Local programmes usually broadcast daily from 4:00 pm to 1:00 am Macau Time (Except Sunday from 3:00 pm Macau Time for RTP África's África 7 Dias, a weekly news programme from Lusophone countries in Africa).[2] As a result, programmes from RTP Internacional (Asia-Pacific feed) are usually relayed for other time schedules (with the exception of football matches). In addition, The Catholic Mass broadcasts live on Sunday mornings from the Igreja da Sé. Together, these programmes make Canal Macau a 24-hour television service.
History
Until 1984, Macao had no television station. Viewers depended on TVB and ATV, whose target audience was Hong Kong, and did not meet local necessities. The colonial government also lacked a television outlet to air political propaganda in its favor.[3]
TDM started television broadcasts on 13 May 1984, on a single UHF channel (channel 30 from Guia Mountain) in Portuguese and Cantonese, with the nightly schedule, 18:00 to 23:00 every evening, being divided between the two languages. At the end of 1984, it started producing new television content, including a horse-pulled car racing tournament and the funeral of Ho Yin. On 18 November, it aired the Macao Grand Prix with TVB, and on 13 April 1987, the signing of the Luso-Chinese agremeent live by satellite.[3]
After the restructuring of TDM into a public-private company, the channel's airtime increased significantly from 1 July 1989: from 07:00 to 21:00, it aired the Cantonese service, while from 21:00 to 00:00, it aired the Portuguese service. Beginning 17 September 1990, the Cantonese programming moved to its own channel, while the existing channel was renamed TDM Canal 1 and became the standalone Portuguese channel.
By 2003, Canal 1 was broadcasting 24 hours a day. On 29 March 2007, the channel was renamed Canal Macau, its current name.[3]
Beginning 25 September 2017, its line-up expanded to twelve hours, from 1pm to 1am (10:30am to 1am on weekends), positioning itself as an alternative to RTP Internacional, as well as reducing its relays.[4]
Audience status
Due to lack of talent,[5] TDM's capacity to produce its own shows is weak, and its programs cannot compete with Hong Kong channels. This causes TDM's ratings to be limited.[6] The president of TDM's executive committee, João Leong Kam Chun, also said that TDM is not the first choice for television among Macanese locals.[7] Since the number of Portuguese speakers in Macao is estimated to be at 2%, the market share for Portuguese channels is limited.[8]
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