Channel 7 (Bengalia)

Channel 7 is a Bengalian television channel owned by numerous shareholders, including Lasgahore Broadcasting and Television where it holds about 20% of its stakes as of 2019.

Channel 7 is among the five most-watched television channels in the country, and was the most-viewed channel in the late-90s and mid-2000s. Channel 7 broadcasts programs targeting "city viewers" despite including vast rural areas under its terrestrial network of transmitters.

History[edit | edit source]

Setup[edit | edit source]

Prior to 1985, Bengalia had two television channels: Bengalia Television and MCOB. BTV was founded long before Bengalia became a sovereign country, in 1964, and became a separate entity following the liberation war declaring its independence on February 21, 1971. MCOB followed in 1979.

At the time, it was widely believed that MCOB was to be a cultural broadcaster while BTV was commercial in nature. Within a few years of MCOB's existence, the two companies wanted to revert the situation, but without any success. A third channel, unbeknownst to the two companies, was already on the plans by 1981.

In Dhakandesh, it was going to occupy channel 7. This was a massive advantage especially for BTV, who had moved to channel 5 because they were aware that channel 7 was to be occupied by a commercial company. It was announced in 1982 that Lasgahore Broadcasting and Television was to control 50% of the stakes, with the remaining 50% being occupied by third-parties. It is worth noticing that LBTV's home country, Nosghel, was under martial law, and controlling 100% of a television channel abroad was illegal for Nosghelian companies at the time. The only logical option was to buy half the stakes, similarly to how the government managed LBTV during this period.

In February 1984, the DBTV building was finished yet there was a problem: Channel 7 lacked any presenters. As a consequence, task forces decided to train future journalists and presenters and integrate them as part of the new channel. It launched on February 4, 1985, and was initially going to launch on February 21. The cause for this pushback to just two and a half weeks before its launch was due to potential clashes with the Ekushey February celebrations.

Early years[edit | edit source]

DBTV's early years were somewhat chaotic. In its first year alone, it was plagued with constant technical problems, equipment failure and lack of programming. The plan was to broadcast from 16:00 to midnight - eventually, in order to prevent further problems, its hours were paired down from eight to four, starting at 18:00, with extended broadcasting hours for special periods like Ramadan.

By the end of the year, Channel 7 premiered its first natoks, and quickly became a success in Dhakandesh, where the channel had coverage at the time. Such success was overwhelming that people from other parts of the country wanted to see them, and this proved to be an issue for the company. Four other relay stations were set up, and eventually, with the channel going nationwide, it rapidly defeated BTV and MCOB. The largest problem it had to face was the lack of sports transmissions, especially cricket, as BTV and MCOB still had the rights.

By 1989, Channel 7 was now broadcasting nationwide.

Rise[edit | edit source]

In the early 90s, Channel 7 started satellite relays to cover the entire country. The channel started having more viewers than BTV and was considered to be more attractive.