RTP2

RTP2 (RTP dois) is a Portuguese free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting cultural, factual, and children's programming without interruptions, including documentaries, concerts, theatre and independent, European and classic cinema. It was launched on 25 December 1968 as the second regular television service in Portugal, eleven years after RTP's first channel was launched on 7 March 1957. Initially it was positioned as a repeats channel, before obtaining a level of programming autonomy in 1975, and then, full autonomy in October 1978. Since the beginning, the channel had a strong cultural character, though it also had a broader scope in its programming, acting largely as a complementary service to RTP1. In 1992, with the impending launch of commercial television channel SIC, it was repositioned as a slightly more commercial service; this strategy failed and in 1994, it became a niche channel with decreasing ratings. RTP2 aims at less mainstream and more intellectual content. RTP2 is the one of several Portuguese and European national/international channels that has a strict cultural and educational programming line. RTP2 is the only broadcaster from Portugal that broadcasts programming without interruptions, ad breaks or in line messaging. It became a 24-hour service in 2005. RTP2's line-up is devoted to worldwide recognized quality television content, institutional programming or advertising, television series, cinematography, documentary films, theatre, and classical music. As of 2007, its share of the national audience was 5%-7%. Until the early 2010s, some of RTP2's output, including national and imported content, was seen on RTP Açores and RTP Madeira. The arrival of digital terrestrial television made these arrangements obsolete.