Television in Latvia was first tested in 1937 and introduced in 1954. Latvia was the first country in the

Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone ...

which started broadcasting. Initial research into television broadcasting in Latvia started in 1932, and the first experimental broadcast of television in Latvia took place on 10 November 1937 during a public viewing at the Latvian Radio Society () in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

, using an amateur-made

oscilloscope An oscilloscope (informally a scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying electrical voltages as a two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time. The main purposes are to display repetiti ...

with the screen size of 45x50 cm. A

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

custom-built

Nipkow disk A Nipkow disk (sometimes Anglicized as Nipkov disk; patented in 1884), also known as scanning disk, is a mechanical, rotating, geometrically operating image scanning device, patented in 1885 by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow. This scanning disk was a funda ...

transmitter used a frequency channel provide by the Department of the Post and Telegraph (''Pasta un telegrāfa departaments,'' PTD) to transmit moving images with the speed of 12,5

frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

. 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 Latvia has been occupied by military forces from other nations from time to time. Military occupations of Latvia have included: * Livonian Crusade (13th century) * Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 * Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany (1941� ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The first contemporary test broadcasts started on 6 November 1954 from a studio in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Riga in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, which were seen by all 20 then-owners of television sets. Regular scheduled broadcasting of

Latvian Television Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language Latvian ( ), also known as Lettish, is an Easte ...

(LTV) started on 20 November 1954 with a premiere of the 1954 Soviet Latvian war epic '' Victorious Return''. At the beginning, LTV didn't have rights to create their own programming except live shows. In 1955, the Riga Television studio in Nometņu iela,

Āgenskalns Āgenskalns (historically known also as ''Hāgenskalns'' or ''Hagensberg'') is a district in Riga, located on the left bank of the Daugava, an old neighbourhood, mainly built in the late 19th to early 20th century. The total area of Āgenskalns ...

was created to produce its own programming and the first TV tower in Latvia was built. In 1986, a new TV building and broadcasting tower were unveiled in

Zaķusala Zaķusala ( en, 'Hare Island') is one of several islands in the Daugava river in the central part of Riga, the capital of Latvia. A part of the city's Salas neighbourhood, Zaķusala is home to the Riga Radio and TV Tower, which was completed in ...

. Since 1991, the first private television studios started broadcasting.

Color television Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...

was introduced in 1974. At the beginning, color system used was

SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...

and only color programming that was available in color, was a retransmission of the Moscow Central Television. But in 1998 SECAM was swapped for PAL.

Digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...

was started testing in May 2002 and all terrestrial analogue stations stopped broadcasting on 1 June 2010 after introducing it. Advertising on public broadcasters, such as Latvian Television (LTV) was phased out on 1 January 2021. The independent, state budget-financed National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) is the national media watchdog (similar to

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

in UK). Most of the non-Latvian television programs are dubbed, some are subtitled, but some are both dubbed and subtitled. This is a list of

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

channels that broadcast for a

Latvian language Latvian ( ), also known as Lettish, is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, spoken in the Baltic region. It is the language of Latvians and the official language of Latvia as well ...

audience.

TV Channels

Local / regional / international TV stations

* TV Kurzeme – only in

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice-f ...

* Lemon TV – Cable TV (Latvia), DVB-T – only in

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...

area * LRT – Latgale Regional Television (only in

Latgale Latgale ( ltg, Latgola; ; ger, Lettgallen; be, Латгалія, Łathalija; pl, Łatgalia; la, Lettgallia), also known as Latgalia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region and is north of the Daugava River. While ...

) * Kurzemes TV – only in Kurzeme * OTV (Ogres TV) – only in

Ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

* LRT+ – cable TV, only in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the ...

* Valmieras TV – only in

Valmiera Valmiera (; german: link=no, Wolmar; pl, Wolmar see other names) is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020 – 24 879. It is a state cit ...

* TV Viļāni – only in Viļāni * VTV (Vidzemes TV) – only in

Defunct channels

* MTV Latvia - Interrupted broadcast at November 2009 due to budget issues. Later replaced with MTV Lithuania & Latvia, which closed at the end of 2009 due to this same budget issues. * RBS TV - Interrupted broadcast in October 1995. *

LZK (Latvia) LZK may refer to: * LZK (Latvia) ( lv, Latvijas Ziņu kanāls, link=no or Latvian News Channel), a former TV channel in Latvia * An alias for the MAP3K13 Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 13 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by ...

(Latvijas Ziņu kanāls – Latvian News Channel) - Announced defunct at 9 December 2011. * TV5 - Interrupted broadcast on 31 March 2016 due to budget issues. * LNT - Interrupted broadcast in 28 February due to rebranded television model in TV3 Group. Channel got replaced by TV3 Life on 1 March 2020. * Kanāls 2 - Interrupted broadcast in 28 February due to rebranded television model in TV3 Group. Channel got replaced by TV3 Mini on 1 March 2020. * Sportacentrs.com TV - Interrupted broadcast at January 1st 2022, with all sports programs of the channel moving to TV4. * PBK Igaunija – Estonian branch of the Russian Channel One, closed on 2 March 2022, after checking. * PBK Lithuania - Lithuanian branch of the Russian Channel One, closed on 2 March 2022, after checking. * Dozhd (TV Rain) - Revoked license on 6th December 2022 and closed on 8th December 2022 due to violations.

References

{{Television in Europe

Television channels A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...