Television in Latvia
Television in Latvia was first tested in 1937 and introduced in 1954. Latvia was the first country in the Baltic States which started broadcasting.
Initial research into television broadcasting in Latvia started in 1932, and the first experimental broadcast of television in Latvia took place on 10 November 1937 during a public viewing at the Latvian Radio Society (Latvian: Latvijas Radio biedrība) in Riga, using an amateur-made oscilloscope with the screen size of 45x50 cm. A Philips custom-built Nipkow disk transmitter used a frequency channel provide by the Department of the Post and Telegraph (Pasta un telegrāfa departaments, PTD) to transmit moving images with the speed of 12,5 frames per second.[1] There were plans to launch regular broadcasts of "visual radio" by the Latvian Radiophone in the early 1940s, but these were suspended by the occupation of Latvia and World War II.[2]
The first contemporary test broadcasts started on 6 November 1954 from a studio in Soviet Riga in black-and-white, which were seen by all 20 then-owners of television sets. Regular scheduled broadcasting of Latvian Television (LTV) started on 20 November 1954 with a premiere of the 1954 Soviet Latvian war epic Victorious Return. At the beginning, LTV didn't have rights to create their own programming except live shows. In 1955, the Riga Television studio in Nometņu iela, Āgenskalns was created to produce its own programming and the first TV tower in Latvia was built. In 1986, a new TV building and broadcasting tower were unveiled in Zaķusala.[3]
Since 1991, the first private television studios started broadcasting. Color television was introduced in 1974. At the beginning, color system used was SECAM and only color programming that was available in color, was a retransmission of the Moscow Central Television. But in 1998 SECAM was swapped for PAL. Digital television was started testing in May 2002 and all terrestrial analogue stations stopped broadcasting on 1 June 2010 after introducing it.[3] Advertising on public broadcasters, such as Latvian Television (LTV) was phased out on 1 January 2021.[4]
The independent, state budget-financed National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) is the national media watchdog (similar to Ofcom in UK).[5]
Most of the non-Latvian television programs are dubbed, some are subtitled, but some are both dubbed and subtitled. This is a list of television channels that broadcast for a Latvian language audience.
TV channels on DTT
[edit]| No. | Channel name | Owner | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | LTV1 | Latvijas Televīzija (LSM) | documentaries, news, politics, satire, series, films, children's programming |
| 2. | LTV7 | Latvijas Televīzija (LSM) | news, sport, entertainment, series, films |
| 3. | LTV1 HD | Latvijas Televīzija (LSM) | documentaries, news, politics, satire, series, films, children's programming |
| 4. | LTV7 HD | Latvijas Televīzija (LSM) | news, sport, entertainment, series, films |
| 5. | ReTV | Re MEDIA | regional programmes, news, documentaries |
| 6. | TV24 | TV Latvija | news, politics, series, culture, lifestyle programmes |
| 7. | TV4 | 4.vara | sports, educational programmes, discussion events, conference live streams[citation needed] |
| 8. | Rada TV | Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine | news |
| Current Time TV | RFE/RL | news, documentaries, films | |
| FreeDom | Multimedia Broadcasting Platform of Ukraine | news | |
| BBC News | BBC | news | |
| Setanta Sports 1 | Adjara Media Group | sports | |
| Kanal 7 | Duo Media Networks | Russian, films, series, news | |
| Go3 Sport 3 | TV3 Group | sports | |
| Epic Drama | Viasat World | series | |
| Viasat Kino Action | Viasat World | films | |
| 10. | Euronews English | Alpac Capital | news |
| 11. | Latvijas Šlāgerkanāls | Mūzikas Video Kanāls | music, mostly Schlager |
| 12. | National Geographic | The Walt Disney Company | nature, science, documentaries |
| 13. | KidZone Max | Duo Media Networks | children's programming, night music |
| 14. | STV Pirmā! | Helio Media (Tet) | women's programmes, lifestyle programmes, series |
| 15. | 360 | Helio Media (Tet) | News, series, films, documentaries |
| 16. | TV3 | TV3 Group | films, series, sports, news |
| 17. | TV3 Life | TV3 Group | women's programmes, lifestyle programmes, series, films |
| 18. | TV6 | TV3 Group | men's programmes, series, films, sports |
| 19. | TV3 Mini | TV3 Group | children's programming, series, films |
| 20. | TV3 Plus | TV3 Group | Russian, entertainment, films, series, news |
| 21. | 8TV | Helio Media (Tet) | Russian, entertainment, films, series |
| 23. | Mūzikas Video | Mūzikas Video Kanāls | music |
| 25. | NBA TV | National Basketball Association/Warner Bros. Discovery | sport |
| 26. | Nick Jr. | Paramount Global | kids, pre-school |
| 28. | Nickelodeon | Paramount Global | kids |
| 29. | FX | The Walt Disney Company | entertainment, series, films |
| 30. | FX Life | The Walt Disney Company | entertainment, series, films |
| 31. | Viasat Kino Comedy | Viasat World | films |
| 32. | Eurosport 1 | Warner Bros. Discovery | sport |
| 33. | Go3 Sport Open | TV3 Group | sports |
| 34. | Viasat History | Viasat World | documentaries |
| 37. | Go3 Sport 1 | TV3 Group | sports |
| 38. | Go3 Sport 2 | TV3 Group | sports |
| 39. | FilmUADrama | Film.UA Group | films, series |
| 41. | TLC | Warner Bros. Discovery | lifestyle, entertainment |
| 42. | Discovery Channel | Warner Bros. Discovery | science, documentaries |
| 44. | Animal Planet | Warner Bros. Discovery | nature |
| 45. | Investigation Disocvery | Warner Bros. Discovery | crime, documentaries |
| 60. | Go3 Films | TV3 Group | films |
| 61. | Filmzone | Duo Media Networks | films |
| 62. | Viasat Kino | Viasat World | films |
| 63. | Duo 6 | Duo Media Networks | films, comedy series |
| 64. | Viasat Kino World | Viasat World | films |
| 65. | Duo 3 | Duo Media Networks | series, films |
| 69. | MTV 00s | Paramount Global | retro music |
| 71. | Eurosport 2 | Warner Bros. Discovery | sport |
| 91. | Hustler TV | Hustler | erotics |
| 95. | Filmzone Plus HD | Duo Media Networks | films |
| 96. | Discovery Channel HD | Warner Bros. Discovery | science, documentaries |
| 98. | Duo 6 HD | Duo Media Networks | films, comedy series |
Local / regional / international TV stations
[edit]- TV Kurzeme – only in Liepāja
- Lemon TV – Cable TV (Latvia), DVB-T – only in Vidzeme area
- LRT – Latgale Regional Television (only in Latgale)
- Kurzemes TV – only in Kurzeme
- OTV (Ogres TV) – only in Ogre
- LRT+ – cable TV, only in Daugavpils
- Valmieras TV – only in Valmiera
- TV Viļāni – only in Viļāni
- VTV (Vidzemes TV) – only in Vidzeme
Defunct channels
[edit]- MTV Latvia - Interrupted broadcast at November 2009 due to budget issues. Later replaced with MTV Lithuania & Latvia, which closed at the end of 2009 due to this same budget issues.
- RBS TV - Interrupted broadcast in October 1995.
- LZK (Latvia) (Latvijas Ziņu kanāls – Latvian News Channel) - Announced defunct at 9 December 2011 and closed on 30 December 2011.
- TV5 - Interrupted broadcast on 31 March 2016 due to budget issues.
- LNT - Interrupted broadcast in 28 February due to rebranded television model in TV3 Group. Channel got replaced by TV3 Life on 1 March 2020.
- Kanāls 2 - Interrupted broadcast in 28 February due to rebranded television model in TV3 Group. Channel got replaced by TV3 Mini on 1 March 2020.
- Sportacentrs.com TV - Interrupted broadcast at January 1, 2022, with all sports programs of the channel moving to TV4.
- PBK Igaunija – Estonian branch of the Russian Channel One, closed on 2 March 2022, after checking.
- PBK Lietuva - Lithuanian branch of the Russian Channel One, closed on 2 March 2022, after checking.
- BabyTV - closed in Latvia on 9 June 2022, because the TV license was from Russia.[6]
- Dozhd (TV Rain) - Revoked license on 6 December 2022 and closed on 8th December 2022 due to violations.
References
[edit]- ^ "Šodien televīzijai Latvijā 80 gadu. Latvija bija viena no pirmajām pasaules valstīm, kas raidīja savu TV signālu" [Television in Latvia turns 80 this year. Latvia was one of the first countries to broadcast its own TV signal]. Sandra Veinberga | Blogs (in Latvian). 2017-11-10. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- ^ "televīzija Latvijā" [Television in Latvia]. Latvian National Encyclopedia (in Latvian). Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- ^ a b "Vēsture un Fakti / LTV.LV" [History and Facts | LTV]. ltv.lsm.lv. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- ^ "Public media exits the advertising market". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 2021-01-02. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
- ^ "NEPLP - About us". www.neplpadome.lv. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- ^ "Uzziņa: Latvijā aizliegtie 80 Krievijas TV kanāli" [80 Russian TV channels banned in Latvia]. www.delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 24 January 2023.
