio audience as prizes (a practice that, at one point, drew the ire of the
Central Bank of Brazil), and the accompanying catchphrase "Quem quer dinheiro?" ("Who wants money?"). In 1999, Santos premiered
Show do Milhão, a game show that was influenced by
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (which would not have a local version until 2017, hosted by
Luciano Huck for Globo) and became a major success for SBT through the early-2000s. On 28 August 2001, Santos was
held hostage in his mansion by Fernando Dutra Pinto, a suspect in the then-recent kidnapping of his daughter
Patricia Abravanel. After holding the presenter captive for eight hours, Fernando was later detained by police, and Santos was released, joined by Governor of São Paulo
Geraldo Alckmin. In October 2001, Santos entered the reality television market by premiering
Casa dos Artistas. The show was inspired by the Dutch format
Big Brother; Santos had attempted to acquire the local rights to the format for SBT, but lost to Globo. The series was developed in secret, and only revealed on its premiere date of 28 October 2001, drawing away viewers from Globo's highly viewed newsmagazine
Fantástico. Its similarities to
Big Brother led to Globo (who held local rights to the franchise, but had not yet made any plans to produce a Brazilian version) briefly reaching an injunction to halt its broadcast, but
Casa would later return to air. The first season was successful, with SBT averaging 46 ratings points, and the success prompting Globo to launch a
local adaptation of Big Brother to capitalize upon it. By the 2000s,
Programa Silvio Santos was primarily structured as a
block of multiple Sunday-afternoon programs rather than as a singular variety show, with Santos focusing more on hosting individual programs, particularly on Wednesday nights. In 2008,
Programa Silvio Santos was revived as a variety show, with Santos reviving classic segments and features. With a net worth of US$3.2 billion, Santos was the single biggest individual/natural person taxpayer in Brazil.
Departure from television work In 2020,
Programa Silvio Santos went on hiatus due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, with its timeslot filled by
compilations of highlights from past episodes of the series and other Silvio Santos programs. In December 2020, the presenter celebrated his 90th birthday privately with his family. In July 2021,
Programa Silvio Santos briefly returned to filming for the first time since 2020, but was halted again after Santos was infected with COVID-19. In October 2021, Santos's daughter
Patricia Abravanel began to serve as a guest host, filling in for Santos. In April 2022, Santos returned to the program for the first time in eight months, marked by an appearance as a surprise opponent for
Ratinho in the show's "Jogo das Três Pistas" game. However, his return would be brief, as Santos began to steadily reduce his involvement in television work. Santos would step down as host of his eponymous program, with his final episode taped in September 2022 and airing on 26 February 2023; at this time, Patricia took over as the permanent host of
Programa Silvio Santos, but Santos would continue to make occasional appearances on the program and other SBT specials. Santos would also step down from his role as vice president of SBT in April 2023, in favor of his daughter Daniela Beyruti. Despite these moves, Santos did not officially announce his retirement. == Legacy ==