Television was introduced in Czechoslovakia in 1953. Experimental projects with DVB-T started in 2000. Finally on 21 October 2005, multiplex A (DVB-T) was launched with three channels of Česká televize and one of TV Nova and radio channels of Český rozhlas.

On 12 April 2006, six digital terrestrial television licenses were awarded to commercial broadcasters. The receivers of the licenses were: Z1, TV Pohoda, Regionální televizni agentura (RTA), Febio TV, TV Barrandov and Óčko. However, because of delays some projects lost investors and will not start (e.g. Fabio, Pohoda) or were cancelled. Z1 provided a news service in from 2008 to January 2011, when it ceased broadcasting. Óčko delivers a music service. TV Barrandov provides general programming services.

Czech Republic become the first country in Central Europe to start to end all analogue broadcasts in November 2011.^[1] The process completed when the last analogue transmitters in south-east Moravia and northern Moravia-Silesia were shut down on 30 June 2012.

Milestone of digitalization

In September 2008, when multiplex A was available in Prague, Central Bohemian Region, in surrounding areas of Brno, Ostrava, Domažlice and Ústí nad Labem, leave this multiplex with their 4 channels Česká televize. All channels of Česká televize (ČT1, ČT2, ČT24 and ČT4) is now in multiplex 1 (with can be seen in Bohemia (except few exceptions), in surrounding areas of Brno and in Ostrava). Multiplex A transform to multiplex 2 with stations TV Prima, Prima Cool / TV R1, TV Barrandov, TV Nova and Nova Cinema. The cover is very similar as multiplex 1, except southeast part of Bohemie. Multiplex B transform to multiplex 3. Now there are broadcasting "Public TV" (its commercial station), Z1 and until 31 July 2009 Óčko. In Prague there is broadcasting multiplex 3 on two frequency. On one of this frequency you can see also Noe TV and Prima HDTV. Multiplex 3 covered just Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Ústí nad Labem. This multiplex now had problem to find reliable stations to broadcast. There is also multiplex 4 which is operated by O2, but there is broadcast only ČT1 HD and Nova HDTV and covered is just center of Prague, center of Plzeň, center of Ostrava and center of Brno.

Czech TV crisis

The "Czech TV crisis" occurred at the end of 2000 and lasted until early 2001 as a battle for control of ČT, which included jamming and accusations of censorship. During the Czech TV crisis, ČT reporters organized an industrial dispute by staging a sit-in and occupying the news studio, and rejected attempts by Jana Bobošíková, the newly appointed head of the news department, to fire them. They were supported in their protest by politicians such as the then President Václav Havel and by Czech celebrities, but every time they tried to air their news broadcasts, Jana Bobošíková and Jiří Hodač would jam the transmission either with a "technical fault" screen reading: "An unauthorized signal has entered this transmitter. Broadcasting will resume in a few minutes," or with their own news broadcasts featuring Bobošíková and a team she had hired to "replace" the staff members she had sought to terminate. The Czech TV crisis eventually ended in early 2001, following the departure from ČT of Hodač and Bobošíková, under pressure by the street demonstration participants and at the request of the Czech Parliament, which had held an emergency session due to the crisis.

Most-viewed channels

The ATO measures television ratings in the Czech Republic since 1997. The channels with most share according to ATO's measurements were:^[2]

List of channels

See also

• List of television stations

References