TVE celebrates 70 years of broadcasting in Spain

Radiotelevisión Española (TVE) marks its 70th anniversary, tracing its origins back to October 28, 1956. The public broadcaster began operations from a modest facility in Madrid's Paseo de la Habana, serving approximately 600 television sets at the time. The inaugural broadcast was characterized by religious and nationalistic themes, including a mass and speeches by the Minister of Information and Tourism, Gabriel Arias Salgado.

Over seven decades, the network has evolved from black-and-white broadcasts to the digital era, transitioning to color in 1969 and navigating the end of its national monopoly with the arrival of private channels in the late 1980s. Key historical milestones include the coverage of the 1981 attempted coup (23F), the Barcelona Olympics, and various World Cup tournaments.

To commemorate the milestone, RTVE is utilizing its digital platform, RTVE Play, to offer a thematic channel dedicated to its archives. This allows viewers to access decades of programming, ranging from classic children's shows to historical news reports, celebrating both the institution's history and its milestone of 7,000 programs aired.