SIC (acronym of full name Sociedade Independente de Comunicação) ("Independent Communication Society") is a Portuguesetelevision network and media company, which runs several television channels. Their flagship channel is the eponymous SIC, the third terrestrial television station in Portugal, launched on 6 October 1992. SIC is owned by Grupo Impresa, a Portuguese media conglomerate. It is one of the two private free-to-air channels in Portugal, among the seven terrestrialfree-to-air channels broadcasting from the country. It was the most-watched channel in Portugal from 1995 to 2005, and again from 2019 to today.
History
Early plans for a third channel; development of the private TV licenses
Plans for a third television channel were enacted as far back as January 1983, where it was initially suggested that the channel would be a cultural and educational service to fill in the gaps in the country's deficient educational system.[1] By April, it was revealed that the channel was scheduled to launch by 1986.[2]
On October 27, 1986, the Portuguese government issued a decree in Diário da República to limit government influence in the media industry, while opening the television sector to the private initiative. Among the companies interested for the license were SOJORNAL (owner of Expresso) among other publishing companies.[3] In the wake of these events, Francisco Pinto Balsemão created SIC, in a consortium of more than ten companies, led by Sojornal, the parent company of Expresso. Balsemão stressed the need for a private channel at a time where the Portuguese cultural identity was facing a crisis, due to the emergence of satellite television, relays of Spanish channels, the ill-fated Europa TV and video stores.[4] By then it alongside the Catholic Church (what would become TVI) were the contenders for the private television licenses.[5] Balsemão announced that it would take a period of six to nine months to build the channel, with an initial investment of one million contos.[6] Foreign entities also showed interest, such as TV Globo and Silvio Berlusconi.[7]
The company was first registered in 1987, with Granada Television initially holding a 20% interest, with the rest being owned by Impala, Expresso and Projornal. Robert Maxwell's BPCC signed an agreement with one of the potential contenders, Emaudio SA, on September 23, 1987.[8] For this end, Canal 3 was created, with João Tito de Morais and Raul Junqueiro as presidents.[9] In the summer of 1988, Emaudio planned to start the channel by November that year. In its experimental phase, in a period of five months, the channel would broadcast for six hours a day. The broadcast of the channel was set to be done from London or Luxembourg.[10] Satellite issues delayed Canal 3's launch to 1989.[11]
The companies that held shares in SIC in 1990 said that private television would only start in 1992, with SIC intending to start broadcasting in the middle of the year. 25 to 30 percent of the initial schedule would be given to news, while the entertainment programming was given to independent production companies, under the status of "associated producers".[12]
During the three-month period from January 2 to April 2, 1991, Balsemão's SIC was among the contenders for the license.[13] In 1991, the licenses were granted to SIC and TVI. In an initial phase, SIC would devote a substantial amount of its programming to news, "not only political news, but also more general and active news, privileging live", according to Pinto Balsemão. The initial line-up had a prospective starting time of 18:30 on weekdays and 15:30 on weekends, ending every night at midnight. The channel would provider counter-programming to the remaining channels, with a wide variety of content.[14] The months prior to the 1991 Portuguese legislative election led to a delay in the private television process, which meant that the channel would start broadcasting by 1993; unless a decision was made from the media regulator AACS, SIC was confident in starting its broadcasts by May 1992.[15]
The channel initially (until January 2019) broadcast from converted studios in Carnaxide, which belonged to TYE.[16] In 1992, SIC was owned by a consortium led by Francisco Pinto Balsemão, backed by Controljornal, TSF, Rádio Comercial, Lusomundo, Expresso, Impala Editores and Globo. The government granted licenses to SIC and TVI on February 6, 1992, giving a period of one year before starting broadcasts. SIC was initially set to start broadcasting at 17:30 on weekdays and 15:30 on weekends, closing down after midnight. The channel planned four news bulletins and "different, intelligent and popular" entertainment offerings, such as TV series, movies, talk shows and game shows.[17] By March, SIC announced that it would tentatively start broadcasts on October 1. José Eduardo Moniz, who was initially scheduled to be the head of the network's news division, announced that he would continue working on RTP; his post on SIC was filled by Emídio Rangel.[18] In May 1992, it had signed a three-year contract with MTV to carry its content for five hours a week on the upcoming channel.[19] That same month, it confirmed October as its launch month and had spent 4.5 million contos in installation and equipment. Its relationship with Lusomundo, which was part of SIC's launch consortium, was severed.[20] By July, it had secured rights to four matches of the three largest football teams of the Portuguese league.[21] Agreements with CNN, Visnews and WTN were also made, in order to supply news footage for the channel.[22] Ahead of launch and thanks to the football agreement, a rights war between RTP and SIC had started before the latter started its transmissions. SIC was also keen on providing sponsorship agreements for the clubs involved.[23] An agreement with Sporting CP was signed to sponsor the team's shirts.[24] In September, architect Tomás Taveira was appointed for the design of the studios.[25]
Test phase, launch and Rangel years
The first version of SIC's logo, used until 6 October 1997.
On October 1, 1992 (mere days after starting its signal at least in Lisbon), SIC held its first experimental broadcast. During a five day period, the channel broadcast an international soccer match, a rock concert, two made-for-TV movies and a debate about Maastricht at Associação Comercial de Lisboa.[26] Balsemão justified the schedule by criticizing RTP's practices of dumping imports at later timeslots.[27] The channel employed a staff of 270 employees[28]
Regular transmissions began on 6 October 1992, becoming the first Portuguese private television channel.[29] The channel opened at 16:30 with a news bulletin, followed by the first MTV program, the American series Guys Next Door, the game show Responder à Letra (adapted from Catchphrase), the telenovela Plumas e Paetês, Praça Pública at 19:30, Jornal da Noite at 20:00 followed by the Globo miniseries Tereza Batista; in Noite de Estreia the channel presented its first film, War of the Roses; the schedule ended with The Benny Hill Show and the late news.[30] The channel's initial strategy depended mainly on Canal 1's programming which started minutes later due to the reformulation of lottery draws due to the launch of SIC. As an example, the channel programmed sitcoms at the timeslot where it was scheduled to air on Canal 1, in an attempt to lure viewers.[31] More than one week after launch, it aired the derby between Sporting and Benfica. The first football match broadcast by a private television channel in Portugal had a more complex camera setup than RTP and had not been employed by Portuguese television at the time.[32] A breakthrough agreement was signed with MCA-Universal Television in late October providing the channel access to series that have never aired on Portuguese television to date, as well as a package of 100 feature films. The channel also aired the Italian "sexy game" Colpo Grosso which was heavily criticized for its topless women.[33]Colpo Grosso was the channel's most popular show in its early months on air.[34] SIC surpassed Canal 1 for the first time in early November, with a match between Sporting and Porto airing at 16:00, the same time as Benfica-Boavista on TV2. In an act of desperation, Canal 1 programmed Who Framed Roger Rabbit at the last minute. The ratings miracle was limited to the match on SIC, with most of the audience moving to Canal 1 after the match ended.[35]
First impressions for the channel's first month turned out to be "satisfying" for Balsemão due to its "high level" programming and ratings that were higher than counterparts in other European countries.[36] To counter Canal 1's premiere of Pedra Sobre Pedra, SIC premiered De Corpo e Alma, prompting Canal 1 to move the premiere two days in advance. By mid-November, its signal had reached the Algarve region and coastal Alentejo, two weeks ahead of schedule.[37] To intensify the war, SIC promised that it would start airing De Corpo e Alma seven minutes before Pedra Sobre Pedra on Canal 1 and would provide call-in competitions with cars and trips to Brazil as prizes.[38] By December it had billings in excess of 1.2 million contos in the first two months on air alone; the signal had already reached 71% of Portuguese households, up from 54% on launch day.[39]
SIC reshuffled its programming in January 1993, weeks ahead of the launch of TVI. Among the highlights was the Lorimar soap Knots Landing, which had never been aired before in Portugal.[40] Its premiere caused its afternoon programming for children to move to weekends, starting earlier at 12:00. Advertising rates for the channel were also lowered.[41] In order to attract a wider male audience, SIC started airing Playboy Late Night on 5 February 1993, on Friday nights.[42] To counter RTP's rights to air Formula 1, SIC secured the rights to the Indycar Series in March 1993, at a time where Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet competed.[43] In May the channel premiered the hidden camera show Minas e Armadilhas, Labirinto, adapted from the Dutch format Labyrinth and the return of Roque Santeiro to Portuguese television.[44] It also aired highlights of the 1993 Giro d'Italia.[45] In June, it had swapped the airtimes of Globo's Renascer and Jornal da Noite due to the Brazilian series' unsatisfactory results.[46]
SIC celebrated its first anniversary with new programs, Chuva de Estrelas (adaptation of Soundmixshow) with Catarina Furtado, E o Resto é Conversa, the first daytime talk show on a private channel, with Teresa Guilherme, Conversas Curtas with Carneiro Jacinto, comedy series Ora Bolas Marina with actress Marina Mota, new episodes of The Raven and the premieres of Melrose Place, Highlander: The Series and Love & War. The channel's share was now averaging 15%, thanks to the increase of national productions.[47]Melrose Place aired in its Brazilian Portuguese dub, at the same time as TVI started airing The A-Team in the same format.[48] The airing of dubbed versions raised concerns from the Portuguese Association for Deaf People.[49] For the Christmas season of 1993, SIC started broadcasting at 11:00 on weekdays. On December 22 it screened the Timewatch documentary about Mao Zedong, which was followed by a debate.[50]
In late January 1994, SIC started broadcasting at 12:00 on weekdays, airing repeats in the first hour. The MTV programs moved to the noon slot, after almost a year airing before closedown. Jornal da Noite reverted to the 8pm timeslot. On weekends, the channel premiered Home Improvement.[51] Later, in February, with the premiere of O Mapa da Mina, the MTV programs disappeared.[52] On 14 March, the channel premiered O Juiz Decide, the first court case program on Portuguese television. The trials were initially recorded, aiming to make them live at a later stage.[53] On April 30, it premiered Caça ao Tesouro, which was hosted by Catarina Furtado, who did the same for Chuva de Estrelas. By then, more programs reached the weekly top tens, including the primetime Globo telenovela, Ora Bolas Marina and Perdoa-me.[54]
June 1994 saw a breakthrough deal with TV Globo to gain exclusive rights to its telenovelas for a period of five years.[55] On September 19, the channel premiered Insónias, a late night current slot for current affairs programming, and the new Globo series A Viagem. It also broadcast the 1994 Emmy Awards.[56] The strand consisted of five programs, Tostões and Milhões (which had existed before, economics); A Noite da Má Língua, Internacional SIC (international in-depth reports); Flashback (TV version of the TSF format of the same name, a political view of the past week), and O Senhor que se Segue.[57] For the second anniversary on October 6, the channel had a 24-hour programming marathon with feature films, music specials and the centerpiece, As Nossas Estrelas, a version of Chuva de Estrelas with the channel's presenters.[58] By this time, there were serious chances for the channel to overtake Canal 1, but was weak in rights to football and production of game shows. Teresa Guilherme presented the new game show Destino X, which was filmed in locations around the world.[59] Ahead of Christmas, the channel premiered Pátria Minha, retitled as Vidas Cruzadas.[60]
January 1995 saw the premiere of Walker, Texas Ranger.[61] The channel had doubled its viewing figures in 1994 alone alongside those of TVI;[62] the channel was on track to surpass Canal 1 that year. On New Year's Day, several programs brought SIC to a leading position, with the record-breaker being Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as well as Bravo Bravissimo and A Viagem.[63] An agreement in February brought the exclusive rights to the documentary series People's Century, co-produced by the BBC and WGBH.[64] New programs by spring such as Globo's Irmãos Coragem and the local formats Assuntos de Família and Máquina da Verdade bought in high viewing figures.[65] In April 1995, Jornal da Noite moved its weekend starting time to 21:00.[66] The following month, it aired its first Venezuelan telenovela, Por amarte tanto.[67] The positive results of the channel caused projections in June to suggest that, out of the four terrestrial channels, only SIC would bring in profits in 1995.[68] In July, Irmãos Coragem was replaced by A Próxima Vítima.[69] The channel also controversially broadcast two programs from the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God's Portuguese division outside regular broadcast hours; the sect was being investigated at the time.[70]
In 1996, Joe Berardo became the largest individual shareholder of the channel, holding 19% of the shares.[71] In early 1997, the channel claimed an audience share of 50%.[72] In March, SIC shot scenes in the Super Buéréré studio for the upcoming anniversary of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. At the time, it was recurrent for the program to talk about foreign cultures.[73]
The channel celebrated its fifth anniversary with an uninterrupted marathon of programming between October 3 and the early hours of October 7, with a special gala scheduled for October 6. To fill in the overnight schedules, the channel aired themed movie nights. After the celebrations, SIC reprogrammed People's Century with additional commentary from former president Mário Soares.[74]
In its initial years, it acquired a large audience, eventually overtaking RTP1 by 1995. SIC became widely known across Europe for achieving high viewing figures just two to three years after launching, as well as being the subject of an Arte documentary known as Cette Télévision est la Vôtre (This Television is Yours), directed by Mariana Otero.
Manuel Fonseca administration
Emídio Rangel quit SIC in August 2001, moving to RTP in the process, as the channel was starting to face a fall in ratings due to the rise of TVI, as well as the fall in Impresa's stocks.[75] In September, the post of director of programming was occupied by Manuel Fonseca.[76]
Globo, in order to solve its debt issues in 2002, proceeded to sell the 15% of its shares on SIC.[77] Around that time, SIC was facing a crisis and had to cut €5 million from its budget for 2003. The channel's finances fell €90.29 million in the first nine months of 2002 alone.[78] On 6 November, SIC's staff made a plenary session regarding the financial situation of the channel, and announced that they would convene again on 20 November.[79]
SIC in this period was in charge of several entries for the Guinness Book of Records, among them the longest period subject to hypnotism (75 hours),[80] the longest dance (101 hours)[81] and the longest kiss, with SIC stretching for 75 hours (the previous record held by an Israeli couple in 1999 was of 31 hours).[82]
Francisco Penim administration
In 2005, TVI, after recovering from a financial crisis, overtook SIC in the ratings. In September that year, Manuel Fonseca left the post of director of programming after the failures of Esquadrão G and Senhora Dona Lady.[83] His replacement was Francisco Penim, who was previously in charge of the cable channels. In the first semester of 2005 alone, SIC was behind TVI.[84] Aside from RTP1 taking over second place in 2007, 2009 and 2010, for the next fourteen years, SIC would be in second place until overtaking TVI in 2019.
Nuno Santos administration
Penim left SIC in January 2008 after resigning from his post by mutual agreement. He was replaced by Nuno Santos.[85] The previous administration put its ratings in third place, behind RTP1.[86] Nuno Santos left SIC in August 2011, moving to RTP's news division.[87]
Successive administrations from 2011 to 2018
In 2011, Impresa opened SIC's new Porto studios in Matosinhos, on the site of a former slaughterhouse. The studios also holds the newsrooms of Expresso, Visão, the Caras magazine, the web portal AEIOU.pt and Infoportugal. In 2019, SIC, along with its parent company Impresa, relocated from its studios in Carnaxide to a new building in Paço de Arcos.
Francisco Pinto Balsemão left SIC's supervision post in January 2017; from March 6, there were two directors of programming, Gabriela Sobral and Luís Proença.[88] SIC renewed the rights to air the UEFA Europa League for the fourth consecutive cycle (2018-2014) for the annual price of €1,6 million.[89]
Daniel Oliveira administration; overtaking TVI; losing its leadership
On June 21, 2020, SIC announced the premiere of Domingão, the first pimba program since the cancellation of Portugal em Festa four years earlier.[90] Created to support pimba artists in the wake of the pandemic, the program replaced the regular Sunday afternoon movie slot.[91] SIC has not returned to regular Sunday afternoon movies since and has been criticized in 2021 by Vicente Alves do Ó for being an "unending hell", refusing to support artists of other genres.[92]
SIC lost its ratings to TVI for the first time in five years in February 2024. In return, the channel sent a plane to TVI's facilities with the phrase "Thank you for giving us (the) fight".[93] In July it became the first over-the-air channel to air a Turkish series, after the success of such productions on its cable channels, with a dubbed version of Kızım that had previously aired on SIC K. SIC Mulher aired the subtitled version.[94]
Branding
The logo was designed in 1992 by Hans Donner, creator of the iconic TV Globo logo, following a philosophy of color, movement and the idea of unity. The logo represents a rainbow, from yellow to dark blue, with warmer colors dominating. In the center, a lowercase i (for independente) showing its position of differentiation to RTP. The ring that forms a trail between the letters S and C represents a crowd united in the visual aesthetic, with strong emotional dimensions, as created by the Rome Colosseum. At start-up and closedown the startion aired a two-minute video, featuring some of Donner's works for Globo between 1980 and 1992, accompanied by the channel's anthem.[95]
Programming
Nowadays, SIC has a programming largely based on talk shows, Brazilian soap operas produced by Globo, Portuguese soaps, game shows and sketch shows. Like the other major broadcaster, TVI, SIC airs international TV series such as Criminal Minds, the various CSI series and Entourage always after 1 a.m. SIC also relies largely on Globo productions, due to an exclusivity contract which obligates SIC to broadcast every soap opera produced.[citation needed] In-house productions include occasional reality shows and comedy sketch shows, which include Malucos do Riso, a long-running series with focus on dramatized jokes, and Gato Fedorento.
In 2006, started to broadcast the block "SIC Kids", broadcasting a few hours later the block "Disney Kids" (the featured, and still features, only Disney programming).
^Espalha Factos. [‘Domingão’ e ‘Somos Portugal’ criticados por realizador: “Interminável inferno” "'Domingão'. SIC lança novo programa para competir com 'Somos Portugal'"]. A Televisão!access-date=13 September 2024. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
