| RTP3 | |
| Owner: | Rádio e Televisão de Portugal |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Sister Channels: | RTP1 RTP2 RTP Desporto RTP Memória RTP Açores RTP Madeira RTP África RTP Internacional |
| Area: | Portugal Angola Mozambique Cape Verde |
| Former Names: | NTV RTPN RTP Informação |
| Headquarters: | Lisbon (main) Porto (secondary) |
| Website: | www.rtp.pt/rtp3/ |
| Picture Format: | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 576i for the SD feed) |
| Terr Serv 1: | TDT |
| Terr Chan 1: | Channel 6 |
| Online Serv 1: | RTP Play |
| Online Chan 1: | http://www.rtp.pt/play/direto/rtp3 |
RTP3 (RTP três) is a Portuguese free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company's all-news television channel, and is known for its 24-hour rolling news service and its live coverage of breaking news.
It was launched on 15 October 2001. It received other names, such as "NTV", "RTPN", and "RTP Informação" until it adopted its current name "RTP3". It is available on basic cable, satellite and terrestrial television.
The channel was launched on 15 October 2001 as NTV, a cable news channel headquartered in Porto. It was originally a joint-venture between PT Multimédia, Lusomundo and the television broadcaster Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (the old RTP). In 2003 it was completely acquired by the old RTP, and with the merger between the old RTP and radio broadcaster Radiodifusão Portuguesa (RDP), forming the new RTP, it became RTPN on 31 May 2004.
RTPN debuted a 24-hour schedule on 29 September 2008. Up till then, RTPN had simulcasted with Euronews during the early morning. Since mid-2009, RTPN has been available outside Portugal, through cable TV providers in Angola and Mozambique. On 19 September 2011, RTPN was renamed RTP Informação, beginning with a simulcast of which refreshed its graphics.
On 22 July 2015 it was announced that RTP Informação would rebrand once again.[1] On 15 September 2015, the date of rebrand was confirmed to be 5 October, RTP's director of programmes Daniel Deusdado told the media. At midnight between 4 and 5 October 2015 Portuguese time, the channel became RTP3, during the coverage of the legislative election 2015.
Unlike the other national RTP channels, RTP3's continuity and playout is handled at the Monte da Virgem studios, near Porto.
Since 1 December 2016, the channel is available on the Portuguese digital terrestrial television. The channel is also available as free-to-air channel in Cape Verde's digital terrestrial television network, which also includes RTP África.[2]
Despite being a news-based channel, occasionally RTP3 also airs some sports programming, such as the Olympics and the FIFA Confederations Cup.