RTP1

RTP was established in December 1955 with test broadcasts conducted in September 1956 at the now-defunct Feira Popular amusement park in Lisbon. Regular broadcasts commenced at 21:30 on 7 March 1957. Initially the channel broadcast from 21:30 to either 23:00 or 23:30, with an additional period on Sundays between 18:00 and 19:00.

Initially, RTP had a limited coverage area, using 5 transmitters (Monsanto, Montejunto, Lousã, Monte da Virgem and Foia) that covered about 60% of the country's population.[1]

It then expanded to the whole of the mainland in the mid-1960s. On 18 October 1959, Telejornal went on air for the first time, becoming the longest-running news program in Portugal and the longest-running Portuguese-language TV show.

It was the only TV channel available in Portugal until 25 December 1968, when RTP2 started broadcasting. Because of that, RTP had to identify both channels as I Programa and II Programa in order to distinguish them.

Daytime broadcasts commenced in 1970, with a two-hour period running at various times mostly between 12:30 and 14:30. Before then, Telescola (educational classes) were generally the first programmes of the day and the regular schedule started at 19:00, running until midnight.

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.

On 16 October 1978, the channel was renamed RTP-1 (initially hyphenated). Colour programming was now in production, and a heat of Jeux Sans Frontières has to be transmitted in said technology in order to air to the rest of Europe, which already had regular colour broadcasts at the time. As the months progressed, more and more colour broadcasts were included before launching regularly on 7 March 1980.

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 from Oporto. The educational broadcasts (then known as Ciclo Preparatório TV) were abolished in 1988. By then, daytime shutdowns were abolished.

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 as RTP Canal 1, in readiness for a bigger rebrand that happened on 17 September 1990, where the channel was now officially rebranded as Canal 1, in order to reinforce its position in front of the new broadcasters. Having lost its leadership status slowly between 1994 and 1995, owing to SIC's success, it eventually turned into the vice-leader before falling into third place, when TVI got a ratings boost.

On 29 April 1996, Canal 1 reverted to RTP1.

In 2002, Emídio Rangel joined RTP1, coming from SIC, changing the face of public television in Portugal but causing havoc on the broadcaster. During this phase, the channel had overly-long news bulletins (i.e. RTP at 8 ending as late as 21:30) and thought-provoking debate shows (Gregos e Troianos).

On 31 March 2004, RTP1 rebranded entirely now broadcasting from RTP's new headquarters.

The channel started widescreen tests on 8 June 2012 with the Euro 2012 opening ceremony and the first match (Poland vs. Greece). On 14 January 2013, the channel formally became a widescreen channel.

• 
  March 1957 to 1959 (as I Programa (1968–1978) to distinguish itself from RTP2)
• 
  1959 to 1976
• 
  1976 to 1978
• 
  16 October 1978 to 7 March 1980 (as RTP1)
• 
  February 1981 to 21 March 1983
• 
  July 1983 to 17 October 1983
• 
  18 October 1983 to 22 March 1984
• 
  23 March 1984 to December 1985
• 
  December 1985 to 17 October 1986
• 
  17 October 1986 to 2 December 1988
• 
  Setember 1989 to 16 September 1990 (as RTP Canal 1)
• 
  17 September 1990 to 28 April 1996 (as Canal 1 da RTP).
• 
  29 April 1996 to 11 October 1998
• 
  12 October 1998 to 27 January 2002
• 
  28 January 2002 to 31 March 2004
• 
  31 March 2004 to 6 March 2016
• 
  Since 7 March 2016

In 1988, RTP pulled several sketches from Humor de Perdição: the last few sketches from the Historical Interviews series.

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.

• Official Site (in Portuguese)
• RTP1 Live Stream on RTP Play