RTV BK Telekom (
Serbian Cyrillic
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...
: Радио Телевизија Браћа Карић Телеком) was a privately owned radio and television company based in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, Serbia. It functioned as a revenue-generating media outlet with a "G" rating (general audiences or general interest station) and without editorial or content restrictions. It was launched two and a half months following the launch of
RTV Pink
Pink is a privately owned, national radio station and TV channel in Serbia. Pink is the leading commercial station in the Serbian television broadcast market. Pink's parent company is the Belgrade-based Pink International Company
Pink Internat ...
.
Prior to its license revocation in late April 2006 and subsequent folding during March 2007, BKTV had significant viewership all over Serbia. According to Nielsen Research data for the calendar year 2005 (its last full year of regular terrestrial broadcasting), BKTV held 11.2% of the Serbian TV audience with a daily average of 3.2 million people tuning into its programmes, which meant it was the third most watched TV network in Serbia at the time behind
Pink
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
(22.5% market share and 3.7 million daily viewers on average) and
RTS1
RTS1 (Serbian Cyrillic: РТС1; First program of RTS ( sr, Први програм РТС-а/), First channel of RTS (/ ) or only First (/ )) is a Serbian public mainstream TV channel operated by RTS.
Previously on RTS1
Serbian TV series
*Ј ...
(22.4% market share and 3.9 million daily viewers on average). BK was well ahead of fourth placed
B92
RTV B92, or simply B92 (stylized as b92, formerly BΞ92 and B 92), is a Serbian news station and broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade.
Founded in 1989 as radio station, it was a rare outlet for Western news and informat ...
(6.8%) and fifth placed
RTS2
RTS2 (Serbian Cyrillic: РТС2; Second program of RTS ( sr, Други програм РТС-а/), Second channel of RTS (/ ) or only Second (/ )) is a Serbian public TV channel operated by RTS. It focuses on culture, in addition to offering mus ...
(6.3%).
The station's most watched programme ever was the live broadcast of
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...
's funeral on 18 March 2006 when 2,688,622
viewers (25.2% of the Serbian television market) tuned into BK.
BK
/ref>
History
The company started broadcasting a TV signal on 5 December 1994.
As of April 2004, BKTV covered more than 90% of the territory and reached about 90% of the entire population.
It aired the Serbian versions of the ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...
'' quiz (''Želite li da postanete milioner?
''Želite li da postanete milioner?'' ( sr-Cyrl, Желите ли да постанете милионер?, ''Do you want to become a millionaire?'') is a Serbian game show based on the original British format of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionair ...
''), ''The Weakest Link
''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
'' (''Najslabija karika''), as well as two seasons of the local Idol series
''Idol'' (also known as ''SuperStar'' in some countries) is a reality television singing competition format created by British television producer Simon Fuller and developed by Fremantle. The format began in 2001 with the British television se ...
– ''Idol
Idol or Idols may refer to:
Religion and philosophy
* Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents
* Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...
''.
Additionally, during the 2000s, the network started producing its own comedy, drama, and soap-opera content such as ''Crni Gruja'' (historical comedy), and ''Jelena'' (soap).
''Telefakt'', BKTV's main news programme was shown several times a day, while a shorter news bulletin programme ''Naslovi'' ran every hour on the hour. BKTV's morning show was named ''Budilnik''.
BKTV also bought rights for 2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
in Germany, but had to forfeit them because a month before the competition was to start, the station's licence got revoked. The rights were then bought out by public broadcaster RTS
RTS may refer to:
Medicine
* Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim
* Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma
* Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...
.
RTV BK Telecom was on the cusp of new technologies. It was the first TV station in Serbia to start broadcasting on the internet by making selected news programmes available for download and streaming on their website. It eventually introduced the BK Player, a media player designed to play BK TV program live on the Internet 24 hours a day. The latest version was BK Player 2.
On 11 October 2017, a channel named ''BK'' (using the same 1994 logo) launched on a cable operator. However, this channel broadcasts some of archived content the original channel has aired. This channel later shut down on 1 October 2020, after the channel failed to gain an allocated broadcasting frequency in late November the previous year.
License revocation and shutdown
On 25 April 2006, the Serbian state agency for airwaves control (Republička radiodifuzna agencija) decided to revoke BKTV's broadcasting license for 30 days. The reason given was "violation of broadcasting regulations". Shortly after midnight on 26 April, BKTV's physical location was raided by the police and the station ceased broadcasts. Around 11 a.m. the same day, most of the cable operators stopped carrying the station. It nevertheless continued to broadcast via satellite, and television sets have been set out televising the channel in Knez Mihailova
Knez Mihailova Street, ( sr, Кнез Михаилова улица, translit=Knez Mihailova ulica, officially: sr, Улица кнеза Михаила, translit=Ulica kneza Mihaila, label=none), is the main pedestrian and shopping zone in Belgra ...
Street in Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
for passers-by to watch.
May 2006 allocations of broadcasting frequencies by the Republican Broadcasting Agency's (RBA) of Serbia sparked a national controversy, and many called foul play. RBA did not award a frequency to several companies, including RTV BK Telecom. The company's bank accounts were blocked and BKTV had been taken off the air terrestrially.
BKTV commenced transmission over satellite with stripped down programming consisting mostly of SMS messages and music videos. Throughout 2006, most of BKTV's staff and on-air personalities left. The station eventually folded for good on 9 March 2007 at 7 pm.
Broadcast on the Internet
On 5 December 2011, date picked symbolically as the 17th anniversary of the station's establishment, BK television partially returned by starting to broadcast over the Internet via a YouTube channel named BKTVnews. The channel's name has since been modified to BK Telefakt.
As of March 2015, the channel was still active, putting out a daily 10-minute newscast.
Channels
*BKTV (BK 063) – terrestrial channel
*BK Sat – Available in the United States via Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
, Canada via Intelsat Americas 5
Galaxy 25 (G-25) launched in 1997, the launch was contracted by International Launch Services (ILS), (formerly known as Intelsat Americas 5 (IA-5) until 15 February 2007 when it was renamed as result of the merger between owner Intelsat and Pan ...
satellite, Australia via TV Plus
TV Plus ( mk, ТВ Плус) is a local television station in Kumanovo, North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Sout ...
, and Europe via Hot Bird 3
Hot Bird (also styled HOTBIRD) is a group of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13 °E over the equator ( orbital position) and with a transmitting footprint over Asia, Europe, North Africa, Americas and the Middle East.
Only digital r ...
, Atlantic Bird 2, and Euroasiasat 1 satellites. (BKTV Sat is broadcasting FTA (unencrypted) via Hot Bird
Hot Bird (also styled HOTBIRD) is a group of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13 °E over the equator ( orbital position) and with a transmitting footprint over Asia, Europe, North Africa, Americas and the Middle East.
Only digital r ...
)
*DTV (Dečija Televizija, ''in English'': Kids TV); this channel was originally called Eksperimentalni (Experimental) and was the first channel oriented towards kids in Eastern Europe.
*BKTVnews broadcast over the internet on YouTube channel called BKTVnews.
References
External links
*
Television frequency awards in Serbia spark controversy
Battle for Serbian Airwaves
{{Television in Serbia
Companies based in Belgrade
Defunct companies of Serbia
Defunct mass media in Serbia
Defunct television networks
Mass media companies of Serbia
Mass media in Belgrade
Television channels and stations established in 1994
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2007
Serbian companies established in 1994
Mass media companies established in 1994
Mass media companies disestablished in 2007
2007 disestablishments in Serbia
Television channels and stations established in 2017
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2020
Mass media companies established in 2017
Mass media companies disestablished in 2020
Serbian companies established in 2017
2020 disestablishments in Serbia