The Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão is a Brazilian television network founded on Wednesday, 19 August 1981, by the businessman and television personality Silvio Santos. The company was established after a public tender by the Brazilian Federal Government to form two new networks, created from revoked concessions of the defunct Tupi and Excelsior networks. 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. Before acquiring the concessions of the four station that were to form the SBT, Grupo Silvio Santos had since 1976 the concession of Rio de Janeiro's channel 11, known as TVS Rio de Janeiro, which was a fundamental step to give life to the SBT.

Senor Abravanel, known professionally as Silvio Santos, is a Brazilian media mogul and television host. He is the owner of holdings that include SBT, the second largest television network in the country. His net worth was US$3.2 billion in 2020. He is the host of the second longest running Brazilian program: Programa Silvio Santos, aired since 1963. He is also the only celebrity in the country on the list of billionaires by Forbes magazine. The magazine also states that "there is no one more famous than Silvio Santos in Brazil."