Felipe Camiroaga - Career in Television

Career in Television

Felipe Camiroaga started working as a camera assistant at the press department of television channel Red de Televisión Universidad de Chile (RTU, now Chilevisión) in 1988, and later as a production assistant at the channel's production department. But he quickly went from off to on-camera; his first job was as a host in a music video programme called Videotop, that was previously hosted by Pablo Aguilera and Justus Liebig. Later, he presented Extra Jóvenes, RTU's teenage-oriented show, which he co-hosted with Katherine Salosny. His chemistry with Salosny proved successful and he became her co-host a few months later. In 1991 he declined an offer to become a news anchor and continued at Extra Jóvenes, now co-presenting with Claudia Conserva.

Camiroaga was hired by Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) in 1992 to co-host Buenos Días a Todos with Tati Penna, a breakfast programme first transmitted that year; however, the couple were later replaced by Margot Kahl and Jorge Hevia. Later, he had a brief television acting career, debuting in Jaque Mate, and later he portrayed an antagonistic character in Rojo y Miel. Despite being advised by actress Anita Reeves, Camiroaga did not receive good reviews for his acting performances.

At the same time, he hosted some unsuccessful programmes, such as La Gran Apuesta and El Chapuzón, and others with mixed results, such as Motín a Bordo and Contigo en Verano. However, at the end of the 1990s, he achieved success with prime time programme La Noche del Mundial, which was broadcast during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and Pase lo que Pase, a miscellaneous evening programme which he co-hosted with Karen Doggenweiler.

Camiroaga also hosted prime time programmes during the 2000s such as Con Mucho Cariño and Ciudad Gótica, both of which did not complete a full season for their "controversial contents", and the first two seasons of the reality show Pelotón. In 2004 he co-hosted Pasiones with Bárbara Revolledo, but he left the programme later that year and was replaced by Martín Cárcamo. He returned to Buenos Días a Todos in 2005, sharing duties with Tonka Tomicic, then with Katherine Salosny, and finally Carolina de Moras. The replacement of Salosny by de Moras was not well received and the local entertainment media blamed Camiroaga for it, which later resulted in a mass booing while Camiroaga was being awarded a Premio Copihue de Oro for "Best TV presenter" at the Teatro Caupolicán in Santiago, in 2010. In 2006, he began hosting his own talk show, Animal Nocturno. In February 2009 he co-presented the Viña del Mar International Song Festival with Soledad Onetto, and also co-presented the 2010 edition.

In 2010, Camiroaga co-hosted Halcón y Camaleón with comedian Stefan Kramer. That same year, he received an offer from US television network Univisión to present a breakfast programme. Camiroaga rejected this offer and renewed his contract with TVN for three years.