Sociedade Independente de Comunicação

The first version of SIC's logo, used until 6 October 1997.

SIC was founded as a company in 1987, however the company was registered and was never used on air. At the time, Granada Television had a 20% interest in SIC, together with Impala, Expresso and Projornal. What happened to Granada's investment is unknown as it left before Globo started to take a significant position before regular broadcasts started (Granada later merged with Carlton to form ITV plc).

SIC is the first private television channel to operate in Portugal.[1] Regular transmissions started in 1992, broadcasting from studios in Carnaxide, Oeiras (west of Lisbon).[1] In its first years of existence, SIC was owned by a consortium led by Francisco Pinto Balsemão, and backed by Controljornal (now Impresa Jornais, a holding that contains Impresa's newspapers and magazines), TSF, Rádio Comercial, Lusomundo, Expresso, Impala Editores, and Rede Globo. SIC was also the first TV channel to acquire huge audiences in just a few years of existence, overtaking the once-dominant RTP1 by 1995. The most watched programmes in Portugal belong to SIC, which reflect the creativity and sense of innovation of the channel.

SIC became widely known in Europe not only for achieving high viewing figures just two to three years after launching, but for also being the subject of an Arte documentary, "Cette Télévision est la Vôtre" (directed by Mariana Otero).

In 2005, the channel lost its reign in ratings to TVI. For the next fourteen years (save for 2007 and from 2009 to 2010 when RTP1 took that position), it would stay at second place before finally recapturing the number 1 spot in 2019. Also in 2019, SIC relocated its headquarters and studios from Carnaxide into a new building in Paço de Arcos, shared with its parent company Impresa.

Nowadays, SIC has a programming largely based on talk shows, Brazilian soap operas produced by Globo, Portuguese soaps, game shows and sketch shows. Like the other major broadcaster, TVI, SIC airs international TV series such as Criminal Minds, the various CSI series and Entourage always after 1 a.m. SIC also relies largely on Globo productions, due to an exclusivity contract which obligates SIC to broadcast every soap opera produced. In-house productions include occasional reality shows and comedy sketch shows, which include Malucos do Riso, a long-running series with focus on dramatized jokes, and Gato Fedorento.

On the day of SIC's 19th anniversary, media group Impresa opened the new headquarters of SIC Porto. It is located in Matosinhos on the site of the old slaughterhouse. In addition to SIC Porto, it also holds newsrooms from other Imprensa publications like Expresso Journal, Visão and Caras magazines, the web portal AEIOU.pt and company of geolocation and digital content Infoportugal.[2]

• (in Portuguese) Official Site
• Behind the scenes of SIC's first day on air
• Impresa
• TSF Rádio Notícias
• Rádio Cidade (Amadora)
• Theme song, using Globo's IDs from the 80s and early 90s, used at the start and end of broadcasts