Polonia 1 is one of the first

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

television channels, consisting at first of a network of 12 (and - for a short time - even 13) local TV stations in bigger cities. The station was established by

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

n businessman Nicola Grauso, who shared a connection with

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

History

Polonia 1 began broadcasting on air on March 7, 1993 by means of the following TV stations: * PTV Morze (

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

) * Tele-Top (

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

) (

vel Vel ( ta, வேல், lit=Vēl) is a divine javelin or spear associated with Murugan, the Hindu god of war. Significance According to Shaiva tradition, the goddess Parvati presented the Vel to her son Murugan, as an embodiment of her shakti, ...

PTV Neptun) * PTV Copernicus (

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

) * TVex (

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

) * TV-ES (

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

) * Tele 24 (

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

) *

Nowa Telewizja Warszawa Nowa (german: Neuen) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bolesławiec, within Bolesławiec County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany Germany,, officially the Fed ...

(

Warszawa Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

) *

PTV Echo PTV may refer to: Television * "PTV" (''Family Guy''), a 2005 ''Family Guy'' episode * PTV (PBS), a temporary branding to PBS Kids, used from 1994 to 1999 * PTV (Thailand) or People's Television, a Thailand-based satellite television station * Pak ...

(

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

) - the first one in the network *

PTV Opole PTV may refer to: Television * "PTV" (''Family Guy''), a 2005 ''Family Guy'' episode * PTV (PBS), a temporary branding to PBS Kids, used from 1994 to 1999 * PTV (Thailand) or People's Television, a Thailand-based satellite television station * Pak ...

(

Opole Opole (; german: Oppeln ; szl, Ôpole) ; * Silesian: ** Silesian PLS alphabet: ''Ôpole'' ** Steuer's Silesian alphabet: ''Uopole'' * Silesian German: ''Uppeln'' * Czech: ''Opolí'' * Latin: ''Oppelia'', ''Oppolia'', ''Opulia'' is a city loc ...

) (vel Telopol) *

PTV Rondo PTV may refer to: Television * "PTV" (''Family Guy''), a 2005 ''Family Guy'' episode * PTV (PBS), a temporary branding to PBS Kids, used from 1994 to 1999 * PTV (Thailand) or People's Television, a Thailand-based satellite television station * Pak ...

(

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

) *

PTV Krater PTV may refer to: Television * "PTV" (''Family Guy''), a 2005 ''Family Guy'' episode * PTV (PBS), a temporary branding to PBS Kids, used from 1994 to 1999 * PTV (Thailand) or People's Television, a Thailand-based satellite television station * Pak ...

(

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

) * Telewizja Niezależna (

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

) * TV Centrum (

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

) - 13th TV station, very short operational The broadcast of common block in each of the station, received daily on VHS tapes, began each day at 16:15 and lasted till midnight. Time was filled with such productions like

Japanese animated films Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, adventure and detective TV series (such as ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot. In both po ...

'', ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...

''), but first and foremost Argentinian

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s such as '' Manuela'', ''

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

'', '' Stellina''), but also movies and documentaries produced by the local communities. Remaining broadcast time was filled with either re-runs of Polonia 1, or stations' own productions. (local news, etc.). Exceptions happen from that general rule, while PTV Copernicus broadcast

porn Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

movies (in the morning hours). Network gained huge popularity - becoming Poland's second most viewable TV station in 1994 being inferior only to Poland's national broadcaster

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Program I Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Polish channel to be broadcast and remains one ...

; this number is, however, questioned by many experts. In the licence competition announced same year, Polonia 1 lost due to exceeding the permissible 33% foreign capital share in the company - all-Poland licence was then assigned to

Polsat Polsat is a Polish free-to-air television channel that was launched on 5 December 1992 by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak. , it is the most watched television channel in Poland with a market share of 11.30% Polsat belongs to Grupa Polsat Plus ( WSECPS, wh ...

. Also local broadcasting frequencies competitions were lost by Polonia 1, as National Council of Radio Broadcasting and Television (KRRiT) accused stations of the lack of independence from

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

investors. Despite not receiving licences, Polonia 1 stations still broadcast, still trying to undermine concession decisions of KRRiT with

Supreme Administrative Court of Poland , imagesize = 100 , established = , country =Poland , location = Warsaw , coordinates = , type = , authority = Constitution of Poland , terms = , positions = , website ...

(NSA) - with no effect. August 29, 1994 was the day when prosecutor's office in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

oraz

(with the support of local

anti-terrorist Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

teams) conducted action of closing Polonia 1 stations, which broadcast on frequencies reserved solely for the usage of

Polish military The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...

. Broadcasters were accused of direct life endangering. After about 2 weeks following the closure, Polonia 1 started broadcasting via

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...

Satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

. September 21, 1994 saw another wave of closing stations - this time in

and

. Remaining stations in

and

- after broadcasting for the next few months, willingly switched off their

Transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

s. Despite earlier announcements, Polonia 1 did not compete in the next licence competition. Nicola Grauso withdrew from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Polonia 1 was sold to Polcast and now consists of lifestyle programming, teleshopping and pornography movies. Between 1994 and 1997, Poland 1 distributed the Romanian channel on Saturday night

TVR 2 TVR 2 (, spelled out as ''Televiziunea Română 2'', "Romanian Television 2") is the second channel of the public broadcaster TVR. The channel was launched on May 2, 1968, but it was suspended from January 20, 1985, until February 19, 1990. Fr ...

References

External links

Official site of Polonia 1

Unofficial site of Polonii 1 fans

Page with TV reminiscence articles
{{Television in Poland Television channels in Poland Television channels and stations established in 1993