RTP (Portugal)

Background
RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal) 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 March 7, 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 very limited coverage area, encompassing the northern and central coastal areas of Portugal, before expanding to the whole of the mainland in the mid-1960s. On October 19, 1959, Telejornal went on air for the first time, becoming the longest-running Portuguese TV show in existence.It was the only TV channel available in Portugal until December 25, 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 color broadcasts were conducted in 1976, with the legislative elections. In 1978, the channel was renamed RTP-1 (initially hyphenated). Color 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 color broadcasts at the time. As the months progressed, more and more color broadcasts were included before launching regularly on March 7, 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 September 17, 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 April 29, 1996, Canal 1 reverted to RTP1.

1st Logo (1959-1978)
Logo: On a gray background, we see a light gray ring that's thicker on the top and bottom. The inside is filled with white and there is a gray shield in the middle. A bunch of lines (which are actually supposed to represent an antenna) are over the ring, as well as "RTP" outlined in white. Below the emblem are the words "RADIOTELEVISÃO PORTUGUESA" ("PORTUGUESE RADIO TELEVISION" in Portuguese) in white, stacked on top of each other.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: Probably none.

Availability: Extinct.

2nd Logo (1959-1968)
Logo: We see a videoclip of the former RTP transmission tower, followed by several clips of people preparing to film programs. Soon, white rings emerge from the middle of the screen. After a bit, one remains in place and transforms into a sphere with longitude lines that begins to spin. Latitude lines then appear as the sphere spins 360 degrees. An elliptical globe then appears rotating sideways. Both shapes turn into a spinning sphere with latitude lines and a line in the middle of it, then into the elliptical globe doing the same thing, and then into a rapidly spinning circular grind. It then stops, with the ring becoming an oval and the sides thickening. The lines then shrink to fit inside the new oval, becoming three lines running through horizontally and one line vertically down the middle. The lines become thicker and are separated from the oval to complete the RTP logo at the time. The letters "RTP" emerge from the middle line and a bar shoots out from the middle and transforms into the text "RADIOTELEVISÃO PORTUGUESA". While the logo is formed, the background clip shows a cameraman approaching the screen until the camera they're holding almost takes up the entire screen.

Technique: Mainly live-action combined with cel animation.

Music/Sounds: A upbeat orchestral fanfare, which is actually "Derby Day" by Robert Farnon and would become basically the theme for RTP.

Availability: Extinct. This was used as a start-up.

3rd Logo (1968-1982)
Logo: On a light gray background, a strange black and white shape zooms in, with two smaller copies appearing inside as it grows, as they form a white TV shape. The background fades to dark gray for a moment before turning back to light gray as a black monitor appears around the screen. The TV shape then morphs into three white rings and the monitor fades out while the background darkens. The rings then converge into a thin ring and a black circle zooms in, with four gray circles appearing in it. A white circle then appears and trails through each circle several times. The circles fade to white and the background becomes black as the circles combine into one that eventually trails out with more white circles. It then fades to a light gray background with a old-fashioned camera. The camera (excluding some circles) fades out, and the circles rearrange into a close up of the camera. The camera disappears again and the circles move around, eventually stopping and turning into spotlights. The spotlights fade out and the circles begin to grow as smaller circles in various shades of gray appear inside. They form several big discs, two small circles (likely meant to be a record player's knobs), and a record player's needle, which eventually transform into two-tone diamond shapes. They eventually merge into one and a additional one zooms out, before they fade into a radio tower with "Serif" written on both sides. The bottom zooms in and the tower scrolls up before eventually fading to the top, where radio waves emerge from the center. A painting of clouds then appear and zooms in, crossfading to a bunch of antennas emitting radio waves that zooms out. The background fades to black, leaving a single white antenna that rotates and collapses in, forming the RTP logo at the time. The logo starts out small, but eventually grows larger and larger in sync with the music.

Variant: A color variant that was introduced in the 1970s features the logo in various shades of blue.

Technique: Cel animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as before.

Availability: Extinct. This was also used as a start-up.

4th Logo (30th Anniversary) (March 7, 1987-March 7, 1988)
Logo: On a black background with a blue gradient on the bottom, we see a thick silver ring. The ring then breaks into three sections that move into different positions, two on the left and one on the right. The left sections form a skewed-out "3" while the one on the right becomes another full ring, making the number "30". Three shiny balls in red,, and blue fly in and land inside the inner sections. The blue ball lands on the top of the "3", the one lands on the bottom, and the red one lands inside the "0". The text "Cooper" in the company's typeface at the time and in white fades in on the logo's left side, along with "30 anos" ("30 years") below it. While all of this is happening, the gradient on the bottom slides away.

Technique: Early CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: An upbeat piano theme based on "Derby Day" accompanied by female singers singing it.

Availability: Extinct.

5th Logo (September 1991-January 1, 1993)
Logo: On a blue gradient background, we see the "Cooper" typeface in a shiny blue color. The words "centro de produção de lisboa" ("Lisbon production center") are embossed on top of the background in a narrow font, with the year of production below.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare, as it may still appear on programs from that era on RTP Memoria.

6th Logo (January 1, 1993-March 7, 1997)
Logo: On a marble-like background, a sketch layout for the "Cooper" is drawn in and begins to spin on a invisible cube. The cube then stops as a blue liquid fills up the shape of the "Cooper", and a stone cube flies in. The cube then spins once before exploding to reveal the "Cooper", and all the letters turn blue. They come together and place themselves on the background, shining a bit before freeze framing. Then one of the following events happens depending on the show: All the variants may or may not have a copyright year in red.
 * The word "PORTO" appears above in a Helvetica font with a drop shadow.
 * The stacked text "centro de produção de lisboa" appears above, along with a blue and yellow-striped "CPL".
 * The stacked text "centro de produção de madeira" appears above, along with a blue and yellow-striped "CPM".

Technique: Early CGI.

Music/Sounds: Sometimes the end theme of a show, or a rising drone synth with a "BOOM", ending with a 3 note synth rap.

Availability: Same as the previous logo.

7th Logo (March 7, 1997-October 12, 1998)
Logo: In what appears to be a cave with yellow lighting and a large spotlight, a blue grid of lines flips over as it flies into the spotlight. As it flips over, it reveals a block with "RTP" on it in spaced-out letters, and a red line from the top-left and a one from the bottom-right, slide into the vacant spaces. The "RTP" block slides down and forms the 1996-2004 RTP logo. "PRODUÇÃO" ("PRODUCTION") zooms out below and the copyright year can be seen on the bottom right.

Technique: The grid flipping over, the lines and logo forming.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant, but quiet, fanfare.

Availability: Same as the previous logos.

8th Logo (October 12, 1998-October 2003)
Logo: The screen is divided into 4 uneven rectangles. The top left is a slowly rotating orange-lighted globe with a dark translucent bar on the bottom. The top right is what appears to be a old document slowly moving to the right, with a blue bar on the bottom. The bottom left is a dark blue rectangle, with another section of a globe slowly rotating, and the bottom right is a white rectangle. The outlined letters "R T P" fade in and zoom in slowly, before fading out again, as the sections start to change. The top right turns into a shot of red flowers, the bottom left section becomes partially white, and the top left turns into a light blue globe shot, with the globe upright. A chain of "RTP" words also starts to scroll in the bottom left. As this happens, a translucent version of the 1996-2004 RTP logo zooms out and swings into position, while a translucent rectangle appears behind it. Attached to the bottom is a blue rectangle with "R T P" on it. The entire logo then turns solid and metallic, shining as it rests. In the background, the white rectangle becomes part of the blue globe, and the top right shot briefly becomes a unknown area before becoming part of the globe. After a bit, the "R T P"s slowly disappear, and the background (barring the top right) slowly turns back to normal.

Technique: CGI animation, probably made by Novocom.

Music/Sounds: A soothing piano tune.

Availability: Extinct. Probably seen at the end of programs at the time, and probably on some programs on RTP Memoria.

9th Logo (October 2003-March 31, 2004)
Logo: On a blue-white gradient background, "Um programa da" ("A program from") is typed in on the top as a white rectangle fades in below. The RTP logo then starts to draw itself in, starting with the top part of the antenna, followed by the lines, then the bottom part. A blue rectangle wipes in below and "RTP" fades and zooms into position as the remaining sections of the antenna fade in and slide into place. "Un programa da" gets switched out for "Produzido por" ("Produced by"), and "Meios de Produção" ("Means of Production") fades in below in blue, along with a shine.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: 2 synth drones with whooshing effects followed by a quick 4-note tune.

Availability: Same as the previous logo.

10th Logo (March 31, 2004-January 7, 2007)
Logo: Basically a very short version of the RTP1 logo at the time, but there's no "1" and " MEIOS DE PRODUÇÃO" in the corporate font at the time is below "RTP". The year appears on the bottom right corner of the screen.

Variant: A version where the background is much darker and the text is replaced with " RADIOTELEVISÃO PORTUGUESA" exists.

Technique: Same as the RTP1 logo.

Music/Sounds: A smooth piano tune.

Availability: Extinct. Was seen on productions at the time on RTP1.

11th Logo (January 7, 2007-January 6, 2010)
Logo: Same as the RTP1 logo of the time, but it the "1" is removed and a copyright date is added.

Technique: Same as the RTP1 logo.

Music/Sounds: A bombastic fanfare.

Availability: Same as the previous logo.

12th Logo (January 6, 2010-September 19, 2011)
Logo: In a white room, part of the RTP logo swings in. More parts swing in and stick to it, forming the full logo as the "RTP" typeface and "© PRODUÇÃO (year)" rise up from the ground. The logo slowly rotates.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Extinct. Was seen on productions at the time on RTP1.

13th Logo (September 19, 2011-January 13, 2013)
Logo: Similar to the break bumper at the time, but there's some additional animation, the animation is a bit closer, and the text "PRODUÇÃO ©RTP (year)" appears in the bottom right in blue.

Technique: Same as the break bumper.

Music/Sounds: A digital-sound tune.

Availability: Extinct. Was seen on productions at the time on RTP1.

14th Logo (January 13, 2013-March 6, 2016)
Logo: On a white background, a large section made of blue gemstone comes more into view, as the "swirling" logo animation used in the logos at the time appears. "RTP" then appears beside it in white and a copyright year appears below.

Variant: Starting on March 7, 2015, the logo was moved to the center of the screen, the text turned black, and the background being moving white pieces. The theme here is the same as the 10th and 11th logos.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A calm-sounding jingle, with a twinkle at the end.

Availability: Extinct. Was seen on productions at the time on RTP1.

15th Logo (March 6, 2016-)
Logo: Depends on the channel, but consists of the logo (now flat and the text being sharper) sliding in, with a copyright date in the bottom right corner being typed in. Here are the variants:
 * Normal: The background is white and the full color logo is wiped in from the right (this time featuring straight cuts for the logo, rather than curved), and the typeface is wiped in from the left in black.
 * RTP1: A dark blue background is wiped away to reveal a blue background with a white RTP logo. "RTP" then slides out of it in white.
 * RTP2: The background is yellow and the logo is gray. The logo zooms in before the text slides out.
 * RTP3: Similar to the RTP1 variant, but the background slides in from the top and the logo fades in. The animation is also smoother.
 * RTP Memoria: Same as the RTP1 variant, but with a white background and a gray logo.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: Either the end theme, or a 3 note piano tune with a delay to the final note. The RTP3 variant has the Rai News 24 on-TV music.

Availability: Current.