 Logo used since 2008 | |
| Type | Television broadcaster |
|---|---|
| Country | Spain |
| Availability |
|
| Headquarters | Prado del Rey,Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) |
| Parent | Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) |
| TVE test card | |
Launch date | 28 October 1956; 69 years ago (1956-10-28) |
Picture format | La 1:4KUHDTV (downscaled to1080i for theHDTV feed) Others: 1080i HDTV |
| |
| Webcast | Watch Live |
Official website | www.rtve.es |
Televisión Española (acronymTVE, brandedtve,lit. transl. "Spanish Television") is Spain's nationalstate-ownedpublic television broadcaster and the oldestregular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service inEquatorial Guinea.
TVE began as a standalone company dependent on theMinistry of Information and Tourism. After undergoing severalrestructurings and reorganizations, since 1 January 2007 it is the television division –whileRadio Nacional de España (RNE) is the radio division– ofRadiotelevisión Española (RTVE), the public corporation which has the overall responsibility for the national broadcasting public services under aparliament-appointedpresident who, in addition to being answerable to a board of directors, reports to an all-party committee of the national parliament, as provided for in the Public Radio and Television Law of 2006.
TVE launched itsfirst channel on 28 October 1956 as the first regular television service in Spain. It was the only one for a decade, until 15 November 1966, when TVE launched asecond channel. As TVE held amonopoly on television broadcasting in the country, they were the only television channels until the first regional public television station was launched on 16 February 1983, whenEuskal Telebista started broadcasting in theBasque Country.Commercial television was launched on 25 January 1990, whenAntena 3 started broadcasting nationwide. On 20 July 1968, TVE also became the first regular television service in Equatorial Guinea, with the inauguration of its broadcasts in the then-Spanishautonomous region of Equatorial Guinea.
Its headquarters and main production centre isPrado del Rey inPozuelo de Alarcón, with additional production centres inSan Cugat del Vallés and in theCanary Islands. TVE's news services are located at its Torrespaña facilities, at the foot ofthe broadcasting tower in Madrid. Although almost all the programming of its channels is in Spanish and is the same for all of Spain, TVE has territorial centers in everyautonomous community and produces and broadcasts some local programming inregional variations in each of them in the correspondingco-official language.[1]
TVE's activities were previously financed by a combination of advertising revenue andsubsidies from the national government, but since 1 January 2010, it has been supported by subsidies only.[2]
Televisión Española was established at a building ofPaseo de la Habana inMadrid, and after some time of technical tests, itsfree-to-air black-and-whitefullscreenstandard-definitionmonauralliveanalogueterrestrial television transmissions onVHF frequencies were officially launched on 28 October 1956 with a special inaugural program. The next day, three evening hours a day of regular live broadcasting began from its single 250 square metres (2,700 sq ft) studio, becomingthe first regular television service in Spain. At that time, there were only 600receivers in operation in the city and the coverage barely reached a radius of 70 kilometres (43 mi).[3]
An initial news bulletin, calledÚltimas Noticias, was created within a week and a weather forecast was first aired on 2 November 1956. On 13 January 1957, the first fiction was produced, an adaptation of the 1916 one-act playBefore Breakfast by American playwrightEugene O'Neill, and in February 1957, the first fiction series, the sitcomLos Tele-Rodríguez.[4] On 15 September 1957, the evening edition of the flagshipTelediario newscast was premiered, with the afternoon edition following on 28 April 1958.[5]
On 27 April 1958, TVE aired its first live broadcast fromout-of-studio, the1957–58 La Liga seasonfootball match betweenAtlético Madrid andReal Madrid CF from theMetropolitano Stadium in Madrid. On 12 October 1958, the broadcasting centre inZaragoza was inaugurated and on the first week of February 1959, the broadcasting center inBarcelona began to operate. On 14 July 1959, the Miramar studios in Barcelona were opened.[6]
The first TVE production for abroad was the coverage for theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) of the arrival in Madrid of thePresident of the United StatesDwight D. Eisenhower on 21 December 1959. As the link with theEurovisiontelecommunications network was not ready yet, it was taped and sent by plane to the nearest Eurovision node inMarseille. Once the link was ready, the first live broadcast from Spain to abroad was the1959–60 European Cup season football match between Real Madrid andOGC Nice from theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on 2 March 1960 through it. The first live broadcast from abroad to Spain was the second half of the European Cupfinal match between Real Madrid andEintracht Frankfurt fromHampden Park inGlasgow on 18 May 1960 through Eurovision.[6] The first full live coverage from abroad to Spain was theWedding of Baudouin of Belgium and Fabiola de Mora y Aragón fromBrussels on 15 December 1960, also through Eurovision.[7] TVE took part in theEurovision Song Contest for the first time in its6th edition on 18 March 1961 inCannes, with the song "Estando contigo" byConchita Bautista.[8]
On 12 February 1964, theproduction center inLas Palmas was opened to serve theCanary Islands.[9] On 18 July 1964,Prado del Rey inPozuelo de Alarcón was inaugurated to replace the facilities atPaseo de la Habana. It was opened with three studios already in operation and another six studios under construction.[10] Studio 1 had an area of 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft), which made it the largest television studio in Europe at the time.[11] Shows and fiction production was soon transferred there, but the news services were not transferred until 1967.[5] In August 1966, the first permanentforeign correspondent was stationed in London, followed in 1968 by the ones in New York,Vienna, and Brussels.[12] On 15 November 1966 itssecond channel was launched onUHF frequencies.
TVE participated in the production ofOur World television special with thirteen other national broadcasters from around the world coordinated by the EBU. This was the first live multinational multi-satellite television production ever and it was transmitted to twenty-four countries, including Spain, on 25 June 1967. TVE contributed with a segment, live on board some fishing vessels sailing in theGulf of Cádiz, showing the work of the fishermen and praising thecountry's fishing industry.[13][14]
Televisión Española became also the first regular television service inEquatorial Guinea on 20 July 1968 when it inaugurated its production center atSanta Isabel deFernando Po, in the then-Spanishautonomous region of Equatorial Guinea, and began broadcasts.[15] Since there was no television link withpeninsular Spain, the programming consisted of programs made locally and programs received fromPrado del Rey on tape. From its antenna located 3,011 metres (9,879 ft) above sea level atopPico de Santa Isabel, the broadcasts reached the mainlandprovince of Río Muni and the neighboring countriesNigeria,Cameroon, andGabon. After the country declared independence on 12 October 1968, the new authorities accused it of broadcasting "racist programming" and "imperialist propaganda", and TVE ended up closing the station. Shortly after they resumed their broadcasts asTelevisión Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial (TVGE) but they ceased broadcasting definitively in 1973 and the few remaining Spanish technicians left the country. The Equatoguinean government re-established TVGE in 1979.[16]
On 29 March 1969, TVE carried out the largest own-produced event until then, the14h edition of theEurovision Song Contest live from theTeatro Real in Madrid, followingTVE's victory at theprevious contest with the song "La, la, la" byMassiel. It was the second Eurovision Song Contest transmitted in full color, and since TVE did not have the required color equipment at the time, it had to rent it abroad. In Spain itself, the domestic broadcast and the copy that TVE kept in its archives was in black-and-white.[17] The event was transmitted live to the EBU member broadcasters through the Eurovision network, to theInternational Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) member broadcasters through theIntervision network and to broadcasters inChile,Puerto Rico, andBrazil via satellite. TVE won this edition with "Vivo cantando" bySalomé, being the first time that a participant broadcaster wins twice in a row. This was a joint victory of four participants, because there was a tie for first place and there was no rule to break the tie, and it is the last time that Spain has won the competition to date.[18]
On 25 April 1971, the production center in the Canary Islands, which until then had operated autonomously, began to broadcast to the archipelago the live signal of TVE's first channel received fromPrado del Rey through the recently launchedIntelsat IV F-2 satellite.[9] With this, the coverage of the first channel reached almost the entire territory of Spain while the second channel was only reaching the metropolitan areas of the main capitals.[19] On 24 May 1971, the first delegation was opened inBilbao, followed by the ones inSantiago de Compostela on 25 July 1971, and inSeville on 29 July 1971, which would later become the first territorial centers.
After two years of test transmissions, regularPAL color transmissions started in August 1972 with theSummer Olympics inMunich, with all programming transmitted in color in 1977 and color commercials starting in 1978. Acolour test card designed exclusively for TVE by Finn Hendil, under the supervision of Erik Helmer Nielsen fromPhilips, replaced its previous black-and-white card developed by Eduardo Gavilán.
On 25 November 1972, TVE produced the veryfirst edition of the annualOTI Festival live from thePalacio de Exposiciones y Congresos auditorium in Madrid. The event was transmitted live to theOrganización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) member broadcasters via satellite. TVE also produced thesixth edition from theCentro Cultural de la Villa de Madrid on 12 November 1977, the14th edition fromTeatro Lope de Vega in Seville on 21 September 1985, and the21st,22nd, and23rd editions fromTeatro Principal inValencia on 5 December 1992, 9 October 1993, and 14–15 October 1994 respectively.TVE won the competition six times: in1976 with the song "Canta, cigarra" by María Ostiz, in1981 with "Latino" by Francisco, in 1992 with "¿A dónde voy sin ti?" by Francisco, in 1993 with "Enamorarse" by Ana Reverte, in1995 with "Eres mi debilidad" byMarcos Llunas, and in1996 with "Mis manos" by Anabel Russ.[20]
Between 1977 and 1983, TVE produced the weeklyvariety show300 millones with the support of OTI. The show was broadcast in Spain and transmitted to the Spanish-language OTI member broadcasters via satellite. It was also broadcast on Spanish-language stations in the Philippines and the Netherlands Antilles.[21]
On 23 February 1981, Televisión Española was recording the roll-call vote for the investiture of the country's nextPrime Minister at theCongress of Deputies plenary hall when 200 armedCivil Guard officers broke into thebuilding in acoup d'état. The assailants immediately disabled the television cameras by force, but a TVE operator, Pedro Francisco Martín, managed to continue transmitting from one of the four cameras without their noticing.Prado del Rey was receiving the transmission through an internal closed circuit and half an hour of the incident was recorded. Fernando Castedo, General Director of RTVE, hid the tape with the footage inside his chair's cushion and sat on it when some military rebels tookPrado del Rey for more than one hour. As soon as they left, he sent two camera crews to thePalace of Zarzuela to recordthe King's speech repudiating the coup. Each crew returned toPrado del Rey with a copy of the speech in a different car and by different route, escorted by theRoyal Guard, and it was broadcast as soon as they arrived. The footage of the assault inside the Congress was not aired until all the deputies were released after the failure of the coup the following day.[22]
TVE was in charge of producing the official live television feed of the1982 FIFA World Cup, which allowed it to carry out a major modernization with the construction of theTorrespaña broadcasting tower in Madrid and the production center at its foot, which served asInternational Broadcast Centre during the event, both inaugurated on 7 June 1982. On 27 June 1983, a new production center inSant Cugat del Vallès replaced the Miramar studios in Barcelona. Also in 1983, the central news services moved to the Torrespaña production center and ever since 14 November,Telediario has been broadcast from there.[23]
Between 1985 and 1999, TVE took part in the biannualEurovision Young Dancers competition, being the most successful participant by winning with five of its eight entrants.TVE won the1st edition on 16 June 1985 with Arantxa Argüelles, the4th edition on 5 June 1991 with Amaya Iglesias, the5th edition on 13–15 June 1993 withZenaida Yanowsky, the6th edition on 3–6 June 1995 with Jesús Pastor Sauquillo and Ruth Miró Salvador, and the7th edition on 11–17 June 1997 with Antonio Carmena San José.[24] Between 1988 and 2000,TVE participated in the biannualEurovision Young Musicians competition.
On 13 January 1986, weekdaysbreakfast television broadcasts began. On 16 May 1988, theteletext was incorporated to the broadcast signal, which allowedclosed captioning to begin in November 1990. On 12 September 1988, TVE opened Estudios Buñuel in Madrid with three studios, one of them being the largest television studio in Europe at the time with an area of 2,500 square metres (27,000 sq ft),[25] which were in operation until 30 July 2015.
TVE participated in the19th,21st,22nd, and23rd seasons of the international competitionJeux sans frontières with mixed teams from towns across the country. A team fromJaca won the 21st season in summer 1990, and a team from Seville was the runner-up of the 19th season in summer 1988. TVE hosted at the grounds ofPrado del Rey the heats four and eight of the 19th season on 6 and 9 July 1988, and the heats three and eight of the 22nd season on 25 and 29 June 1991.[26]
On 19 May 1989, in response to theEuropean Economic Community (EEC) requirement to separate thenatural monopoly of infrastructure management from the competitive operations of running services, and with the imminent arrival ofcommercial television, TVE's broadcasting network, including the Torrespaña tower, was transferred toRetevisión.[27][28] While it was already appearing on certain live broadcasts as early as 1982, it was not until November 1989 that thelogo bug appeared permanently at the bottom right corner of the screen on its both channels, except during commercials.[29]
For the Barcelona1992 Summer Olympics the Organizing Committee created a host broadcaster expressly,Radio Televisión Olímpica '92 (RTO'92), in order to guarantee that the international signal was produced objectively and impartially. RTO'92 managed the staff and the production and technical resources hired to RTVE, theCorporació Catalana de Ràdio i Televisió (CCRTV), and the EBU. With a workforce of 3,083 people –of which 800 were from TVE–, and over fiftymobile units –fifteen from TVE–, RTO'92 provided live coverage of all Summer Olympic sports for the first time ever –except for a few preliminary events–, some 2,800 hours of live television footage, to its international rights-holders.[30] Additionally, 500 TVE workers and eight mobile units were in charge of producing TVE's personalized coverage, with La 2 dedicating all its programming exclusively to the Games 24 hours a day.[31] ForCatalonia, TVE andTelevisió de Catalunya (TVC) joined forces to broadcast the Games also inCatalan, creating theCanal Olímpic, a 24 hours channel in Catalan dedicated exclusively to the Games that occupied TVC'sCanal 33 frequency.[32]
The 1992 Olympics were also the first in which a comprehensive coverage inhigh-definition television (HDTV) was attempted. The European HDTV broadcast of the Summer Olympics was managed by the joint venture "Barcelona 1250" created by RTO'92, RTVE, Retevisión, and PESA, with the financial support of the EEC and a workforce of over 300 production and technical staff. TVE was in charge of the planning and lay-out of the technical facilities, all the engineering and the provision of qualified personnel. A total of 225 hours and 45 minutes was broadcast in analogHD-MAC standard in 1,250 lines and16:9 aspect ratio, with commentary in five languages –Spanish, English, French, German, and Italian– in addition to the non-commentary sound track, of eighteen different sports at seventeen venues, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. Events from five venues were covered live –80% of the total broadcast time– and other events were recorded for a delayed broadcast. On-screen text and graphics were shown in HDTV for the first time ever. Nearly 700 viewing sites installed throughout Europe, including the fifty HDTV receivers installed in various pavilions at theSeville Universal Exposition, were able to receive the broadcast.[33]
On 1 December 1989 TVEinternational television service, on 12 February 1994 anall-sports channel, and on 15 September 1997 anall-news channel were launched. In 1993,stereophonic sound and asound multiplex for the original language in foreign productions began to be available in the broadcast signal.
On 8 August 2008, regular test digital high-definition television transmissions started onTVE HD in720p with theSummer Olympics inBeijing. On 1 January 2010, TVE dropped broadcastingcommercial advertising on all its channels, with onlyself-promotions, institutional campaigns, andsponsorships allowed. With analog service discontinued on 3 April 2010, all its terrestrial free-to-air channels have only been available through thedigital terrestrial television (DTT) ever since. On 31 December 2013, the first regular HDTV DTT channels were launched, simulcasting La 1 and Teledeporte, initially in 720p and later in1080i.
TVE broadcast live the2022 FIFA World Cup inultra-high-definition (UHD),4K resolution,HDR quality, andDolby Atmos sound, free-to-air through the DTT on TVE UHD –a test channel on air since 2016–. It was the first UHD HDR broadcast of an event of that complexity and duration through the DTT ever.[34]
On 16 November 2023,TelevisaUnivision co-produced with RTVE the24th edition of the annualLatin Grammy Awards from theConference and Exhibition Centre of Seville. It was the first time the awards were held outside the United States and were co-produced with a foreign network. TVE provided most of the technical resources and production staff, and broadcast it live in prime-time in Spain.Univision took charge of the direction and broadcast it in the United Statestape-delayed in the corresponding prime-time of itsEast and West Coast feeds.[35]
On 6 February 2024, thestandard-definition (SD) versions of all its DTT channels were discontinued, and its first regular UHD DTT channel was launched, simulcasting La 1 in 4K.[36] Due to technical problems, the actual shutdown of the SD channels and the relocation of the HD channels to make room for the regular UHD broadcast could not be done until 11 February. With this, TVE became the first-ever broadcaster to offer its main channel in UHD on free-to-air DTT covering its entire national territory.[37]
On 16 November 2024, RTVE staged the22nd edition of theJunior Eurovision Song Contest at theCaja Mágica in Madrid, after theprevious contest's winner,France Télévisions, opted not to host, andSpain having been runner-up with "Loviu" by Sandra Valero. With TVE in charge of the television production, it was its first time holding the contest, just twenty years after its only victory with "Antes muerta que sencilla" byMaría Isabel in the2nd edition on 20 November 2004.[38]
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| Logo | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | La 1 | La uno (The one) since 2008, and formerly known as "Cadena I", "Primera Cadena", "Primer Programa", "TVE-1", or "La Primera" (The First). It is ageneralist channel which mainly broadcasts news bulletins, news programmes, magazines, series, films and some major sports competitions. It was launched on 28 October 1956 as the first regular television service in Spain. |
 | La 2 | La dos (The two) since the 1990s, and formerly known as "UHF", "Cadena II", "Segunda Cadena", "Segundo Programa", or "TVE-2". It mainly broadcasts cultural programming including documentaries, Spanish-language and European films, debates and concerts. It was launched on 15 November 1966. |
 | Teledeporte | This channel broadcasts major local and international sporting events, as well as not so mainstream sports. It was launched on 12 February 1994. |
 | 24 Horas | Canal 24 Horas is a 24-hour news channel. It broadcasts news reports, debates, analyses, interviews as well as rolling news. It was launched on 15 September 1997 as the first 24-hour rolling television news service in Spain. |
 | Clan | Clan is a children's channel with programming for children aged from two to twelve during the morning and afternoon and programming for older audiences during the evening and night. It broadcast reruns of TVE series during the early hours. It was launched on 12 December 2005, and was initially known as "Clan TVE". |
 | TVE Internacional | Televisión Españolainternational service. It was launched on 1 December 1989 and broadcasts TVE content throughout the world. |
 | Star TVE HD [es] | Pay television entertainment satellite channel broadcast in multichannel television providers in the Americas. It was launched on 18 January 2016. |
La 1 is afree-to-air channel currently available in Spain throughdigital terrestrial television (DTT) in bothUHDTV andHDTV versions. It broadcast in4K resolution andDolby Atmos sound for the UHDTV feed and the signal is downscaled to1080i andDolby Digital Plus for the HDTV feed.La 2,Teledeporte,24 Horas, andClan are also free-to-air channels currently available in Spain through DTT only in HDTV version in 1080i and Dolby Digital Plus.TVE Internacional,24 Horas Internacional, andClan Internacional are available abroadvia satellite. Star TVE HD is apay television channel only available in HDTV in multichannel television providers in the Americas. Channels are also availableon streaming, and its contenton demand, on theRTVE Play online platform.
Telediario is theflagship televisionnewscast produced by TVE's news services at its Torrespaña facilities in Madrid. ThreeTelediario editions a day are produced: the breakfast edition at 06:30CET/CEST, the afternoon edition at 15:00 and the evening edition at 21:00; and they are simulcast live onLa 1, on24 Horas news channel, on TVE Internacional and on RTVE Play. Additional international editions are also produced and aired on TVE Internacional every day. TVE's territorial centers in every autonomous community produce and broadcast in regional variations in each of them, a shorter middaylocal bulletin onLa 1 and RTVE Play. TVE's news services are also in charge of the24-hour rolling news service of24 Horas news channel and of the non-daily news programmes, such asInforme Semanal, of all its channels.
They were also in charge ofLa 2 Noticias ("The 2 News"),La 2's own national news bulletin, which began as an original nightly news bulletin in the late 1980s but it was turned into a breakfast news-programme in the mid-1990s and was later revamped as a nightly news bulletin, reverting to its original timeslot at 22:00. In 2015,La 2 Noticias moved to a later timeslot, 01:05, and it was eventually discontinued in 2020.
| Management |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Televisión Española | ||
| Radio Nacional de España | ||
| Interactives | ||
| Other | ||
| Defunct | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
