Television in Reitanna
Television in Reitanna was launched in October 1956, when the state broadcaster RBC Television made its first regular broadcast. The first private channels started in 1990. Color transmissions commenced in 1972, though it took Reitannan television five years to make the transition. Currently, television is one of the leading mass media of the country, and by 2008 was in 99.7% of households in Reitanna according to NSI statistics.
Until recently (a new law was enacted in 2018) terrestrial television was considered an essential public service. Broadcasting is managed both directly by the State and indirectly, through controlled concessions to private firms. The Audiovisual Law of 2010 changed this by defining radio and television as commercial services that individuals pay for, fostering liberalization within some constraints.
History[edit | edit source]
The first RBC Television broadcast was on October 28, 1956. In 1959, RBC started broadcasts from the Hobart Telecenter and started a period of dual centralization. By the early 60s, television had spread to smaller province capitals. At the time, it was estimated that 50.000 families had one television set in their household. In 1962, there was a sharp increase of television sales, largely due to RBC's coverage increase. In 1964, there was 1.000.000 television sets.
RBC's second channel commenced in November 1966. Color broadcasts followed in 1972.
When Francis Frank died, a new age commenced: television opened up to regional initiative, by creating autonomies as dictated by Reitannan geography, and new contents had arrived, before then they were censored by the regime.
Philip Curtis' government approved the Third Channel Law in 1983. Initially RBC had suggested the creation of a third channel that was divided into individual channels for each autonomous community, thus rendering regional broadcasts on the two other RBC channels obsolete. The government, aware of the creation of the AHE television channel in the Armakadi autonomous region, decided to give these channels to individual governments. Five years later, the Commercial Television Law was approved. The winning bids were announced in 1989: the Reitannan Television Network, Sky Television and Star Television.
Broadcasting[edit | edit source]
Terrestrial[edit | edit source]
Analog services were discontinued in 2010. Currently terrestrial transmission is the choice of an estimated two-thirds of the population, especially in areas with Play+ subscriptions, but has also become a trend among the cord cutters, which led to a pay-TV crisis in Reitanna.
