EBC Television

EBC Television was Eumoritown's first television channel, operated by the Eumoritonian Broadcasting Corporation from 1993 to the dissolution of the board in 2012.

History

Prelaunch

A television service was oficially on the cards in 1987, two years after the foundation of the Eumoritonian Video Center, which produced a fortnightly news program simply known as Eumoritown Reports that was sent for free to households that already owned a VCR. Television sets were oficially allowed in 1986 but these weren't able to pick up television transmissions.

In 1991, the Eumoritonian Broadcasting Corporation won the license and was able to provide a television service to islanders. In January of 1989, the Eumoritonian Telecommunications Authority built a transmitter on Point Latkow. EBC would operate on channel 4 on the VHF band.

1990-2002

Official broadcasts started on January 28th, 1990. Broadcasts were from 6pm to 11pm every evening. Most employees were Eumoritonians who travelled to Flarland to have internships at local channels in order to sustain the technical maintenance of the service, which was radio-only up until this point. In the end of 1992, it was announced that the then-Flarland Television International would broadcast on channel 10, in order to have a "better" service.

The EBC started a nightly news service shown at 7:20pm every evening and was known as EBC News, and was the de facto successor of Eumoritown Reports (even though Eumoritown Reports was still being produced as late as 1994, though by this point it was airing on EBC Television on Sundays). Within two years the news expanded from ten minutes to fifteen minutes.

Other local programming included the EBC Classifieds, shown every evening at 7:10pm (7:15pm before August 1994) and the fortnightly (weekly from March 1995) discussion show Standpoint. Since Eumoritown is an overseas territory of Flarland, it obviously had to relay FBC's Panorama live via satellite at 7:30pm.

Imported programming has always been a pillar of EBC Television. Most of the programming was sourced from the channels of the FBC, and that also included access to imported programming at a discount from the owners of the show. Notable imports of this period include The Bold and The Beautiful, a Sierran soap opera, The Simpsons and Murphy Brown. Later, the channel started showing Northulian soap operas Neighbours and Home and Away from the first episode onward (first shown in February and April 1990, respectively) in the slot between the end of children's programming and the classifieds (6:20pm-7:15pm - later 6:15pm-7:10pm).

EBC Television initially ran a limited number of adverts, during the early years most adverts would be still pictures made in a computer program or still photographs. Full-on adverts were allowed in 1996, the first one being for the new GSM service of the ETA.

The first major events broadcast by EBC were the 1990 World Cup, 1992 Eurectipherian Cup, the 1992 Summer Olympic Games and, since 1990, the Eurectivision Song Contest. By September 1995, EBC Television was now broadcasting daily from 4:30pm to 11:30pm.

Until 1998, EBC Television was funded primarily by the Eumoritonian Broadcasting Fee, which was eventually abolished. There technically is still a media tax yet it's to help sustain the funding of media in the island.

EBC Television joined the NBS-led Millennium Today ceremonies on December 31st, 1999, with help from the partner in metropolitan Flarland, FBC 1. Most of the ceremonies from Wembley were transmitted on Flarland TV. This resulted in EBC Television to come up with a special opt-out at 11:45pm titled "Let's Welcome the New Millennium".

It was also in 2000 that the EBC had one of its largest changes to date - broadcasting hours were extended from eight (4pm-12am) to twelve (12pm-12am). EBC started producing a daytime newscast at 12:55pm preceding Panorama at One. It also started showing The People of the Valley at least six months behind Flarland (on Flarland TV it was about one week behind Flarland at the time).

2002-2011

EBC Television broke its monopoly on 4 February 2002, when Eco-Paradise Television started broadcasting. Some of its programming, including The People of the Valley and the Northulian soaps, were transferred over to the new channel due to its apparent link with University of Wembley Broadcasting. EBC Television still had a significant dominance since they were still aligned to the FBC.

In 2008, signs of an internal crisis at the EBC were starting to show. Knowing full well that Eco-Paradise TV has apparently taken most of its viewership, EBC Television retaliated by attempting to target a younger audience. This failed and economical issues appeared along the way.

Programming

• EBC News: it was shown every evening at 7:15pm. A quarter-hour recap of local and international events. This was followed by Panorama at 7:30 live from Wembley.
• Farming: produced from 1994 to 2001. Initially weekly, by 1999 it became fortnightly until it got cancelled.
• Standpoint: Discussion show from 1991 to 2009. The show was revived by Eumorimedia.

Controversies

Taxpayer scandal

In 1998, the Eumoritonian government was involved in a gigantic scandal in which public funds were used to sustain a channel that broadcast little local content.