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Jean-Pierre WINBERG (BE) Manager -- NO TELE (Tournai)
"Our Local", or "Our Global"?
Eva DEKANOVSKA (SK) Head of Acquisition -- TV Global (Kosice)
The development of new democracies in the countries of the former Eastern European Bloc after 1990 has led also to the significant development of local TV broadcasting. Slovakia is no exception to the rule.
Until this day, 70 licences have been granted for terrestrial or cable broadcasting. The granting of a licence is subject to the Slovak Radio and Television Council’s approval.
The private TV NASA («our» TV) started to broadcast in 1996 in the second largest town of Slovakia, Kosice.
From its early days, it has operated as a low budget TV station, based on the possibilities of the existing market. It supported the concept of close contact with the viewer. A daily four hour broadcast was followed by its being repeated.
All programmes were prepared and produced by 12 full-time staff and approximately the same number of external co-employees. Except for the three member management team, no-one else had a formal education in the media.
Within a short period of one year, TV NASA became very popular in the town. It became also the most popular local TV station in Slovakia and enjoyed a high ranking in the country’s research on TV stations and the number of their viewers.
It is the only local TV station which does not show any loss. But despite this, the economic situation in the country made it necessary for the management to find financing solutions for the future. The TV GLOBAL project became one of them. Today, TV NASA is a part of TV GLOBAL’s broadcasting network and it operates on the same principles as any other local TV, broadcasting within the framework of TV GLOBAL.
The management has founded also the Slovak Association of Local TV Broadcasters, the European Association of Local TV Broadcasters, the International Festival of Local TV Broadcasters and, last but not least, the network of local televisions which broadcast under the name, TV GLOBAL.