Česká televize

Česká televize

Type	Broadcast television
Country	Czech Republic
Availability	National
Slogan	"Jsme Česká televize" ("We are Czech Television")
Key people	Jiři Janeček
Launch date	1992 (1953) (1992 (1953))
Official website	www.ceskatelevize.cz

Česká televize building in Prague

Česká televize (Czech pronunciation: [tʃɛskaː tɛlɛvɪzɛ], Czech abbreviation ČT, "Czech Television") is the public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting four channels.

History

The direct predecessor of Česká televize was (since 1 May 1953) Czechoslovak Television (Československá televize, ČST).

Česká televize was founded on 1 January 1992 under the Czech Television Act as a public service broadcaster. It broadcast on the former ČTV channel and produced content for channel F1 (federal) of the joint Czechoslovak television service until the end of 1992, when Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia and ČST was abolished.

From 1 January 1993 to 3 February 1994 it broadcast three channels in the Czech Republic - ČT1 (formerly ČTV), ČT2 (formerly F1), and ČT3 (formerly OK3) - until one frequency was given to the new station TV Nova, the first commercial TV channel in Central and Eastern Europe.

New channels (news channel ČT24 and sports channel ČT4) were added in 2005 and 2006 because of planned digital terrestrial broadcasting. ČT24 went on air on 2 May 2005 and ČT4 (previously ČT4 Sport) on 10 February 2006.

Czech TV Crisis

Main article: Czech TV crisis

The "Czech TV crisis" occurred at the end of 2000 and lasted until early 2001 as a battle for control of the airwaves, which included jamming and accusations of censorship. During the Czech TV crisis, Czech TV reporters organized an industrial dispute by staging a sit-in and occupying the news studio and rejected attempts by Jana Bobošíková to fire them. They were supported in their protest by politicians such as the then President Václav Havel and by Czech celebrities, but every time they tried to air their news broadcasts, Bobošíková and Jiří Hodač would jam the transmission either with a "technical fault" screen reading: "An unauthorized signal has entered this transmitter. Broadcasting will resume in a few minutes", or with their own news broadcasts featuring Jana Bobošíková and a team she had hired to "replace" the staff members she had sought to terminate. The Czech TV crisis eventually ended in early 2001, following the departure from Czech TV of Hodač and Bobošíková, under pressure by the street demonstration participants and at the request of the Czech Parliament, which had held an emergency session due to the crisis.

Channels

• ČT1 is a general purpose channel, showing family-oriented television, Czech movies, children's programming, news and documentaries.
• ČT2 broadcasts documentaries and nature-oriented shows such as documentary films by David Attenborough. This channel also frequently shows foreign films in the original versions with Czech subtitles, including many English-language movies. Also some parts of major world, European and Czech sports events (i.e. Olympic Games, World Cups or European Championships) are broadcast here.
• ČT24 is a 24-hour news channel, broadcasting live over the internet, as well as over the satellites Astra 3A, Astra 1KR and Intelsat 10-02. It is also carried on Czech cable-TV providers and digital terrestrial services.
• ČT4 (previously ČT4 Sport) is a sports channel, it broadcasts live over the satellites Astra 3A, Astra 1KR and Intelsat 10-02. It is also carried on Czech cable-TV providers and digital terrestrial services.
• ČT HD is the high-definition channel from ČT, broadcasting programmes from ČT1, ČT2 and ČT4.

Funding and management

Česká televize is funded through television licence fees (larger part of revenue) and from advertising (where it is less successful than commercial television stations). During 2004 and 2005 the organisation lobbied the Czech government to increase the licence fee so that advertising could be eliminated.

Media occasionally raise questions about how much Česká televize is able to withstand pressure both from the governing parties and the opposition and maintain unbiased and critical coverage of politics.

The current General Manager of Česká televize is Jiří Janeček, who was elected for a six-year term by the Czech Television Council (Rada České televize).

External links

• Official site in English
• Official site in Czech
• Watch selected Czech Television programs in streaming video
• ČT24
• Česká televize public relations in English

Coordinates: 50°03′N 14°25.57′E / 50.05°N 14.42617°E / 50.05; 14.42617