[3] The SBT was founded on the same day that the concession agreement was signed, and that the act was broadcast live by the network, so that this was his first program aired.

[9][10][11][12][13][14] The SBT has a total of 114 broadcast television stations (O&Os and affiliates) throughout the Brazilian territory,[2][15][16] and is also available through pay television operators (cable and satellite), free-to-air signal on satellite receivers and also through streaming media in their mobile application (Android, iOS and Windows), applications for smart TVs and its website.

[22] The SBT broadcasts their programming a wide variety of television genres, whereas its own material generally stand adjacent to the entertainment.

[35] This is the third largest television complex in size installed in Latin America, being smaller only than the studios of TV Azteca, in Mexico, and the Estúdios Globo.

While during its early years the network studios were based in Rio, all program production for TVS transferred to São Paulo in 1978–79.

It climbed to second place in the Brazilian ratings (except in Rio de Janeiro, where Rede Manchete occupied that position).

Moreover, it hosted the Brazilian version of Bozo for kids plus even let ex-Tupi program presenters bring their shows over to the fledgling network.

The SBT, together with Record (under the SBT/Record pool) broadcast the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, two years before its 1986 FIFA World Cup coverage.

Nearly all SBT kids' programs had female presenters (different from the format of Xou da Xuxa), because Oradukapeta was hosted by Sergio Mallandro (also a Show de Calorous judge).

SBT had already pre-empted its showing of the film by a week after Globo scheduled an airing of Rambo: First Blood Part II the same day to compete.

1991 saw the beginning of its newscast Aqui Agora and Serginho Groisman's Programa Livre variety show, just a few of the many successes for the year even as the network's São Paulo studios suffered damages due to massive floods that hit the city.

In 1992, the SBT and Rede Globo (together with Manchete, Band, and SporTV) jointly broadcast the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics (together with Manchete, Record, Band, SporTV, and ESPN) nationwide, with a grand advertising campaign for the Brazil national team.

Despite problems and even the transfer of talents to other stations (such as the then resurgent Rede Record), the 90s proved to be a boom for the network, beginning its second decade with 74 affiliates, bigger when it signed on.

By the end of the decade the SBT held second place in the Brazilian ratings, after Globo, strengthed by a brand new and technologically advanced television complex, the CDT da Anhanguera, inaugurated in 1996, just in time for its 15th anniversary.

The SBT began the decade investing in movies, broadcasting a package of Disney (now affiliated with TV Globo) and Time Warner productions (the latter promoted in a one-hour network block).

The CDT da Anhanguera is the second-largest television-production center in Brazil, behind Projac (owned by Rede Globo).

It returned to the SBT on June 1, 2010, due to viewer pressure and late rent payments by religious programs.

[41] While the network at large suffered from the effects of the COVID pandemic in the country, it found a renewed calling in sports.

One after the other, the network pursued new sporting investments when it snagged the broadcasting rights for the Campeonato Carioca 2020 grand final, followed by a renewed commitment to the Copa Liberatores for the 2020–22 period.

), Topa Tudo por Dinheiro (Variety show large audience that was aired on Sunday night between 1991 and 2001), Fantasia (Entertainment program where people could play games by phoning the program in order to earn money), and the Brazilian version of the Argentinean soap opera Chiquititas, popular with children.