Televisão Pública de Angola E.P. or TPA is the national broadcaster of the Southern African state of Angola. It also operates an international channel TPA Internacional. TPA is headquartered in the capital cityLuanda and broadcasts in Portuguese language. The international channel broadcasts selected shows targeted at foreign audiences and the Angolan community abroad. TPA1 is currently the only state-owned broadcaster in Angola following the arrival of private channels TV Zimbo and Palanca TV and the privatization of TPA2.
History
Prior to TPA's establishment, there were some experiments made in colonial-era Angola: the first was made in 1962, from Rádio Clube do Huambo. On January 8, 1964, Rádio Clube de Benguela made the second experiment, and then, on June 22, 1970, Luanda tested television for the first time. Televisão Pública de Angola was founded on June 27, 1973 as Radiotelevisão Portuguesa de Angola from Portuguese government authorities. The first television signal launched on October 18, 1975 in Luanda. Less than a year after the official launch and the country's independence, the company changed its name for the first time to Televisão Popular de Angola, on June 25, 1976. In 1979, TPA began to look into expansion, starting with Benguela, then in 1981 in Huambo. It was in Huambo that the first regional production centre was established. In 1982, TPA started producing programming in native languages, with the first two being Malanje and N'Dalatando. Currently the so-called "national languages" have a special focus on the news, of which a dedicated block exists on the main channel. Colour television arrived to Angola in 1983. In 1992, TPA expanded to the whole of the countrythanks tosatellite connections. In 1997, TPA became a public company and the official name changed to Televisão Pública de Angola. In 2000 TPA 2 started broadcasting. Broadcasts did not become official for another two years. In 2003, TPA's channels started broadcasting through the KU band, launching the channels on the internationalDStv platform. On 31 January 2007, TPA began broadcasting 24 hours a day. On 24 July 2008 the international channel was launched and became available in Portugal's main cable and IPTV platforms.
