Os programas de informação no segundo canal da RTP: de 1992 a 2001

This article states part of the findings concerning a research about the characterization and evolution of information programmes (not considered the daily news) of prime time on the current RTP2 — the second television channel to appear in Portugal and whose name has varied over time —, which considers the start date of its broadcasts, 1968, until the present. The analysis presented here is based on the time frame of the first ten years of RTP’s coexistence with SIC and TVI. This time frame is justified by the fact that these ten years are especially noteworthy, as the entry of private channels in the Portuguese television field caused changes in RTP. The characterization of RTP2’s prime time information programmes was carried out having as main coordinates the duration, the format, the journalist who conducts the program, and the theme. This work allowed to portray the journalistic production of the second channel of RTP, in the first decade of competition with the two private channels. We conclude that, over time, the second channel consolidated its position as an alternative to RTP1, SIC and TVI, assuming its singularity (essentially by the themes chosen) when compared to the other three channels mentioned.