The first years of television in Cuba were marked by a climate of competitiveness between two Cuban businessmen who were backed by US companies, Gaspar Pumarejo by DuMont and Goar Mestre by RCA Victor.

Mestre began broadcasts on Channel 6 (CMQ) on 18 December of that year, and both networks would develop a program format similar to their radio brethren, in addition to live sports and special events.

During the early years of the revolution there was a division between the mainstream media in Cuba, created with private capital and oriented against the new political situation and a series of small radio stations whose editorial line was in favor of the new government, which organized an "Independent Front of Free Broadcasters" (Spanish: Frente Independiente de Emisoras Libres).

Radio stations and television channels in the country were completely put under state control on 24 May 1962 under the management of the newly established Cuban Broadcasting Institute.

The institute also includes a network of provincial channels; Cubavision International, which broadcasts via a number of satellite services; and the Cuban Television Information System (Sistema Informativo de la Televisión Cubana), the national producer of all TV news programs aired on the ICRT stations as well as of important state events.