SIC (acronym of full name Sociedade Independente de Comunicação) ("Independent Communication Society") is a Portuguese television 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 terrestrial free-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. By April, it was revealed that the channel was scheduled to launch by 1986.
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. 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 when 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. By then it alongside the Catholic Church (what would become TVI) were the contenders for the private television licenses. Francisco Pinto 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. Foreign entities also showed interest, such as Rede Globo and Silvio Berlusconi.
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. For this end, Canal 3 was created, with João Tito de Morais and Raul Junqueiro as presidents. 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. Satellite issues delayed Canal 3's launch to 1989.
The companies that held shares in SIC in 1990 stated 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".
During the three-month period from January 2 to April 2, 1991, Balsemão's SIC was among the contenders for the license. 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.O Jornal: Igreja prefere o quarto (April 5, 1991) 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.
The channel initially (until January 2019) broadcast from converted studios in Carnaxide, which belonged to TYE. 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. 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. 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. 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. By July, it had secured rights to four matches of the three largest football teams of the Portuguese league. Agreements with CNN, Visnews and WTN were also made, in order to supply news footage for the channel. 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. An agreement with Sporting CP was signed to sponsor the team's shirts. In September, architect Tomás Taveira was appointed for the design of the studios.
Test phase, launch and Rangel years
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. Balsemão justified the schedule by criticizing RTP's practices of dumping imports at later timeslots. The channel employed a staff of 270 employees
Regular transmissions began on October 6, 1992, becoming the first Portuguese private television channel. 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. 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. 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. A breakthrough agreement was signed with MCA/Universal 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. Colpo Grosso was the channel's most popular show in its early months on air. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
SIC reshuffled its programming in January 1993, weeks ahead of the launch of Quatro. Among the highlights was the Lorimar soap Knots Landing, which had never been aired before in Portugal. 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. In order to attract a wider male audience, SIC started airing Playboy Late Night on 5 February 1993, on Friday nights. To counter RTP's rights to air Formula 1, SIC secured the rights to the CART Indy Car Series in March 1993, at a time when Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet competed. 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. It also aired highlights of the 1993 Giro d'Italia. In June, it had swapped the airtimes of Globo's Renascer and Jornal da Noite due to the Brazilian series' unsatisfactory results.
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. Melrose Place aired in its Brazilian Portuguese dub, at the same time as TVI started airing The A-Team in the same format. The airing of dubbed versions raised concerns from the Portuguese Association for Deaf People. 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 (Chairman Mao: The Last Emperor), which was followed by a debate. The airing of the documentary was met with criticism from the Chinese Embassy in Lisbon, alleging it would hurt bilateral relations.China Criticizes BBC for Airing Mao Program. (1993, Dec 23). Asian Wall Street Journal