MRTV - Startup/Sign-on (10.16.2024)
Copyright (c) 2024 Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV)
Recorded on 16 October 2024
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Myanmar Radio and Television is Myanmar’s state-owned broadcasting company that operates television and radio stations. Its history dates back to 1936, when radio broadcasts were launched in the country during the British colonial era.
Television wasn't introduced in Myanmar until 1979 as a test trial in Yangon following an agreement between Japan's Matsushita Electric and Burma's Heavy Industries Corporation for manufacturing and producing TV sets, and on 3 June 1980, MRTV - then known as Burma Television - officially went on air from Yangon on VHF channel 6, using a 10 KW transmitter broadcasting to a 70km radius. Regular television service was formally launched a year later in 1981, using the NTSC standard. It was the only television channel in Myanmar, up until the military-owned Myawaddy Television began operations in 1995.
Although MRTV has attempted to reform its operations to become an editorially independent public broadcaster, its editorial policy continues to be dictated by the Burmese government through the country's Ministry of Information, which operates the station as a government department. As told by independent media experts, this control became even much more tightened after the Tatmadaw had deposed the civilian government in a coup d'état in 2021.