Portugal, a country located in the westernmost end of Europe, has a few terrestrial television stations and a fair amount of pay-TV networks. Here's an overview of them:
Public TV channels
Channels funded by government money.
- RTP (Rádio Televisão Portuguesa - Portuguese Radio and Television). The oldest Portuguese channel, having begun broadcasts on March 7, 1957. Currently divided into the following networks:
- RTP 1 - Open air. Although it is a public channel, it doesn't have a lot of variety: the daytime schedule on weekdays mimicks those of the private channels. Ads for supposedly "miraculous" health products are shown on ad breaks in the daytime hours and the most interesting shows that fit in with the public service standards air late at night. Another waste of public service money is the two-hour infomercial block in the early morning hours. The channel is third in ratings and is heavily criticized for their lack of "public service".
- RTP 2 - Open air. A channel that airs contents aimed by and for minorities, predominantly focusing on programming aimed at kids (usually cheap acquisitions), cultural programming (which most of the Portuguese population can no longer stand, sadly), sports that don't attract tons of people and ethnical groups. The channel also airs quite a lot of TV shows from around the world. Launched on December 25, 1968. This channel airs no ads.
- RTP 3 - Open air. Initially (in 2001) an Oporto-centric news channel (ntv*), acquired by RTP within a year, renamed to RTP N in 2004, to RTP Informação in 2011 and to the current name in 2015. A disorganized news channel.
- RTP Memória - Open air. Mainly shows old RTP productions interspersed with a movie and original productions made for the channel.
Commercial TV channels
Channels owned by big corporations.
- SIC (Sociedade Independente de Comunicação - Independent Communication Society) - Portugal's first private television network, begun broadcasting on October 6th, 1992. Currently runs the following channels:
- SIC - Open air. A generalist TV channel.
- SIC Notícias (SIC News) - Cable TV. Originally the Lisbon focused CNL (Canal de Notícias de Lisboa - Lisbon News Channel), it was revamped into Portugal's first 24 hour news network.
- SIC Radical - Cable TV. A youth-oriented channel, known for reality shows and anime.
- SIC Mulher (SIC Woman) - Cable TV. A female-focused network.
- SIC Caras - Cable TV. Another female-focused network with a bigger emphasis on celebrities in cooperation with the celebrity magazine Caras
