Czech Radio

Český rozhlas (ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic, operating since 1923. The service broadcasts throughout the Czech Republic nationally and locally. Its four national services are Radiožurnál, Dvojka, Vltava and Plus.

Český rozhlas
TypeRadio
Country
Czech Republic
HeadquartersVinohradská 12, Prague, Czech Republic
OwnerPublic broadcasting
Key people
René Zavoral (CEO)
Launch date
1923
Official website
www.rozhlas.cz

It is the oldest radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second oldest in Europe after the BBC from the United Kingdom.

History

Czechoslovak era
Entrance to the Český Rozhlas headquarters in Prague

Český rozhlas, then Československý rozhlas was established on 18 May 1923, making its first broadcast from a scout tent in the Kbely district of Prague, under the name Radiojournal.[1] The premises of the station changed numerous times, firstly moving to the district of Hloubětín, before later using locations in the Poštovní nákupny building, the Orbis building and the Národní dům na Vinohradech building, all in Prague.[1]

The first regular announcer of the station, who prepared and presented the news from the daily papers, was Adolf Dobrovolný. He took up the position on 17 January 1924, becoming the station's first professional radio announcer and his position was made permanent on 1 January 1925.[1] He held the position until his death in 1934.

A message broadcast on Czech Radio on 5 May 1945 brought about the start of the Prague uprising.[2] In the same year, regional studios in the cities of Plzeň, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové and Ústí nad Labem were launched.[3]

The station was taken over by Soviet forces, after short fighting with unarmed civilians, in August 1968, in the first day of the Soviet invasion, although broadcasting managed to continue from alternative locations.[2]

Czech era

In 1991, the Czech radio group changed its status and became an independent organisation, although as of 2008 was still publicly funded.[3][4] A regional studio was established in Olomouc in 1994.[3]

An envisaged new premises for Czech Radio, a 30-storey building in the district of Pankrác which took 22 years to build at a cost of 1.35 billion Czech koruna, was sold after the construction phrase in 1996 as it was deemed too big for the station's requirements.[5]

In 2002 the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty station stopped broadcasting in the Czech Republic, with the broadcast rebranded as Czech Radio 6 under the Czech Radio group.[6]

Logo used between 1996 and 2013

Czech Radio launched a new logo in 2013, featuring the letter R with stripes, at a cost of 2.2 million Czech koruna.[7]

The organisation marked 90 years of existence in 2013, celebrating the occasion with a 48-hour broadcast including 90 interviews interspersed with news reports every half-hour.[2] The event, which took place on Wenceslas Square, set a new national record for the longest uninterrupted radio broadcast.[2]

Radio stations

2013 saw three Czech Radio stations Česko, Leonardo and Čro 6 taken off the airwaves. At the same time, three new stations were launched, namely ČRo Junior for young listeners, ČRo Plus, a spoken word station and ČRo Jazz.[8]

Czech Radio offers the following radio channels:

  • Radiožurnál – "infotainment" station (pop music, news, traffic announcements, sports and other information) (Modern AC)
  • Dvojka – talk and family programmes (formerly ČRo 2 Praha)
  • Vltava – culture, art and classical music
  • Plus – spoken word
  • 14 regional channels
    • ČRo Brno
    • ČRo České Budějovice
    • ČRo Hradec Králové
    • ČRo Karlovy Vary
    • ČRo Liberec
    • ČRo Olomouc
    • ČRo Ostrava
    • ČRo Pardubice
    • ČRo Plzeň
    • ČRo Rádio DAB Praha
    • ČRo Region
    • ČRo Vysočina
    • ČRo Sever
    • ČRo Zlín
  • ČRo Radio Wave – youth radio (via cable, digital, and internet only)
  • ČRo D-Dur: classical music
  • ČRo Jazz: mainly jazz station (previously ČRo Euro Jazz)
  • ČRo Rádio Junior: children's radio
  • ČRo Rádio Retro
  • ČRo Sport: sports radio
  • Radio Prague: external broadcasts, six languages available.
  • iROZHLAS – Internet radio

Former stations
  • ČRo 6 ended in 2013
  • ČRo Leonardo ended in 2013
  • ČRo Rádio Česko ended in 2013
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See also

References
  1. Josef Maršík. "Průkopníci rozhlasového vysílání 1923–1925" (PDF) (in Czech). Český rozhlas. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  2. "Czech Radio celebrates 90 years of air time". Prague Post. 22 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  3. "History of Czech Radio". Czech Radio. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  4. "Controversial radio head removed from post". Prague Post. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  5. "It's tall. It's been under construction for 22 years. It's been sold". Prague Post. 24 January 1996. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  6. "Briefly noted". Prague Post. 2 October 2002. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  7. "Český rozhlas má nová loga, za propagaci zaplatí 160 milionů" (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  8. "Do vysílání DAB rozhlasu přibudou tři stanice, tři však také zmizí" (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.

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