National Co-ordinator:

António RIBEIRO
Head of International Relations
Lisbon
Phone: +351 217947694
Fax: +351 217947669
e.mail: antonioribeiro@rtp.pt

In Portugal television Public Service is carried out by RTP (Radiotelevisao Portuguesa). Presently RTP is a state owned company. It was founded in 1958 and is exclusively a Television company. March of 1957 was the official outset of regular broadcasting. RTP has 1869 employees working in two major Production Centres (Lisbon and Porto), six Regional Centres, three Delegations, RTP/Azores and RTP/Madeira.

The Regional Centres have nine people working in each one, three of them being are eng. crew. Each Delegation has one journalist and one eng. crew. Regional centres and Delegations are located in important cities, in order to cover regional information

The microwave system was, until 1991, operated by a department within RTP. This department has been separated from RTP and became an independent company transmitting RTPís signal as well as the signal of private television stations. Presently this company belongs to Portugal Telecom.

RTP's main competitors, in terms of audience share, are the privately-owned TV stations SIC and TV1, although many households have access, through dish antennas, to many other channels distributed by Intelsat, Eutelsat and Astra satellites.

RTP has six channels, four national and two international:

RTP 1, RTP 2, RTP/Madeira, RTP/Azores, RTPI, RTP/Africa.

RTP 1 is the most popular one aiming to attract large audiences.

RTP 2 has a non-commercial programming serving cultural and Public Service purposes.

RTP produces many of the programmes it braodcasts, but also buys from independent companies.

RTPI (international) serves the Portuguese Communities living abroad and the Portuguese speaking countries which, in whole, represent a potential audience of about 200 million people. RTPI has a 24 hour daily broadcast offering current affairs and entertainment programmes to Europe, Africa, America and Asia through several satellites and cable TV networks. Live newscast, sports and folklore music broadcast through RTPI have tightened the bond between emigrant communities and their home country.

RTP Africa began its regular emissions in March 1997.

The purpose of RTP Africa is to transmit regular emissions for the African Countries where Portuguese is spoken. This channel has several delegations, such as Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Guine Bissau and Sao Tome e Principe. It broadcasts everyday for a period of two hours, later repeating this emission.

RTP Oporto gives a major contribution to the daily broadcast and is presently RTPís main centre of programmes and news production. Its programmes focus mostly on themes related to the North and Central regions of the country.

The importance of its contribution to the national broadcaster it rather big; produces and broadcasts the whole morning programming from Monday to Friday from 8.00 a.m. - 2.00 p.m. and, at weekends, news and sports programmes.

The Azores Archipelago consists of 9 islands; RTP Azores has its headquarters on the island of S.Miguel in the city of Ponta Delgada and also two small delegations on the islands of Faial and Terceira. Annually RTP Azores organises the MAT Festival which presents and awards productions having a maritime main theme.

RTP Madeira has its studios in the city of Funchal.

RTP/Azores

Osvaldo Cabral
RTP Azores
Rua Ernesto Canto, 40
9500 - 312 PONTA DELGADA - AZORES
Tel (351) 296 202 775
Fax (351) 296 202 770

RTP AZORES began its emissions on 10 August, 1975.

The headquarters of RTP Azores are in the island of Sao Miguel, but since 1979 there are also two permanent Delegations on the islands of Terceira and Faial.

The broadcast of RTP Azores is viewed on all nine islands of the archipelago with a coverage level close to 100%. The video signal is distributed through a net of main transmitters and repeaters placed on the highest peaks of the islands, thus enabling the reception of the TV signal for an audience of 230,000 inhabitants.

In addition to regional news, giving account of what is happening daily on the Azorean islands, RTP Azores has developed a production project in the region of fiction with quality programmes, which have been included in the national channels.

Since 1987 RTP Azores has been sending a weekly regional news programme to the United States of America, Canada and Bermuda, where there are large Azorean emigrant communities.

RTP/Madeira

Sr.Armindo Abreu
RTP Madeira
Sitio da Madalena
Caminho de Santo Antonio, 145
9000 Funchal

RTP Madeira, a public station, began its emissions in 1972 and today covers 99% of the inhabitants of Madeira, i.e. about 280,000.

Broadcasting daily for a period of 16 hours, RTP Madeira includes in its autonomous emissions programmes of the national public (RTP 1 and RTP 2) and some 800 hours per year of regional production.

All topical issue programmes for RTP 1 (national), including daily news of RTP 2 (national), are exhibited by RTP Madeira in direct and integral versions.

The regional programme, includes two daily casts news of 15 and 30 minutes respectively, and 60 minute daily magazine, of various contents.

RTP Madeira analyzes sports events with direct broadcastings of several modalities and the emission of a 60 minute weekly programme. It also produces cultural programmes, political debate and entertaining on weekly basis.

RTP Madeira is financially supported by public capital and by commercials. Its has a Director and four departments (Programmes, Technical-Operational, Administrative, Financial and Information) with 82 employees.