Czech Television
is a public service organisation and
successor to former Czechoslovak Television. It came into
existence in 1992 and operates two channels – CT1 and CT2.
Channel CT1, besides fulfilling its public service remit under
the law, offers its viewers a wide variety of programming,
especially original Czech drama and entertainment programmes,
designed to appeal to a wide range of tastes.
Channel CT2, on the other hand, is in many respects an upmarket
programming service aimed at viewers who are interested in
specialised information about culture, politics, sport, education,
and similar subjects.
Currently, distribution of programmes is realised in two ways:
the traditional system, using analogue terrestrial transmitters,
and the modern way via digital satellite transmission. The
terrestrial transmission system uses some 900 transmitters of
covering 97% and 96% of inhabitants of the Czech Republic for
CT1 and CT2 respectively. At present, Czech Television stands
at the threshold of an exciting future of digital terrestrial
broadcasting (DVB-T) that will enhance the technical quality of
its transmissions and extend the range of programmes offered.
Czech Television has evolved into a modern television station
that produces programming in quality and formats fully
comparable to those of the rest of the television world – it is an
appreciated partner to its counterparts, and plays an active role
in shaping future European public service television.
The Czech Republic has a
vibrant media scene
which developed rapidly in the 1990s. A large number
of commercial radio stations opened up, and public
television faced competition from new terrestrial
commercial channels. Today there are two national
commercial TV channels and more than 70 private
radio stations, two of which are national.
The transition to democratic media has not been
entirely straightforward over the past few years.
There was controversy surrounding the senior
management of Czech TV at the end of 2000 and
even today the media are not considered to be
entirely editorially independent.
Delegates attending the AIB Global Media Business
Conference will have the opportunity to meet senior
executives from Czech Television and Czech Radio.
Here we profile the two organisations to brief you
about public broadcasting in the Czech Republic.
Rudolf Pop, Chief Engineer, Czech Television
Czech TV -
serving the
public
Czech TV drama - Ani málo (above)
Below: dishes outside the Czech TV building in Prague
Czech Republic fact file
Population
10,249,216 (July 2003 estimate)
Age structure
0-14 years:
15.4% (male 809,697; female 768,747)
15-64 years:
70.6% (male 3,617,214; female 3,614,060)
65 years and over:
14% (male 554,922; female 884,576)
(2003 estimate)
Median age
total:
38.4 years
male:
36.6 years
female:
40.2 years (2002)
Capital city
Prague, population 1.2 million
Prague is the centre of
Czech business
– 20% of the country’s
GDP is created here – although there is no particular central
business district and companies are located in all parts of the
city and suburbs. As heavy engineering moves outside the city,
service industries (financial, retail and telecommunications)
and manufacturing industries (electrical, transport and food
processing) are becoming increasingly prevalent.
Currency
The
Czech crown
is the national currency, with around €1
worth around 32Kc.
ATMs
are widespread.
There are
national holidays
on 1st and 8th May for May Day
and VE Day respectively.
Emergency phone numbers
Ambulance
155
Police
158
Fire
150
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