University TV as education, research and extension: 45 years of experience in Brazil

In Brazil, the first college television station was launched in 1967. Nowadays, there are over than 150 university stations broadcasting. The country also has an unprecedented global mobilization regarding the exchange of programming, networking and representative political activity. This article proposes to describe the profiles of these stations, the path and its institutionalization within the university. It also evaluates how the "tripod" (teaching, research and extension), required to brazilian institutions of higher education, affects those college stations. It aims to demonstrate how the brazilian examples, in its various aspects, can be reproduced - or avoided. Finally, a series of new perspectives and challenges are presented, as well the proposals for addressing them