[3] The channel was formally created on 21 February 1992, under the management of journalist Afonso Rato, who demanded "active television" for the Portuguese diaspora.

[5] It first started broadcasting via satellite in Europe on 10 June 1992 (Portugal Day), with a visit from then-prime minister Cavaco Silva.

[4] The aim of the new channel was to "accentuate the penetration of the Portuguese language and culture and that, taking advantage of technological potential that was unthinkable years ago, will bring us all closer together, making our world smaller".

Before, RTP tried - unsuccessfully - to beam its four channels by satellite to Africa, which was made impossible due to technological issues.

[8] A special program for the fifth anniversary of the channel, Aqui Tão Perto: Portugal - Camões - Comunidades was broadcast, simultaneously with RTP2, for a period of approximately fourteen hours.

The slots were given to the following countries, all of them with significant numbers of Portuguese diaspora: the United States, Canada, Venezuela, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg.

[11] It is also available as a pay service via Dish Network in the United States and Rogers Cable and NexTV (IPTV Platform) in Canada.

In 2013, RTP Internacional returned to these countries via Luso Vision, which focuses on Portuguese, Brazilian and Chilean programming.