Latvian Television

Latvijas Televīzija (Latvian Television, LTV) is the state-owned public service television broadcaster in Latvia and a part of the Public Broadcasting of Latvia organization. LTV operates two channels: LTV1 in Latvian and LTV7 (previously called LTV2) in Latvian, which until 2025 featured selected programming in Russian.

The broadcaster has been fully funded by the state budget since 1 January 2021, when, after years of debate, it and radio broadcaster Latvijas Radio exited the advertising market.[1]

LTV is a member of the European Broadcasting Union, having joined on 1 January 1993. From the restoration of independence in 1991 to 31 December 1992, it was a member of the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT). LTV hosted the annual Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, as well as the IIHF Men's Ice Hockey Championships in 2006 and 2021, and the inaugural Eurovision Choir of the Year competition in 2017.

LTV1 broadcasts the Eurovision Song Contest[2] in Latvia each year, and LTV7 also broadcasts many sport events such as the Olympics

History

Origins, 1954 to 1993

The first experimental broadcast of television in Latvia took place on 10 November 1937 at the Latvian Radio Society during a public viewing in Riga, using an oscilloscope with the screen size of 45x50 cm.[5] There were plans to launch regular broadcasts of "visual radio" by the Latvian Radiophone in the early 1940s, but these were suspended by the occupation of Latvia and World War II.[6]

The first contemporary test broadcasts started on 6 November 1954 from a studio in Soviet Riga in black-and-white, which were seen by the 20 owners of personal television sets. It is the first and oldest national television station in the Baltic countries. Regular broadcasting started on 20 November 1954. At the beginning, LTV did not have rights to create their own programming except live shows. In 1955, the Riga Television studio in Nometņu iela, Āgenskalns was created to produce its own programming and the first TV tower in Latvia was built.[7]

On 19 March 1958, the first evening news show went on the air - this is considered to be the founding date of the LTV News Service (LTV Ziņu dienests. In 1963, it was renamed Panorāma, as it is known to this day. A second TV channel was launched in 1961 and both channels converted to SÉCAM color in 1974. In 1986, both the Riga TV Tower and the LTV television headquarters in Zaķusala were officially completed.

During the Third Latvian National Awakening, the broadcaster became more open to Glasnost-style freedom of expression and criticism of Soviet rule in Latvia, most notably in the form of the Labvakar political talk show (1988–1993). The buildings in Zaķusala were one of the locations defended during The Barricades.[8][9] During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt troops of the OMON unit seized the LTV building on 21 August, suspending broadcasts for two days.[10][6]

1993–2013

On 1 January 1993, Latvian Television and Radio Latvia became members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The two channels received American and Australian TV series which were distributed in Latvia by TV3, which at the time shared two days of Channel 31 in Riga. In 1996, with the creation of LNT, TV3 announced its withdrawal from the frequency and from LTV, meaning that the rights to air popular series such as The Bold and the Beautiful, E Street and Paradise Beach were at risk. In order to continue delivering the series to the public, LTV began direct negotiations with the distributors to assure their continued airing.[11] On 2 February 1998, LTV along with LNT, Channel 31 (now TV3) and TV Riga (later TV5) converted to PAL color. In 2003, LTV2, the second channel, was rebranded as LTV7. The 7 was due to the initial slogan of the renamed service, "Because every day is like a holiday", which was coupled with its new programming concept, content and higher advertising rates.[12]

In 2008, LTV started broadcasting in digital terrestrial TV standard in MPEG2

Public Broadcasting of Latvia (since 2013)

Since 2013, LTV has come under the umbrella of Public Broadcasting of Latvia (, LSM) along with Latvian Radio, as part of the unification process of both public broadcasters. LTV and Radio Latvia now share one news portal, LSM.lv, and an online streaming service (REplay.lv), with content from both broadcasters. A third channel with Eesti Televisioon was planned, with programming in the Russian language, in 2015.[13]

LTV changed its aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9 in 2013 (LTV7 did in 2012, doing 2012 Summer Olympics).[14] Selected programming such as live broadcast of a staging of The Nutcracker by the Latvian National Opera on LTV1 in 2012[15] and the matches of the IIHF World Championships on LTV7 (2018–present), were shown in HD.[16] In 2019 a full switch to HDTV broadcasts was announced for 2021 or 2022,

network name	Latvijas Televīzija
network logo	Latvijas Televīzija (2022).svg
country	Latvia
network type	Public broadcaster
available	Latvia, online
owner	LSM
launch date	November 6, 1954
headquarters	Riga
affiliation	European Broadcasting Union
website	https://ltv.lsm.lv/
service1	LTV1 LTV7 (formerly known as LTV2)
servicename1	Channels
picture format	1080i (HDTV), SD (some content)

History

Origins, 1954 to 1993

1993–2013

Public Broadcasting of Latvia (since 2013)

See also

External links

References