(acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national
state-owned public television
Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...
broadcaster and the oldest
regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...
.
TVE began as a standalone company dependent on the
Ministry of Information and Tourism. After undergoing several
restructurings and reorganizations, since 1 January 2007 it is the television division –while (RNE) is the radio division– of (RTVE), the public corporation which has the overall responsibility for the national broadcasting public services under a
parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
-appointed
president who, in addition to being answerable to a board of directors, reports to an all-party committee of the national parliament, as provided for in the Public Radio and Television Law of 2006.
TVE launched its
first channel on 28 October 1956 as the first regular television service in Spain. It was the only one for a decade, until 15 November 1966, when TVE launched a
second channel. As TVE held a
monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
on television broadcasting in the country, they were the only television channels until the first regional public television station was launched on 16 February 1983, when started broadcasting in the
Basque Country.
Commercial television
Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...
was launched on 25 January 1990, when started broadcasting nationwide. On 20 July 1968, TVE also became the first regular television service in Equatorial Guinea, with the inauguration of its broadcasts in the then-Spanish
autonomous region of Equatorial Guinea.
Its headquarters and main production centre is in
Pozuelo de Alarcón
Pozuelo de Alarcón () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Bordering the Moncloa-Aravaca district of Madrid proper to its west, Pozuelo de Alarcón is surrounded by large Mediterranean pine-tree forests: the Casa de Campo, the M ...
, with additional production centres in
San Cugat del Vallés and in the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
. TVE's news services are located at its Torrespaña facilities, at the foot of
the broadcasting tower in Madrid. Although almost all the programming of its channels is in Spanish and is the same for all of Spain, TVE has territorial centers in every
autonomous community
The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...
and produces and broadcasts some local programming in
regional variation
A regional variation generally refers to times when a radio station or television station simultaneously broadcasts different programs, continuity or advertisements to different parts of its coverage area. This may be so as to provide programmi ...
s in each of them in the corresponding
co-official language.
TVE's activities were previously financed by a combination of advertising revenue and
subsidies
A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...
from the national government, but since 1 January 2010, it has been supported by subsidies only.
History
1950s
was established at a building of in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, and after some time of technical tests, its
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...
black-and-white
fullscreen standard-definition
Standard-definition television (SDTV; also standard definition or SD) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high-definition television, high or enhanced definition. ''Standard'' refers to offering a ...
monaural
Monaural sound or monophonic sound (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce so ...
live analogue terrestrial television
Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is signal transmission, transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV rece ...
transmissions on
VHF frequencies were officially launched on 28 October 1956 with a special inaugural program. The next day, three evening hours a day of regular live broadcasting began from its single studio, becoming
the first regular television service in Spain. At that time, there were only 600
receivers in operation in the city and the coverage barely reached a radius of .
An initial news bulletin, called , was created within a week and a weather forecast was first aired on 2 November 1956. On 13 January 1957, the first fiction was produced, an adaptation of the 1916 one-act play ''Before Breakfast'' by American playwright
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...
, and in February 1957, the first fiction series, the sitcom .
On 15 September 1957, the evening edition of the flagship newscast was premiered, with the afternoon edition following on 28 April 1958.
On 27 April 1958, TVE aired its first live broadcast from
out-of-studio, the
1957–58 La Liga season
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
match between
Atlético Madrid and
Real Madrid CF
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
from the
Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid. On 12 October 1958, the broadcasting centre in
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
was inaugurated and on the first week of February 1959, the broadcasting center in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
began to operate. On 14 July 1959, the Miramar studios in Barcelona were opened.
1960s
The first TVE production for abroad was the coverage for the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
(EBU) of the arrival in Madrid of the
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
Dwight D. Eisenhower on 21 December 1959. As the link with the
Eurovision telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a group of Node (networking), nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit ...
was not ready yet, it was taped and sent by plane to the nearest Eurovision node in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. Once the link was ready, the first live broadcast from Spain to abroad was the
1959–60 European Cup season football match between Real Madrid and
OGC Nice
Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional association football, football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of Footb ...
from the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...
in Madrid on 2 March 1960 through it. The first live broadcast from abroad to Spain was the second half of the European Cup
final match between Real Madrid and
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...
from
Hampden Park
Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
on 18 May 1960 through Eurovision.
[ The first full live coverage from abroad to Spain was the Wedding of Baudouin of Belgium and Fabiola de Mora y Aragón from ]Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
on 15 December 1960, also through Eurovision. TVE took part in the Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
for the first time in its on 18 March 1961 in Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
, with the song "" by Conchita Bautista.
On 12 February 1964, the production center in Las Palmas was opened to serve the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
. On 18 July 1964, in Pozuelo de Alarcón
Pozuelo de Alarcón () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Bordering the Moncloa-Aravaca district of Madrid proper to its west, Pozuelo de Alarcón is surrounded by large Mediterranean pine-tree forests: the Casa de Campo, the M ...
was inaugurated to replace the facilities at . It was opened with three studios already in operation and another six studios under construction. Studio 1 had an area of , which made it the largest television studio in Europe at the time. Shows and fiction production was soon transferred there, but the news services were not transferred until 1967.[ In August 1966, the first permanent foreign correspondent was stationed in London, followed in 1968 by the ones in New York, ]Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, and Brussels. On 15 November 1966 its second channel was launched on UHF frequencies.
TVE participated in the production of '' Our World'' television special with thirteen other national broadcasters from around the world coordinated by the EBU. This was the first live multinational multi-satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
television production ever and it was transmitted to twenty-four countries, including Spain, on 25 June 1967. TVE contributed with a segment, live on board some fishing vessels sailing in the Gulf of Cádiz, showing the work of the fishermen and praising the country's fishing industry.
Televisión Española became also the first regular television service in Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...
on 20 July 1968 when it inaugurated its production center at Santa Isabel de Fernando Po, in the then-Spanish autonomous region of Equatorial Guinea, and began broadcasts. Since there was no television link with peninsular Spain, the programming consisted of programs made locally and programs received from on tape. From its antenna located above sea level atop Pico de Santa Isabel, the broadcasts reached the mainland province of Río Muni and the neighboring countries Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
, and Gabon
Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...
. After the country declared independence on 12 October 1968, the new authorities accused it of broadcasting "racist programming" and "imperialist propaganda", and TVE ended up closing the station. Shortly after they resumed their broadcasts as (TVGE) but they ceased broadcasting definitively in 1973 and the few remaining Spanish technicians left the country. The Equatoguinean government re-established TVGE in 1979.
On 29 March 1969, TVE carried out the largest own-produced event until then, the 14h edition of the Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
live from the Teatro Real in Madrid, following at the with the song " La, la, la" by Massiel. It was the second Eurovision Song Contest transmitted in full color, and since TVE did not have the required color equipment at the time, it had to rent it abroad. In Spain itself, the domestic broadcast and the copy that TVE kept in its archives was in black-and-white. The event was transmitted live to the EBU member broadcasters through the Eurovision network, to the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) member broadcasters through the Intervision network and to broadcasters in Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, and Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
via satellite. TVE won this edition with "" by Salomé, being the first time that a participant broadcaster wins twice in a row. This was a joint victory of four participants, because there was a tie for first place and there was no rule to break the tie, and it is the last time that Spain has won the competition to date.
1970s
On 25 April 1971, the production center in the Canary Islands, which until then had operated autonomously, began to broadcast to the archipelago the live signal of TVE's first channel received from through the recently launched Intelsat IV F-2 satellite. With this, the coverage of the first channel reached almost the entire territory of Spain while the second channel was only reaching the metropolitan areas of the main capitals. On 24 May 1971, the first delegation was opened in Bilbao
Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...
, followed by the ones in Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
on 25 July 1971, and in Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
on 29 July 1971, which would later become the first territorial centers.
After two years of test transmissions, regular PAL color transmissions started in August 1972 with the Summer Olympics in Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, with all programming transmitted in color in 1977 and color commercials starting in 1978. A colour test card designed exclusively for TVE by Finn Hendil, under the supervision of Erik Helmer Nielsen from Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
, replaced its previous black-and-white card developed by Eduardo Gavilán.
On 25 November 1972, TVE produced the very first edition of the annual OTI Festival live from the auditorium in Madrid. The event was transmitted live to the (OTI) member broadcasters via satellite. TVE also produced the sixth edition from the on 12 November 1977, the 14h edition from in Seville on 21 September 1985, and the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd editions from in Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
on 5 December 1992, 9 October 1993, and 14–15 October 1994 respectively. TVE won the competition six times: in 1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
with the song "" by María Ostiz, in 1981 with "" by Francisco, in 1992 with "" by Francisco, in 1993 with "" by Ana Reverte, in 1995 with "" by Marcos Llunas, and in 1996 with "" by Anabel Russ.
Between 1977 and 1983, TVE produced the weekly variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...
with the support of OTI. The show was broadcast in Spain and transmitted to the Spanish-language OTI member broadcasters via satellite. It was also broadcast on Spanish-language stations in the Philippines and the Netherlands Antilles.
1980s
On 23 February 1981, Televisión Española was recording the roll-call vote for the investiture of the country's next Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
at the Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid.
Congress has ...
plenary hall when 200 armed Civil Guard officers broke into the building
A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...
in a ''coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
''. The assailants immediately disabled the television cameras by force, but a TVE operator, Pedro Francisco Martín, managed to continue transmitting from one of the four cameras without their noticing. was receiving the transmission through an internal closed circuit and half an hour of the incident was recorded. Fernando Castedo, General Director of RTVE, hid the tape with the footage inside his chair's cushion and sat on it when some military rebels took for more than one hour. As soon as they left, he sent two camera crews to the Palace of Zarzuela to record the King's speech repudiating the coup. Each crew returned to with a copy of the speech in a different car and by different route, escorted by the Royal Guard, and it was broadcast as soon as they arrived. The footage of the assault inside the Congress was not aired until all the deputies were released after the failure of the coup the following day.
TVE was in charge of producing the official live television feed of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, which allowed it to carry out a major modernization with the construction of the Torrespaña broadcasting tower in Madrid and the production center at its foot, which served as International Broadcast Centre during the event, both inaugurated on 7 June 1982. On 27 June 1983, a new production center in Sant Cugat del Vallès replaced the Miramar studios in Barcelona. Also in 1983, the central news services moved to the Torrespaña production center and ever since 14 November, has been broadcast from there.
Between 1985 and 1999, TVE took part in the biannual Eurovision Young Dancers competition, being the most successful participant by winning with five of its eight entrants. the on 16 June 1985 with Arantxa Argüelles, the on 5 June 1991 with Amaya Iglesias, the on 13–15 June 1993 with Zenaida Yanowsky, the on 3–6 June 1995 with Jesús Pastor Sauquillo and Ruth Miró Salvador, and the on 11–17 June 1997 with Antonio Carmena San José. Between 1988 and 2000, in the biannual Eurovision Young Musicians competition.
On 13 January 1986, weekdays breakfast television
Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...
broadcasts began. On 16 May 1988, the teletext was incorporated to the broadcast signal, which allowed closed captioning to begin in November 1990. On 12 September 1988, TVE opened Estudios Buñuel in Madrid with three studios, one of them being the largest television studio in Europe at the time with an area of , which were in operation until 30 July 2015.
TVE participated in the 19th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd seasons of the international competition with mixed teams from towns across the country. A team from Jaca
Jaca (; in Aragonese language, Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca (province), Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón (river), ...
won the 21st season in summer 1990, and a team from Seville was the runner-up of the 19th season in summer 1988. TVE hosted at the grounds of the heats four and eight of the 19th season on 6 and 9 July 1988, and the heats three and eight of the 22nd season on 25 and 29 June 1991.
On 19 May 1989, in response to the European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
(EEC) requirement to separate the natural monopoly
A natural monopoly is a monopoly in an industry in which high infrastructural costs and other barriers to entry relative to the size of the market give the largest supplier in an industry, often the first supplier in a market, an overwhelming adv ...
of infrastructure management from the competitive operations of running services, and with the imminent arrival of commercial television
Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...
, TVE's broadcasting network, including the Torrespaña tower, was transferred to Retevisión. While it was already appearing on certain live broadcasts as early as 1982, it was not until November 1989 that the logo bug appeared permanently at the bottom right corner of the screen on its both channels, except during commercials.
1990s
For the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
the Organizing Committee created a host broadcaster expressly, (RTO'92), in order to guarantee that the international signal was produced objectively and impartially. RTO'92 managed the staff and the production and technical resources hired to RTVE, the (CCRTV), and the EBU. With a workforce of 3,083 people –of which 800 were from TVE–, and over fifty mobile units –fifteen from TVE–, RTO'92 provided live coverage of all Summer Olympic sports for the first time ever –except for a few preliminary events–, some 2,800 hours of live television footage, to its international rights-holders. Additionally, 500 TVE workers and eight mobile units were in charge of producing TVE's personalized coverage, with La 2 dedicating all its programming exclusively to the Games 24 hours a day. For Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
, TVE and (TVC) joined forces to broadcast the Games also in Catalan, creating the , a 24 hours channel in Catalan dedicated exclusively to the Games that occupied TVC's Canal 33 frequency.
The 1992 Olympics were also the first in which a comprehensive coverage in high-definition television
High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
(HDTV) was attempted. The European HDTV broadcast of the Summer Olympics was managed by the joint venture "Barcelona 1250" created by RTO'92, RTVE, Retevisión, and PESA, with the financial support of the EEC and a workforce of over 300 production and technical staff. TVE was in charge of the planning and lay-out of the technical facilities, all the engineering and the provision of qualified personnel. A total of 225 hours and 45 minutes was broadcast in analog HD-MAC
HD-MAC (High Definition Multiplexed Analogue Components) was a broadcast television systems, broadcast television standard proposed by the European Commission in 1986, as part of Eureka (organisation), Eureka 95 project. It belongs to the Multiplex ...
standard in 1,250 lines and 16:9 aspect ratio, with commentary in five languages –Spanish, English, French, German, and Italian– in addition to the non-commentary sound track, of eighteen different sports at seventeen venues, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. Events from five venues were covered live –80% of the total broadcast time– and other events were recorded for a delayed broadcast. On-screen text and graphics were shown in HDTV for the first time ever. Nearly 700 viewing sites installed throughout Europe, including the fifty HDTV receivers installed in various pavilions at the Seville Expo '92, Seville Universal Exposition, were able to receive the broadcast.
On 1 December 1989 TVE TVE Internacional, international television service, on 12 February 1994 an Teledeporte, all-sports channel, and on 15 September 1997 an 24 Horas (Spanish TV channel), all-news channel were launched. In 1993, stereophonic sound and a Sound multiplex in broadcasting, sound multiplex for the original language in foreign productions began to be available in the broadcast signal.
2000s to present day
On 8 August 2008, regular test digital high-definition television transmissions started on TVE HD in 720p with the 2008 Summer Olympics, Summer Olympics in Beijing. On 1 January 2010, TVE dropped broadcasting Television advertisement, commercial advertising on all its channels, with only Promo (media), self-promotions, institutional campaigns, and Sponsor (commercial), sponsorships allowed. With analog service discontinued on 3 April 2010, all its terrestrial free-to-air channels have only been available through the digital terrestrial television (DTT) ever since. On 31 December 2013, the first regular HDTV DTT channels were launched, simulcasting La 1 and Teledeporte, initially in 720p and later in 1080i.
TVE broadcast live the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Ultra-high-definition television, ultra-high-definition (UHD), 4K resolution, High-dynamic-range television, HDR quality, and Dolby Atmos sound, free-to-air through the DTT on TVE UHD –a test channel on air since 2016–. It was the first UHD HDR broadcast of an event of that complexity and duration through the DTT ever.
On 16 November 2023, TelevisaUnivision co-produced with RTVE the 24th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, 24th edition of the annual Latin Grammy Awards from the FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre, Conference and Exhibition Centre of Seville. It was the first time the awards were held outside the United States and were co-produced with a foreign network. TVE provided most of the technical resources and production staff, and broadcast it live in prime-time in Spain. Univision took charge of the direction and broadcast it in the United States broadcast delay, tape-delayed in the corresponding prime-time of its Effects of time zones on North American broadcasting, East and West Coast feeds.
On 6 February 2024, the Standard-definition television, standard-definition (SD) versions of all its DTT channels were discontinued, and its first regular UHD DTT channel was launched, simulcasting La 1 in 4K. Due to technical problems, the actual shutdown of the SD channels and the relocation of the HD channels to make room for the regular UHD broadcast could not be done until 11 February. With this, TVE became the first-ever broadcaster to offer its main channel in UHD on free-to-air DTT covering its entire national territory.
On 16 November 2024, RTVE staged the of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest at the in Madrid, after the 's winner, , opted not to host, and having been runner-up with "Loviu" by Sandra Valero. With TVE in charge of the television production, it was its first time holding the contest, just twenty years after its only victory with "" by María Isabel in the on 20 November 2004.
Corporate identity
File:1er logo TVE.svg, From October 1956 to March 1962
File:Logo de TVE (1960'-1991).svg, From March 1962 to September 1991.
File:Logo TVE (1991-2008).svg, From September 1991 to August 2008.
File:TVE.svg, From August 2008 to present.
Current television channels
is a free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...
channel currently available in Spain through digital terrestrial television (DTT) in both Ultra-high-definition television, UHDTV and High-definition television, HDTV versions. It broadcast in 4K resolution and Dolby Atmos sound for the UHDTV feed and the signal is downscaled to 1080i and Dolby Digital Plus for the HDTV feed. , , , and are also free-to-air channels currently available in Spain through DTT only in HDTV version in 1080i and Dolby Digital Plus. , , and are available abroad Satellite television, via satellite. Star TVE HD is a pay television channel only available in HDTV in multichannel television providers in the Americas. Channels are also available Streaming television, on streaming, and its content Video on demand, on demand, on the RTVE Play online platform.
News services
is the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television newscast produced by TVE's news services at its Torrespaña facilities in Madrid. Three editions a day are produced: the breakfast edition at 06:30 Central European Time, CET/Central European Summer Time, CEST, the afternoon edition at 15:00 and the evening edition at 21:00; and they are simulcast live on , on news channel, on TVE Internacional and on RTVE Play. Additional international editions are also produced and aired on TVE Internacional every day. TVE's territorial centers in every autonomous community produce and broadcast in regional variations in each of them, a shorter midday local news, local bulletin on and RTVE Play. TVE's news services are also in charge of the 24-hour news cycle, 24-hour rolling news service of news channel and of the non-daily news programmes, such as , of all its channels.
They were also in charge of ("The 2 News"), 's own national news bulletin, which began as an original nightly news bulletin in the late 1980s but it was turned into a breakfast news-programme in the mid-1990s and was later revamped as a nightly news bulletin, reverting to its original timeslot at 22:00. In 2015, moved to a later timeslot, 01:05, and it was eventually discontinued in 2020.
Programming
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Television Espanola
Televisión Española,