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| Country | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationally. Also distributed inSpain,Italy,Morocco and via satellite across Europe and in certain areas by cable. |
| Headquarters | Lisbon(main) Porto(secondary) |
| Programming | |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled to576i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Rádio e Televisão de Portugal |
| Sister channels | RTP2 RTP Notícias RTP Desporto RTP Memória RTP Açores RTP Madeira RTP África RTP Internacional |
| History | |
| Launched | 7 March 1957; 68 years ago (1957-03-07) |
| Former names | RTP (1957−68) I Programa (1968−78) RTP Canal 1 (1989−96) |
| Links | |
| Website | www.rtp.pt/rtp1 |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| TDT | Channel 1 (SD) |
| Streaming media | |
| RTP Play | http://www.rtp.pt/play/direto/rtp1 (Portugal only) |
RTP1 (RTP um) is a Portuguesefree-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-ownedpublic broadcasterRádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company'sflagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream andgeneralist programming, includingTelejornal news bulletins,prime time drama, cinema and entertainment, and majorbreaking news, sports and special events, similar toBBC One.
It was launched on 7 March 1957 as the firstregular television service in Portugal. It was the only one until 25 December 1968, when RTP launched asecond channel. Two regional channels followed,RTP Madeira on 6 August 1972 andRTP Açores on 10 August 1975. As RTP held amonopoly on television broadcasting in the country, they were the only television channels until the firstcommercial television was launched on 6 October 1992, whenSIC started broadcasting nationwide.
The channel was initially simply referred to as "RTP". It received other names, such as "I Programa" and "RTP Canal 1" until it adopted its current name "RTP1". It is one of the most watched television networks in the country. The channel became a 24-hour service in 2002, although it now leases itsgraveyard slot (3 am to 6 am on average) to infomercials. Until that point, RTP1 closed down withthe national anthem, but this practice stopped not too long before infomercials filled the overnight slots. Unlike RTP2, RTP1 broadcasts commercial advertising, which, along with the license fee, finances the channel.
RTP was established on 15 December 1955 as the national television service, under Article 1 of Decree nº 40 341.[1]
Test broadcasts were first conducted on September 4, 1956, at the now-defunct Feira Popular amusement park in Lisbon. At 21:30 that evening, a speech was made by Raúl Feio, in theNervos program, introducing viewers to television, considered at that time to be "one of the greatest revelations of our time", and stating that the television service would enter the definitive stage in 1957, with hopes for the five transmitters to be active by then, locating the transmitters on a map. The inaugural program was followed by RTP's firstcontinuity announcer, Maria Armanda Falcão, announcing the remaining line-up for the evening. These consisted of:
Raúl Feio returned to finish the broadcast.[3] The experiments continued throughout September, and tropospheric propagation helped increase the reception.[4] These experimental broadcasts resumed on December 3, delayed from the initial plan in November.[5] These experimental broadcasts consisted of filmed documentaries, slides and test patterns. Daily, a pre-recorded continuity announcement was made by Gina Esteves about the reception of RTP's signal and how to obtain a television set.[6] Throughout December (excluding Sundays) the experiments consisted largely of music videos, American imports and filmed features from France made for television. The line-up plans changed in the second half of January 1957 the signal was being tested between 17:00 and 19:00 and again between 21:00 and 22:30; the tests weren't conducted on Wednesday nights. The afternoon period started with slides for 45 minutes, then 15 minutes of technical test programming, ending at 18:00, with an hour of films interspersed with slides, the second period at 21:00 started with 5 minutes of slides, then filmed content until 22:30, ending with sign-off slides. RTP broadcast 71 hours of filmed programming in the month (including fifteen documentaries made in Portugal) and 22 hours of test patterns.[7] Regular continuity announcements were added on February 5, and on February 15, a new newscast,Jornal de Actualidades.[8] Its first large-scale coverage of an event was the visit of Elizabeth II to Portugal.[9]
Regular broadcasts commenced on 7 March 1957. An announcement made at the start of the broadcast stated that these broadcasts weren't definitive as of yet, seeing that the tests would run for a few more months.[10] The broadcast started at 21:30, and with that came the first airing of the Derby Day march (byRobert Farnon) on television. RTP wanted to commission a march used to open its daily schedule, but since the task was time-consuming, the problem was then solved upon finding a bunch of Chapell discs to later select the track. The first announcer in the regular period, Maria Helena Varela Santos, announced the evening's line-up and was followed by a speech by Domingos de Mascarenhas about RTP's future. Technical problems were seen throughout the night, including a number of issues with sound.[11][12]
The first televised play (Monólogo do Vaqueiro) was broadcast on March 11.[13] The first film (Fado: História de uma Cantadeira) ran on March 13.[14] Its first operations outside Portugal were done by the news team in Barcelona, followed by coverage of the official visit of PresidentCraveiro Lopes to Brazil in June 1957.[15] Another crew was sent to capture the eruption of the Capelinhos volcano in the Azores in October.[16]
Initially, RTP had a limited coverage area, using 5 transmitters (Monsanto,Montejunto,Lousã,Monte da Virgem andFoia) that covered about 60% of the country's population.[17] Per the 1956 yearly report, the initial goal of starting all five transmitters by March 1957 was failed, due to issues regarding the terrain that was going to be used for the building of the transmitters.[18] The basic network wasn't complete until April 1958.[19] By the time the network was finished, the signals were received by 58% of the population.[20]
Out of RTP's 665 hours of programming in 1957, dozens were devoted to sports programming.[21] Game shows were also central to RTP's launch year, the first game show was broadcast on April 5, 1957; the winning prize being a television set.[22] Technical difficulties hit RTP frequently in its early years. João Villaret's program was hit by a swarm of bugs on October 21, 1960.[23]
In October 1958, the administration demanded the creation of commercials made specifically for television; on December 31, 1958, an agreement was made between the radio stations members of the Pool.[24] Advertising was the solution to curb the problems caused by the relatively high television tax.[25] On February 9, 1958, the first soccer match was broadcast.[26] That same year,Natal dos Hospitais was broadcast on television for the first time, and in 1959, emphasis was put on outside programming, in order to diversify its contents.[27] Among such broadcasts was the inauguration of theCristo-Rei monument on May 17.[28]
On June 12, 1959,TV Rural was first broadcast. Engineer Sousa Veloso hosted it throughout its existence; the program was also relatively cheap to produce at the time of starting.[29]Associated-Rediffusion visited Lisbon in the same month and accepted a special hour of programming, that wasn't attractive for most of its viewers, aside from a few documentaries in theHora Inglesa strand that ran for a week.[30] On October 18,Jornal de Actualidades was replaced byTelejornal with two editions, the main one at 20:30 with half an hour, and a late edition before sign-off, that rarely happened after 23:30. The first presenters were Mário Pires and Alberto Lopes, but the choice made by RTP was seen as flawed. The newscast suffered constant cuts from the censors, as well as technical problems[31]
Broadcasts from the Monte da Virgem studios inVila Nova de Gaia started on October 20, 1959.[32]
Portugal's link to theEurovision network was complete on December 1, 1965[33] and the first experiment between Portugal and Spain was made on January 31, 1966.[34] The first broadcasts from the network was made in 1960, and with varying levels of quality.[35]
Starting November 1, 1961, the weather reports were now seen in-vision from meteorologists, this time after the main news, as opposed to the late news, like it was before. The most famous weatherman, Anthímio de Azevedo, didn't join RTP until 1964.[36] The 1960s also marked the arrival of thevideotape technology to the broadcaster.[37] A contract with Movierecord Portuguesa SARL was signed on September 26, 1962, eyeing to exploit advertising slots. At the end of 1963, Lever was the most-advertised company on television, but the most-advertised product was theSical coffee brand.[38] Around this time, more filmed imports started running, mostly from the United Kingdom and the United States.[39] Under government initiative, programming for schools made its test run on January 6, 1964.[40]
It was the only TV channel available in Portugal until 25 December 1968, whenRTP2 started broadcasting. Because of that, RTP had to identify both channels asI Programa andII Programa in order to distinguish them.
1969 was marked with one of the first successful talk-shows on Portuguese television, the variety showZip-Zip, that ran between May and December,[41] as well as live coverage of theMoon landing.[42]
Daytime broadcasts commenced in May 1970, with a two-hour period running at various times mostly between 12:45 and 14:30.[43] Before then,Telescola (educational classes) were generally the first programmes of the day and the regular schedule started at 19:00, running until midnight.
A "unilateral" with Brazilian technicians helped provide RTP with assistance to produce live carriage of the solemn delivery to Brazil of the mortal remains of its EmperorD. Pedro I on April 22, 1972. Days later the news team also provided details of the visit of the Portuguese president of the time to Brazil.Telejornal produced 1486 editions in 1972 alone, totalling 380 hours, whereas sporting events totalled 409 years, thanks in part to the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich carried from the Eurovision network.[44]
During theCarnation Revolution, RTP was occupied on April 25, 1974 by elements of theArmed Forces Movement.[45] As consequence of the occupation, the channel had its lineup changed.[46]
In 1974, RTP's ratings grew with the expansion of the acquisition of television sets in the country. The first colour broadcasts were conducted in 1976, with the legislative elections.
RTP 1 broadcast the firsttelenovela in Portugal, the Brazilian seriesGabriela fromTV Globo, in May 1977. Its success was extremely high, with accounts of politicians watching the series religiously.[47] On Mondays, the telenovela was followed by the successful gameshowA Visita da Cornélia.[48]
On 16 October 1977, the channel was renamedRTP-1 (initially hyphenated), in line with the separation ofthe second channel's editorial team.[49] RTP1's separate editoral team was entrusted to journalistVasco Graça Moura; the two channels were also granted separate news teams.[50] The new administration improved the quality of the programming, despite having limited resources.[51] A massive telethon was held on 16 December 1978, running for 17 hours.[52]
PAL colour programming was now in production, being selected in detriment of the SECAM format,[53] and a heat ofJeux Sans Frontières on 5 September 1979 had to be transmitted in said technology in order to air to the rest of Europe, which already had regular colour broadcasts at the time.[54] As the months progressed, more and more colour broadcasts were included with experimental broadcasts approved on 15 February 1980, with colour test cards being shown from 18 February,[55] before launching regularly on 7 March 1980, symbolically its 23rd anniversary, with the final of the 1980 Festival da Canção, which gaveJosé Cid a place inthat year's edition in the Netherlands.[56] On 16 November 1980, a special program was broadcast marking the beginning of satellite links to the Azores and Madeira islands, enabling both RTP Açores and RTP Madeira to air live programming from the mainland.[57]
On 15 February 1982, daytime broadcasts were resumed following a brief period where the slot was abolished. The closing time (23:00) was kept in order to cut energy consumption. It was scheduled that by October the broadcasts would encompass the entire afternoon. This plan wasn't properly achieved as theCiclo Preparatório TV educational broadcasts were still reserved to air in a five-hour period (13:30 to 18:30). In compensation the channel gained its breakfast program,Bom Dia Portugal (styledBom Dia, Portugal!), the first such national program on European television, from 08:00 to 09:30. With this, RTP1 broadcast on average 14 to 15 hours a day, with the afternoon interruption for the educational service.[58] It also premieredVila Faia, the first Portuguese telenovela.[59] In June 1983, after nearly nine months,Bom Dia, Portugal! was cancelled by RTP. Plans to bring it back later in the year were later shelved.[60]
In October 1983, the daytime period was abolished in order to save energy. Weekday broadcasts were then restricted to start at 17:00 and end at 23:00. Said broadcasts were resumed in 1985, when RTP decided to broadcast the daytime block fromOporto. In April that year, Totoloto draws were televised for the first time, with the creation of the lottery.[61] The educational broadcasts (then known asCiclo Preparatório TV) were abolished in 1988. By then, daytime shutdowns were abolished.
In 1984, the Portuguese adaptation of1, 2, 3 premiered.[62] A weekly newscast for children,Jornalinho, came in the same year.[63] The coverage of the1984 Summer Olympics was the largest so far back then.[64]
1986 saw the return of the extended late bulletin24 Horas.[65] One of the longest-running programs,TV Rural, ended on 15 September 1990, in the middle of a process of reforms at the corporation.[66] After the 1988 Humor de Perdição scandal, Herman José returned to the channel in January 1990 withCasino Royal.[67]
Towards the end of the 1980s, RTP was facing challenges with the impending arrival of private broadcasters. As a result, RTP decided to rename RTP1 asRTP Canal 1, in readiness for a bigger rebrand that happened on 17 September 1990, where the channel was now officially rebranded asCanal 1, removing any direct references to the RTP name, in order to reinforce its position in front of the new broadcasters. This phase was marked by a heavy number of imports on air, with RTP buying a higher number of "quality" imports, in contrast with previous years.[68] The reface also saw the premiere of new game shows adapted from international formats,Roda da Sorte (Wheel of Fortune),Casa Cheia (Bob's Full House),O Preço Certo (The Price is Right) and a return of1, 2, 3.[69] The start of the Gulf War in January 1991 saw a historical operation with long hours of news.[70]
Having lost its leadership status slowly between 1994 and 1995, owing toSIC's success, it eventually turned into the vice-leader before falling into third place, whenTVI got a ratings boost.
On 29 April 1996, Canal 1 reverted back to its original nameRTP1, alongside a full rebranding of the channel.
On 31 March 2004, RTP1 rebranded entirely now broadcasting from RTP's new headquarters.
The channel startedwidescreen tests on 8 June 2012 with theEuro 2012 opening ceremony and the first match (Poland vs. Greece). On 14 January 2013, the channel formally became a widescreen channel.
*Aired dubbed in English with Portuguese subtitles or dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese
In 1976, RTP was forced to cancel the programmeNome Mulher after a controversial instalment of the program highlighted the illegal abortion trade in Portugal.[71]
In 1988,Herman José's Humor de Perdição was put under fire because of the Historical Interviews series of sketches presenting an interview toElizabeth of Portugal.[72]
In 1995, Catholic groups and Rádio Renascença put RTP under pressure for airing the infamous "Last Supper" special edition of Herman ZAP. As a result, it and Parabéns were both pulled.
| RTP |
|
|---|---|
| Grupo Impresa | |
| Media Capital | |
| Medialivre | |
| AMC | |
| Disney Portugal | |
| Globo Portugal | |
| Record Europa | |
| Sport TV | |
| DAZN | |
| Paramount Skydance | |
| NOS | |
| Sony | |
| Warner Bros. Discovery | |
| NBCUniversal | |
| Stingray Group | |
| Other channels | |
| Services and platforms | |
| Defunct | |
| Unlaunched proposals | |
TDT: free-to-air on DTT –AC/MA: free-to-air on regional DTT | |
