K T T N - Kosovo Terrestrial Transmission Network

K T T N
Kosovo Terrestrial Telecommunication Network

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RTK Doubles TV Broadcasting Hours

1 December 2000: Radio Television Kosovo (RTK), the public service broadcaster set up in Pristina by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), has doubled the number of hours of TV programmes. Since 27 November, RTK has been broadcasting for four hours every day, at 1800-2200 local time.

"This is a big step forward for public service broadcasting in Kosovo," said RTK Director-General Richard Lucas. "We are now able to offer a wider and more varied range of programming, and we are showcasing some of the best documentary, children's and drama programming from around Europe, including EBU co- productions."

RTK was launched in September 1999, broadcasting news and information in Albanian and Serbian for two hours a day under a mandate given to the EBU by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Turkish was added as a third language earlier this year. Since Monday, RTK has been broadcasting from 1800-2200 hours daily.

Blue Sky Radio and RTK Merge

Blue Sky Radio, formerly the radio of the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo, has been integrated into Radio Television Kosovo (RTK). The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has said the radio and TV merger would reinforce RTK's long-term potential as the province of Kosovo moves toward elections in October. "The arrival of Blue Sky into RTK will broaden the independence and impartiality of the public service broadcaster," the agency said. The merger comes after an agreement between UNMIK, OSCE, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Fondation Hirondelle and the government of Switzerland. Blue Sky Radio will keep its name. Fondation Hirondelle, a Swiss NGO that set up the Blue Sky project in July 1999, has handed the radio station over to the EBU, which currently manages RTK. Blue Sky broadcasts news, daily bulletins and reports, political debates and cultural shows in the three most common languages of Kosovo: Albanian, Serb and Turkish. The station employs about 35 people and a percentage of the news, programming and support staff is Serbian or from other ethnic groups living in Kosovo. Blue Sky radio broadcasts on 96.0MHz FM in Kosovo or can be heard on the Internet at www.blueskylive.com.

RTV21 Starts Broadcasting

27 September 2000: "As of tonight, September 22, 2000, the Prishtina-based Radio and Television 21 (RTV21) will start airing its television programs. Initially, there will be 2 hours of program daily, from 2200 hrs through midnight. Viewers in Kosova will be able to watch the TV21 programs via terrestrial transmitters on channel 23 UHF. The TV21 programs will be likewise transmitted via satellite - at Eutelsat II- F-3; orbital position 21.5 degrees East, Azimuth 180 degrees south from Prishtina, on 11.578 GHz frequencies, vertical polarity, audio frequencies 6.50 MHz, Mono. The Radio and Television 21 programs can be also listened and viewed on Internet at: www.radio21.net". (Radio 21 Web site)

Radio S Closed Down

23 August 2000: Dragan Stankovic writes: On August 14, UNMIK police closed down Serbian Radio S in Zvecan near Kosovska Mitrovica. The OSCE Temporary Commissioner for the Media had previously ordered the station to stop operating citing licensing irregularities, but the employees refused to obey. According to the radio station's staff, the police took away part of the equipment and closed the radio station. Editor in charge Radovan Gligovic said he believed the radio was being shut down because it refused to air UN messages promoting participation in October municipal elections, which most Serbs are boycotting. UN sources said Radio S was backed by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia and said it frequently referred to the large international presence in Kosovo as an occupying force.

B2-92 in Albanian

1 August 2000: Dragan Stankovic writes: For the last three months, Radio B2-92's programmes, beside thirty or so radio stations in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary and Ukraine, are also being aired in Kosovo, via the airwaves of Radio Kontakt in Pristina and Kosovska Mitrovica. Besides usual news programmes in Serbian and English, a special Albanian language programme is also aired daily. The same news can also be accessed via Radio B2-92's web site at http://www.free92.net.

Radio S Warned

1 August 2000: Dragan Stankovic writes: The Temporary Media Commissioner (TMC) has issued a warning to a Serb-language radio station for violating the Broadcast Media Regulation and operating without a licence. Radio S, which is based in Zvecan, submitted an incomplete licence application form to the Office of the TMC. The station should have ceased broadcasting by 19 July as a result of its failure to do so, but remained on air. The TMC had opened a two-week window of opportunity between 22 June and 5 July to enable local radio and television operators, who had previously submitted incomplete application forms for broadcast licences, to re-submit their applications. New applications were also accepted during this period. A total of 77 completed radio and television applications were received by the deadline, including 18 new ones. All these are now being assessed by the Temporary Media Commissioner. Those who did not apply for a licence or who, once again, submitted incomplete applications, such as Radio S, will not be considered for a licence to broadcast. UNMIK Regulation 2000/36 on the Licensing and Regulation of the Broadcast Media in Kosovo stipulates that all radio and television operators must be licensed by the TMC before they can broadcast. To date, twelve broadcast outlets have received temporary licences from the TMC.

New Serbian Radio Station in Caglavica

19 July 2000: Dragan Stankovic writes: The Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija has announced plans for a "joint project for setting up independent Serbian media". Besides the Serbian National Council, the governments of five Western countries are also participating in the project which envisages the launch of an independent Serbian radio outlet in Caglavica nearby Pristina. According to the press release "reconstruction of the station's building is almost over and we expect to start broadcasting as early as next month. In the meantime the European Union has donated equipment for a small TV studio that will produce features in areas inhabited by Serbs."

New DG for RTK

12 July 2000: Richard Lucas, a former senior journalist and manager at the BBC, has started work as the new Director General of Radio Television Kosovo. The European Broadcasting Union set up RTK on a mandate from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to provide public service broadcasting for Kosovo following last year's conflict in the region. The OSCE recently renewed and enlarged the mandate until the end of 2000, giving the Geneva-based EBU full editorial responsibility for radio and TV services. The original mandate covered only television.

Lucas, 53, has worked since 1999 as a BBC adviser to an independent Albanian-language radio station in Kosovo, and as BBC World Service Training Project Director advising RTV Montenegro on an EU-funded project. At RTK he succeeds Eric Lehmann, President of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, who recently ended a nine-month assignment.

RTK television currently broadcasts news and information in Albanian and Serbian languages for two hours every evening. The channel is being transmitted largely by satellite, as the terrestrial network was destroyed by the bombings in April. One target for Lucas is to double the number of hours broadcast over the coming six months. Under the new EBU mandate, Blue Sky Radio - a multilingual, largely Swiss-funded station set up in 1999 - will become RTK's second radio channel.

UNMIK TV

5 July 2000: Dragan Stankvic reports: The United Nations has established a unique television unit in Kosovo aimed at building confidence in the territory's interim administration and training its next generation of TV journalists. UNMIK Television produces news and features explaining the work of UNMIK, other UN agencies and NGOs, as well as promoting democracy in war-shattered Kosovo. The unit's items are broadcast daily by Radio Television Kosovo (RTK) in both Serbian and Albanian. It began work in September 1999 and is made up of a Chief of Unit, two international producers, two local producers, one associate producer, one international cameraman-editor, two local cameramen, one local editor and four translators (two Serbian and two Albanian).

A key part of the unit's brief is to train and help improve the skills of local TV staff, some of whom have had little or no television experience, thus creating jobs for the local community. The locals are a mixture of experienced journalists who worked in Kosovo's media before the war, and younger staff whose grounding in TV sprang out of the conflict itself. UNMIK TV's programming can be seen in neighbouring states via satellite but the unit is particularly proud that, thanks to repair work on Kosovo's terrestrial network, people in the territory's mountain communities are watching homegrown TV news for the first time since the conflict began.

Caglavica Radio 106 Loses Equipment

23 June 2000: Dragan Stankovic writes: In the night between June 19 and 20, unknown persons entered the premises of Caglavica Radio 106 which belongs to the Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija, and took away a large part of the broadcasting equipment. The theft was reported to the international police and KFOR, but the Council has accused the Serbian authorities of burglary: "The Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija considers this plunder another in a series of efforts made by the regime to suppress the independent media and thus prevent objective informing of the Serbian population."

OSCE Prepares Frequency Plan

23 June 2000: Dragan Stankovic writes: After months of negotiations with international organisations such as the ITU and KFOR, the OSCE seems close to approving a frequency plan for Kosovo. KFOR will probably permit only a limited number of frequencies in this first phase of licensing, since it requires a number of frequencies for its own operations. Many of the broadcasters who first applied for a temporary broadcast licence did not fully complete their original applications, so it was therefore impossible for them to be allocated a frequency. Now the applications are being returned so they can be fully and properly completed. Broadcasters have just two weeks to complete their application to be considered for a temporary licence. The licenses are being issued by the Temporary Media Commissioner until an Interim Media Commission for Kosovo is established.

Broadcast Regulations Approved

23 June 2000: Dragan Stankovic writes: The Special Representative of the Secretary General, Dr Bernard Kouchner has signed regulations, which regard the licensing of broadcast media and the conduct of the print media. UNMiK Regulation 2000/36, On the Licensing and Regulation of the Broadcast Media in Kosovo, establishes a temporary licensing and regulatory regime for the broadcast media. Under it, the responsibilities of a Temporary Media Commissioner are set out. The Commissioner establishes the criteria and the procedures for issuing broadcast licences. If a license is denied the Temporary Media Commissioner will have to explain why that has happened. The Temporary Media Commissioner will be in post until an Interim Media Commission, consisting of a majority of Kosovar members, is established.

In applying for and receiving a licence, broadcasters agree to abide by a Broadcast Code of Conduct which will set standards for Kosovo's television and radio. This Code includes the need for factual reporting, avoiding sensationalism and providing balanced coverage. Both the broadcast and the print regulations give the Temporary Media Commissioner a range of sanctions if the Codes of Conduct are breached. They range from demanding an apology or correction be broadcast or printed, issuing a fine of up to 100,000 DM, to closing down the operation. The media can appeal to a soon to be established Media Appeals Board.

TV and Radio Overview

14 June 2000: Dragan Stankovic writes: Currently, the leading broadcaster in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo is RTV Kosovo. It runs a TV station which is on the air two hours a day via satellite, as well as a 24 hour a day multilingual radio station. Another multi-ethnic and multilingual station is Radio Kontakt, while other broadcasters on the air include Kontakt Plus (from Kosovska Mitrovica), Pristina-based RTV 21 (owned by Aferdita Keljmendi) as well as Radio Rilindja, which can be heard all over Kosovo. However the latter does not have a broadcasting licence and since one of its repeaters broke down, French soldiers from the KFOR forces have prevented the station's technicians from accessing the repeater site. TV Klan from Albania and TV AA based in Pristina have also been noticed, but representatives of the international community claim that the two channels do not have a valid broadcasting licence. It is also worth noting that there are a lot of local radio stations in Pec, Prizren and other areas of Kosovo.

Radio Kontact Continues Despite Harrassment

19 May 2000: Dragan Stankovic reports: After initially being the target of Serbian radicals, Kosovo's only multi-ethnic radio station has now become the prey of Albanian extremists. Since it started broadcasting in 1998, Radio Kontact proved to be a thorn in the eye for the Serbian authorities. On June 1 of the same year, Serbian inspectors and police sealed off the station and confiscated the transmitter, but Radio Kontact continued to produce a daily news bulletin which was transmitted via satellite.

With the start of the NATO bombing raids in March last year, the station's staff was forced to leave Pristina under pressure from the Serbian authorities. All the studio equipment was stolen and the few things remained disappeared after the arrival of KFOR troops. In August last year, following the arrival of the international forces, Radio Kontact assembled a new team and obtained new equipment. The station set up its operation in the same building housing Radio 21, Kosovo sot, Rilindja, and AATV.

However, in November, unknown criminals stole the station's official car and one month later some broadcasting equipment, including a brand new transmitter, went missing. On April 17 of this year, an explosive device fired from a grenade launcher detonated as it hit the balcony of the apartment next to Radio Kontact's headquarters in Pristina. Two days after the grenade attack, the editor of Radio Kontact's Serbian language programme was stopped in the street and threatened by three Albanians.

Radio Contact is the only local multi-ethnic media organisation in Kosovo. It employs 36 people and produces broadcasts in Albanian, Turkish and Serbian.

Missile Fired at Radio Kontact

4 May 2000: Dragan Stankovic reports: A missile was fired at a Pristina downtown building, housing an official apartment of the multiethnic radio station Kontakt on April 19. The missile hit a balcony, while the KFOR troops evacuated the station's staff who were at an editorial meeting at the moment of the attack. Though the local police have issued no details so far, most people suspect that targets were the premises of Radio Kontakt and its employees, as the only Serbs living in this part of Pristina. The station's official apartment was sealed, while its editorial staff removed to a safe place strongly guarded by the KFOR.

First Independent Serbian Radio Station

17 April 2000: Dragan Stankovic reports: The first independent radio station aimed at the Serbian community in Kosovo started broadcasting on April 10. Kontakt Plus Radio is located in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, which has for months been a flashpoint between the local Albanian and Serbian communities. Its transmitter reaches a surrounding area of 40 kms. The station's programming schedule is made up of news and music, but it also re-broadcasts programmes from BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle and Radio B2-92. Kontakt Plus Radio is a member of the regional independent Kontakt network, together with stations from Novi Sad (Serbia), Banjaluka (Bosnia and Hercegovina) and Pristina.

Media Boom in Kosovo

17 April 2000: Dragan Stankovic reports: Since the end of the NATO bombing campaign last year, Kosovo has seen a media boom (excuse the pun). On a territory inhabited by around 2 million people, 60 radio and TV stations have applied for a broadcasting license. The organisation responsible for the media sector, OSCE, has so far awarded licenses to 15 radio stations. The international forces present in Kosovo also operate their own stations - KFOR has five and UNMIK one. The sums in question are far from symbolic - they cost the taxpayers US$3.5 million a year.

Nearly all of the existing radio stations broadcast in the Albanian language - one of the noteworthy exceptions is Radio Kontakt which broadcasts in Serbian, Albanian and Turkish. The internationally financed radio stations also broadcast some programming in minority languages. Donors are interested in investing in multilingual programming but there is a lack of necessary projects.

Nationwide Radio & TV Still Far Away

17 April 2000: Dragan Stankovic reports:Ten months after the arrival of the UN-sponsored multinational forces, nationwide TV and radio services in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo still seem only a project. Although local elections are expected this autumn, the media scene in Kosovo is still in a chaotic state. Last year, NATO destroyed two major transmission sites - Goles (near Pristina) and Cvilen (near Prizren) which were used by Serbian state broadcaster RTS. Since then, with the help of the OSCE, the UNMIK and KFOR forces established Radio Television Kosovo (RTK) which has taken over the role of public broadcaster. RTK transmits its programming via satellite, but is limited to two hours a day. Besides RTK, the majority Albanian population in Kosovo can also receive terrestrial TV transmissions from Albania and Turkish satellite TV channels. BBC World and Deutsche Welle also have a significant following.

The radio airwaves are even more chaotic, with dozens of unlicensed stations popping up on the FM dial. One such station is Radio Rilindija, linked to the former Kosovo Liberation Army, which has already announced the launch of a TV service. But the major problem regards the launch of nationwide TV and radio stations. Formally, OSCE has been entrusted with allocating the broadcast licenses, and negotiations are still under way with the International Telecommunication Union, which co-ordinates frequencies worldwide, over whether Kosovo can have two or three province-wide stations. Among the frontrunners for the licenses are RTK, RTV 21 (owned by Afrodita Kelmendi), Koha Vision (linked to the Koha Ditore newspaper edited by Veton Surroi) and Radio Rilindija.

However, the problem of the construction of a new broadcast mast at Cvilen is yet to be resolved. At the urging of the OSCE, the Japanese government agreed to supply an extraordinary $14.5 million worth of TV studios, mobile equipment and transmitters to re-establish the system. Much of this would be for RTK, but the transmitters, antenna and other material for actual broadcasting of signals could be shared among all the Kosovo stations. However, the deal hinged on one additional provision. Japan was to pay for the equipment, but the United States, through its Office of Transitional Initiatives (OTI), was to erect the actual towers at Goles and Cvilen, on which much of the new kit would be hung. But, following substantial budget cuts at OTI, when the OSCE sought written assurances on behalf of the Japanese that they would actually build the two masts, it was told instead that now the US would only pay for one. The Americans, meantime, threw up fresh concerns about ownership of the sites and the coverage. With low wattage imposed by KFOR, the output,the coverage will be modest, and will require substantial additional investment in "repeaters" to boost the signals and ensure they can be picked up throughout Kosovo's highly mountainous territory.

In the end, the Americans came up with an additional $500,000. However these funds have been stalled in Washington, largely over the dislike among many in the US for the concept of public broadcasting. It seems that the construction of the masts could be under way in the spring. The Japanese tender will go ahead, and the rival stations in Kosovo will redouble their efforts to complete studios and learn about television production, which few in fact have any experience with.

VOA Transmitters in Kosovo?

17 April 2000: Dragan Stankovic reports: On March 30, Serbian independent news agency "Beta" announced that the multinational forces in Kosovo have started installing radio transmitters near the administrative border with Serbia. KFOR sources told "Beta" that at least two transmitters have been installed and that they will be used to broadcast the programmes of the Voice of America.

Independent Serbian Radio Station in Kosovo

17 April 2000: Dragan Stankovic reports: In an interview with the Serbian daily "Glas Javnosti" published on March 31, father Sava Janjic, of the Decani Monastery announced that the governments of the U.S.A, Great Britain, France, Germany and Canada have decided to participate in the establishment of an independent Serbian radio station in Kosovo. Janjic's comments followed his meeting with British Foreign minister Robin Cook. "I believe that this radio station may play an important role in imparting the public objective information on the sufferings of our people in Kosovo," said father Sava.

Original page here http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/dossiers/html/kosovo-domestic.html

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