Television in Croatia

Television in Croatia was first introduced in 1956. As of 2012, there are 10 nationwide and 21 regional DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) television channels, and there are more than 30 other channels either produced in the Republic of Croatia or produced for the Croatian market and broadcast via IPTV (Internet Protocol television), cable, or satellite television. The electronic communications market in Croatia is regulated by the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM), which issues broadcast licenses and monitors the market. The DVB-T and satellite transmission infrastructure is developed and maintained by the state-owned company Odašiljači i veze (OiV).

The first television signal broadcast in Croatia occurred in 1939 during the Zagreb Fair, where Philips showcased its television system. The first regular broadcasts started in 1956, when Television Zagreb was established as the first TV station in the Yugoslav Radio Television system. Color broadcasts began in 1972. Coverage and the number of channels grew steadily, and by the 2000s there were four channels with nationwide coverage in Croatia. DVB-T signal broadcasts began in 2002, and in 2010 a full digital switchover was completed. During that period, the IPTV, cable, and satellite television markets grew considerably, and by 2011 only 60.7 percent of households received DVB-T television only; the remainder were subscribed to IPTV, cable, and satellite TV in addition or as the sole source of TV reception.

As of January 2012, DVB-T is broadcast in three multiplexes, while the territory of Croatia is divided into nine main allotment regions and smaller local allotments corresponding to major cities. High-definition television (HDTV) is broadcast only through IPTV, although HDTV DVB-T test programming was broadcast from 2007 to 2011. A DVB-T2 test broadcast was conducted in 2011.

As of November 2019, all national channels are transmitted via three DVB-T and one DVB-T2 ( HEVC/H.265) MUXes. After June 2020, DVB-T MUXes will be switched off, and all channels will be distributed via two DVB-T2 (HEVC/H.265) MUXes.

Television in Croatia, as well as other media in the country, are criticised for lack of balance of global issues and trends on one hand and national topics covered on the other. All major television networks in Croatia are generally thought to be under excessive influence of commercialism. State-owned Croatian Radiotelevision is required to produce and broadcast educational programmes, documentaries, and programmes aimed at the diaspora and national minorities in Croatia. Television in Croatia is considered to be important in avenue for NGOs communicating their concerns to the public and to criticising the Croatian authorities. Television is the primary source of information for 57% of the Croatian population.

Analog television

Introduction of television

Zagreb was one of the first European cities where television pictures were broadcast. Beginning on 26 August 1939, the Zagreb Fair featured a Philips television system, operated for short periods each day of the exhibition (until 4 September). The Philips television, consisting of a transmitter and several receivers, was operated by Eric Klaas de Vries in the Dutch pavilion at the fair. The fair newspaper announced the event as the first, after television broadcasts in London and Berlin. The programming consisted of comedy, opera, music performances, and the first TV news broadcast in Croatia.

The first TV broadcast after the 1939 Zagreb Fair was in 1956. A transmitter was set up on Sljeme in the Tomislavov Dom Hotel, and during the evening of 15 May 1956, Austrian and Italian channels were transmitted (including Rai 1). The first live broadcast produced locally was the transmission of the opening of the Zagreb Fair on 7 September 1956, and Television Zagreb began regular broadcasting on 29 November.

Development

The Zagreb TV centre became a member of the Yugoslav Radio Television (JRT) (an umbrella organization of television stations in Yugoslavia), acting as Eurovision Technical Centre for the JRT. In 1972, Television Zagreb began broadcasting of its second channel, and switched to airing its programming in color in 1975. The third Television Zagreb channel was introduced in 1988, and teletext service was launched in 1990.

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Television Zagreb was renamed to Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) and it became a member of the European Broadcasting Union; however, HRT suffered significant war damage to its infrastructure as 80 percent of its transmitters and 30 relay stations were damaged, destroyed or occupied.

In October 1999, all three nationwide HRT channels started broadcasting around the clock, but in 2002, HRT 3 ceased operations. Nova TV, the first privately owned television station in Croatia, began operating in 2000. It was followed by another privately owned broadcaster, RTL Televizija, on 30 April 2004. Both Nova TV and RTL Televizija aired a single analog TV channel each.

In 2002, Odašiljači i veze d.o.o. was set up as an independent company; it was previously a part of HRT and it was tasked with maintaining the television-transmission infrastructure in Croatia. In 2014, there were 26 television stations in Croatia, including the four nationwide channels.

End of analog broadcasting

The Government of Croatia decided that simulcast (simultaneous analog and digital DVB-T broadcasting of the main channels) was to cease in 2010. The territory of Croatia was split into nine digital-TV allotment regions. The analog broadcast network was switched off gradually (by the digital-TV allotment regions) beginning on 26 January 2010. The process was completed, achieving digital switchover on 5 October 2010, but geographically isolated areas were left with analog broadcasts. The last analog TV transmitter in Croatia was shut down on 30 September 2011, as DVB-T coverage was extended to 98.5 percent of households in Croatia and no less than 95 percent of households in each of the allotment regions. Approximately 6,000 households were left with no reception of DVB-T or analog TV broadcasts.

DVB-T television

The first trial broadcasts of DVB-T signals began in May 2002 in Zagreb, and in 2008, the government developed the Analogue to Digital Television Broadcasting Switchover Strategy for the Republic of Croatia. In July 2008, this Government of Croatia announced that 106 million kuna ( 14.1 million euros) were earmarked for the purpose. The government-subsidized purchase of DVB-T receivers, distributing discount coupons worth 75 kuna ( 10 euros) to subscribers of the HRT. The first two multiplexes (MUX A and MUX B) were introduced in April 2009, with the third (MUX D) introduced in July 2010.

On 5 October 2010, the switch to DVB-T was virtually complete, as all major analog TV transmitters were phased out. The DVB-T transmissions in Croatia are all standard-definition, MPEG-2. MUX A is available to more than 98.5 percent of the population of Croatia, and both MUX A and MUX B are available to more than 95 percent of population in each multiplex-allotment region. MUX D is available to approximately 90 percent of the population of Croatia, and at least 70 percent of the population in each of the allotment regions. There are 897,496 households (60.7 percent) in Croatia receiving DVB-T television only.

The terrestrial television infrastructure in Croatia is operated by Odašiljači i veze d.o.o. (OIV). The company was established as an independent entity in 2002, when a division developing and maintaining electronic communications infrastructure was removed from the HRT corporate system. As of January 2012, OIV operates and maintains 222 television transmitters and broadcast relay stations.

There are nine main regions of digital TV allotments (encompassing larger portions of Croatia) and additional, geographically small allotment areas designed for local broadcasters (typically covering a single city). The main DVB-T television allotment regions are assigned markings D1–D9. The D1 region encompasses Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Syrmia counties, as well as parts of Brod-Posavina County east of Oprisavci. The D2 region covers the rest of Brod-Posavina County, Požega-Slavonia and Virovitica-Podravina counties and nearly all of Bjelovar-Bilogora County, except for an area north of the city of Bjelovar and part of Sisak-Moslavina County around the town of Novska. The D3 region includes a part of Bjelovar-Bilogora County not encompassed by the D2 region, as well as the territories of Koprivnica-Križevci, Varaždin and Međimurje counties. The D4 region includes Sisak-Moslavina County (except the area around Novska), Krapina-Zagorje and Zagreb counties, the city of Zagreb and the northern part of Karlovac County (including Karlovac and Duga Resa).

The D5 region covers Istria County and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (except parts of the county east of Ravna Gora and the area around Novalja on the island of Pag), but it includes the coastal areas of Lika-Senj County opposite the islands of Krk and Rab. The D6 region encompasses parts of Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Lika-Senj counties outside the D4 and D5 regions, except for parts of the latter (south of Lovinac) and coastal parts of the same county opposite the island of Pag. Those two areas are a part of the D7 region, along with Zadar and Šibenik-Knin counties. The D8 region includes the entire Split-Dalmatia County as well as parts of Dubrovnik-Neretva County around Ploče and Metković, a part of Pelješac peninsula west of Dubrava and the islands of Korčula and Lastovo. The D9 region encompasses the rest of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

There are also 12 local DVB-T television allotment regions, covering specific cities and their immediate surroundings. Those are d11 in Osijek, d21 in Slavonski Brod, d31 covering Varaždin and Čakovec, d44 encompassing Zagreb and Velika Gorica, d45 in Jastrebarsko, d46 covering Karlovac and Duga Resa, d53 encompassing Rijeka, Crikvenica, Novi Vinodolski and most of the island of Krk, d54 in Pula and Rovinj, d71 in Zadar, d72 in Šibenik, d82 covering Split, Trogir, Omiš, the island of Šolta and a large part of the island of Brač, and d91 in Dubrovnik. A local multiplex named "L-ZA" started in 2015 on UHF 41 in the town of Sveta Nedelja, transmitting local channel TV Zapad.

When DVB-T broadcasting started in Italy in December 2010, interference was observed in northwest parts of Istria, and later in areas around Zadar and Šibenik. The interference was caused by the use of frequencies assigned to Croatia by Italian transmitters and excessive transmitter power. A complaint was filed by the Croatian regulator of the DVB-T market, the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM), with the Italian authorities. OIV installed additional transmitters in the affected areas to strengthen its signal coverage and reduce interference by February 2011 at a cost of 1 million kuna ( 133,000 euros). Although Italian Minister of Economic Development Paolo Romani announced in August 2011 that the problems should be resolved shortly (a transmitter causing interference was shut down and the power of several others was reduced), the situation was not completely resolved throughout 2011 and the International Telecommunication Union's Radio Regulations Board became involved in the process. In the meantime, other technical solutions were devised and implemented (in addition to the emergency transmitters) in order to improve digital-television-signal reception.

Nationwide channels

As of May 2014, there are eleven nationwide free-to-air DVB-T television channels, with HRT's four channels, RTL Televizija operating three, Nova TV operating two and the remaining two operated by the Croatian Olympic Committee and Author d.o.o. companies and the government's Central State Administrative Office for e-Croatia. All ten DVB-T television channels are free-to-air and privately owned, except for HRT's channels and the Moja uprava channel (which are publicly owned broadcasters). Doma TV is part of the Nova TV group. Since 2007 television audience measurement is conducted by the Nielsen Company using 1,086 peoplemeters, and it is applied to terrestrial, cable and satellite TV. As of January 2012 HRT, RTL Televizija and Nova TV are using the service.

HRT 1, Nova TV and RTL Televizija channels' programmes are not specialized and comprise news, a variety of scripted and unscripted entertainment, as well as documentaries. HRT2, Doma TV and RTL 2 channels, carry similar type of programmes, except for absence of news. In addition, Croatian Radiotelevision is legally required to produce and broadcast programmes covering education of youths, aimed at the Croatian diaspora, national minorities in Croatia, preservation of cultural and natural heritage, protection of the environment, promotion of democracy and civil society

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