Rádio Renascença, also known as RR or just 'Renascença' (), is a private, commercial
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, owned by various organizations within the Portuguese
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
: among others, the
Patriarchate of Lisbon
The Metropolitan Patriarchate of Lisbon () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or patriarchal archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
Its archiepiscopal see is the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mary Major, ...
. Founded in 1934, it began broadcasting in 1936. Renascença owns another three stations:
RFM (the most listened-to radio station in the country),
Mega Hits FM (most current hit charts), and until 2020, Rádio Sim (a channel aimed at listeners over 55).
Some programs, notably newscasts and religious events, are broadcast simultaneously on both Rádio Renascença and Rádio Sim.
Rádio Renascença is available in mainland Portugal on FM. Rádio Sim was available on
medium wave
Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...
, covering most of mainland Portugal, as well as on FM in some regions.
RR (Rádio Sim)'s most powerful medium-wave transmitter – operating on a frequency of 594 kHz with a power of 100 kW (although currently using 60 to 80 kW) – is situated near the village of
Muge, some 75 km north-east of
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
. It is a 259-meter-high guyed mast radiator and also Portugal's tallest structure.
History
Founded by Monsignor Lopes da Cruz, trial broadcasts began in June 1936 with a transmitter installed in Lisbon, broadcasting for one hour a day from 21:00 to 22:00 in shortwave.
Regular broadcasting began on 1 January in the following year. A month after the start of daily broadcasts, the studios were ready at Rua Capelo and Radio Renascença settled there where it still remains. The name Renascença comes from a magazine of the same name (), founded on 12 April 1931, which in 1933 demanded the creation of the station thanks to support from its readers, at a time when Lisbon already had its fair share of radio stations, but none of them had Catholic owners. The station was inserted within the structure of the Secretariat of Cinema and Radio on March 8, 1938. Two days later, Manuel Lopes da Cruz was appointed director of the secretariat. With the approval given by the regulatory bases on April 10, the station was officially founded as an organ of Catholic action.
Renascença was a founding shareholder of
Rádiotelevisão Portuguesa in 1955, as its second-largest shareholder after the first iteration of
Rádio Clube Português.
Prior to 1974, Renascença was Catholic in orientation, but religious programming was limited, with a strong conservative political orientation. The station refused to cover doctrines of the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
, which begged for reforms.
Just after midnight on 25 April 1974 the station broadcast the banned song
Grandola, Vila Morena as a signal to the revolutionary
Armed Forces Movement
230px, A mural dedicated to the MFA, it reads: "Towards freedom. Long live the 25th of April!"
The Armed Forces Movement (; MFA) was an organization of lower-ranking officers in the Portuguese Armed Forces. It was responsible for instigating th ...
(MFA) to commence operations against Portugal's authoritarian government in what became known as the
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...
: for this reason, the song later became famous as the anthem of the revolution.
In 1975 the radio station was occupied by workers, but in December of the same year it was returned to the Catholic Church and, unlike almost every other radio station in Portugal, Renascença was never nationalized. The station started carrying normal religious events, which the previous management was against, and during the 1975 crisis, was even denounced by Pope Paul VI, owing to concerns facing a potential shutdown which never happened.
1980 saw the creation of two of its long-running programs, the morning program (António Sala and Olga Cardoso, ended in 2000) and the sports news service (still on air). was also known for airing the first traffic service on Portuguese radio (presented by José Relvas) and its special editions outside the studio, either abroad or within Portugal, in less-conventional locations such as a cruise ship or a prison. The network started regionalizing itself in 1985, with the first station, in Évora, starting on 10 April, in conjunction with its 48th anniversary; other stations followed over time. The Évora station had been conducting test broadcasts since October 1984, which became regular in January 1985.
[Renascença descentraliza as suas ondas, ''Êxito'', 11 April 1985]
In 1986 Radio Renascença began to air two distinct program schedules, 24 hours a day: from Radio Renascença (nationwide on MW and FM) and from RFM (nationwide on FM). More recently, in 1998, Mega FM was created in order to reach a younger target audience.
Frequencies
*
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
- 103.4 MHz
*
Porto
Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
- 93.7 MHz
*
Lousã (
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of .
The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...
/
Leiria
Leiria () is a city and municipality in the Central Region, Portugal, Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, after Coimbra, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat o ...
/
Aveiro) - 106.0 MHz
*
Montejunto (
Santarém /
Leiria
Leiria () is a city and municipality in the Central Region, Portugal, Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, after Coimbra, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat o ...
) - 90.2 MHz
* Arrábida (
Setúbal
Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies withi ...
) - 105.8 MHz
*
Mendro (
Évora
Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...
/
Beja) - 96.5 MHz
*
Portalegre - 95.3 MHz
* Gardunha (
Castelo Branco) - 103.4 MHz
*
Guarda - 90.2 MHz
*
Bragança - 105.7 MHz
* Bornes - 89.6 MHz
* Minhéu - 89.8 MHz
* Marofa - 94.2 MHz
* Muro (
Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo () is a concelho, municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo District, Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2021 was 85,778, in an area of . The urbanized are ...
/
Braga
Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...
) - 103.4 MHz
*
Faro - 103.8 MHz
* Fóia (Serra de
Monchique) - 98.6 MHz
* Lamego (
Vila Real
Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the Norte, Portugal, North region, Portugal. It is also the seat of the Douro (intermunicipal community), Douro Intermunicipal communities of Portugal, intermunicipal comm ...
) - 98.6 MHz
*
Sintra
Sintra (, ), officially the Town of Sintra (), is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2021 was 385,654, in an area of . Sintra is one of the ...
- 105.0 MHz
* Serra d' Ossa (
Évora
Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...
) - 98.5 MHz
*
São Miguel (
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
) - 95.2 MHz
*
Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
island - 88.0 MHz
*
Valença - 100.0 MHz
*
Vouzela - 93.8 MHz
*
Aveiro - 102.5 MHz
See also
*
Radio Maria
Radio Maria, formally known as The World Family of Radio Maria, is an international Roman Catholicism, Catholic radio broadcasting service founded in Erba (CO), Erba, province of Como, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan, diocese of Milan ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radio Renascenca
Portuguese-language radio stations
Radio stations established in 1936
Radio stations in Portugal
1936 establishments in Portugal
Catholicism in Portugal
Catholic radio stations
Christian radio stations in Europe