Chavez pulls plug on ‘subversive’ TV station

VENEZUELA’S oldest private television station was pushed off the air as President Hugo Chavez’s government replaced the popular opposition-aligned network with a new state-funded channel.

Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) shut down just before midnight on Sunday as its broadcast license expired. Chavez refused to renew its license, accusing the channel of ‘‘subversive’’ activities.

The new channel, TVES, launched its transmissions with artists singing pro-Chavez music, then carried an exercise program and a talk show, interspersed with government ads proclaiming, ‘‘Now Venezuela belongs to everyone.’’