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RTP Internacional

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RTP Internacional
CountryPortugal
Broadcast areaEurope
North America
South America
Australia
Asia
Middle East
Africa
Programming
Picture format576i(16:9SDTV)
Ownership
OwnerRádio e Televisão de Portugal
Sister channelsRTP1
RTP2
RTP3
RTP Desporto
RTP Memória
RTP Açores
RTP Madeira
RTP África
History
Launched10 June 1992;32 years ago(1992-06-10)
Links
WebsiteRTPi
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial television(Andorra)Channel 28
Streaming media
RTP PlayRTP Internacional

RTP Internacional(RTPi) is a Portuguesefree-to-airtelevision channel owned and operated by state-ownedpublic broadcasterRádio e Televisão de Portugal(RTP). It is the company'sinternationaltelevision service, and is known for broadcasting a mix of programming from other RTP's channels, as well as original productions made for the channel.

The channel is available on several satellites in the clear, on a number of subscription television operators and terrestrially inMacao(relayed byCanal Macau)[1]andEast Timor(relayed byRTTL), by means of timeshares with other channels.

History

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The former RTP International logo.

Before the appearance of the channel, RTP signed a contract withIntelsatto provide a program for the Portuguese diaspora in theUnited States,CanadaandBermuda,Portugal Magazine,created in 1988 with assistance from RTP's facilities in Oporto. Outside of the intended target countries, the program was sent by video to other parts of the world.[2]

RTP Internacional was first planned in early 1992 byJosé Eduardo Monizas part of the strategic plan for the 35th anniversary of RTP's first broadcast.[3]The channel was formally created on 21 February 1992, under the management of journalist Afonso Rato, who demanded "active television" for the Portuguese diaspora.[4]Productions from the then-upcoming private channelsSICandTVIwere blocked weeks after the channel's launch.[5]

It first started broadcasting viasatellitein Europe on 10 June 1992 (Portugal Day), with a visit from then-prime ministerCavaco Silva.The channel, the fifth RTP channel overall to be launched, initially broadcast 39 hours a week (5 hours on weekdays, 7 on Saturdays and 9 on Sundays over two satellites, Eutelsat (Ku band) in Europe and Statsionar-12 (Intersputnik, C-band), enabling the channel's reach to extend to Africa and parts of Asia, includingGoaandMacau.On 19 December the channel expanded toNorth Americaby means of the Galaxy-6 satellite.[4]The aim of the new channel was to "accentuate the penetration of the Portuguese language and culture and that, taking advantage of technological potential that was unthinkable years ago, will bring us all closer together, making our world smaller". The public presentation took place inLisbona week ahead of the launch of the service, in a project that took four months to create. On the eve of the launch, José Eduardo Moniz claimed that the service, thanks to a growing number of national output on the group of the four RTP channels (2 national and 2 regional) showed the desire of the Portuguese diaspora to provide necessary communication. Before, RTP tried - unsuccessfully - to beam its four channels by satellite to Africa, which was made impossible due to technological issues.[6]It soon expanded into Africa, where it reached audiences inPortuguese-speakingcountries, as well as Canada, United States, Brazil and into Asia. It is also available on the Internet, via a subscription to the serviceJumpTVor with Octoshape.

Terrestrial broadcasts started in East Timor in January 1996. The launch of the service began with a political message fromAntónio Guterresand a representative of the Timorese independence movement. The RTP Internacional relay caused interest fromRCTIto compete with the station as long as RTP would begin broadcasting content in English, which was never achieved.[7]

By 1997, the channel was made available to at least 8.5 million subscriber homes, surpassing the one million benchmark in countries with high Portuguese immigration: France, Switzerland, the United States and Brazil. As that year was also its fifth anniversary, the channel celebrated with a week of special programming.[8]A special program for the fifth anniversary of the channel,Aqui Tão Perto: Portugal - Camões - Comunidadeswas broadcast, simultaneously withRTP2,for a period of approximately fourteen hours. The diaspora groups are connected via satellite in 30-minute slots and featured a report about the Portuguese diaspora in the particular country on those slots. The slots were given to the following countries, all of them with significant numbers of Portuguese diaspora: the United States, Canada, Venezuela, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg.[9]

On 7 January 1998, RTPi ceased terrestrial broadcasting to Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa, and was replaced by a new separate service, calledRTP África,which was available as a terrestrial TV service in some countries, as well as being available via satellite, but RTPi continues to broadcast in Angola and Mozambique. RTPi is carried by satellite television services across Africa in various countries such as South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

In March 2005 it began 'time-shifting' its programming, with three separate schedules forthe Americas,Europe, and Asia, so that viewers in different time zones could watch programmes at more convenient times.

Distribution

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Satellite

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RTP Internacional is available across all of North America forfreeviaGalaxy 19andIntelsat 805.[10]

Subscription television

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It is also available as a pay service viaDish Networkin the United States andRogers Cableand NexTV (IPTV Platform) in Canada.

For years, the channel was carried in Australia and New Zealand viaUBI World TV.In 2013, RTP Internacional returned to these countries via Luso Vision, which focuses on Portuguese, Brazilian and Chilean programming.

Terrestrial television

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RTPi programming is also retransmitted byTeledifusão de Macau(TDM) inMacao,through its Portuguese-language TV channelCanal Macau,and inEast Timor (Timor Leste)byRadio e Televisão Timor Leste(RTTL), together with local broadcasts.

Controversies

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In 2017, the TV and radio service – RTP Internacional and RDP, respectively – of RTP, as well as the Portuguese news agency Lusa, were suspended from operating in Guinea-Bissau. The measure was announced by Bissau-Guinean minister for the media, Vítor Pereira. He justified the decision with end of the contracts with RTP and Lusa. The Portuguese government considered the decision to be "unacceptable" and an "attack on freedom of expression,[11]whileReporters Without Borderscondemned that same decision. Lusa was eventually allowed to operate in the country, but RTP Internacional and RDP were not.[12]

References

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  1. ^"TDM".tdm.mo.Retrieved9 August2024.
  2. ^"Produção Nacional, uma aposta ganha".RTP.2007.Retrieved7 September2024.
  3. ^"RTP: uma antena para o mundo".RTP.2007.Retrieved30 October2023.
  4. ^ab"RTP: uma antena para o mundo".RTP.2007.Retrieved30 October2023.
  5. ^"PRIVATE TV NOT ON RTPi".The Anglo-Portuguese News.2 July 1992.
  6. ^"RTP: uma antena para o mundo".RTP.2007.Retrieved30 October2023.
  7. ^"Jakarta TV station to match Portuguese coverage in E. Timor".The Straits Times.10 February 1996.Retrieved5 August2024.
  8. ^"RTP África e Expo'98 no caminho das novas tecnologias".RTP.2007.Retrieved17 November2023.
  9. ^"RTP África e Expo'98 no caminho das novas tecnologias".RTP.2007.Retrieved17 November2023.
  10. ^"Intelsat 805".lyngsat.Retrieved5 August2022.
  11. ^"RTP é suspensa na Guiné-Bissau | A Televisão".A Televisão(in European Portuguese). 1 July 2017.Retrieved19 July2017.
  12. ^Group, Global Media (4 July 2017)."Repórteres Sem Fronteiras condena suspensão da RTP e RDP na Guiné-Bissau".O Jogo(in European Portuguese).Retrieved19 July2017.{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help)
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