First Channel (Georgian TV channel)

First Channel

Country	Georgia
Broadcast area	Georgia, Europe, Asia, Americas
Headquarters	Tbilisi
Programming
Language(s)	Georgian
Picture format	16:9/4:3 (576i, SDTV) 1080i HDTV
Ownership
Owner	Georgian Public Broadcaster
Key people	Tina Berdzenishvili (CEO)
Sister channels	Second Channel
History
Launched	30 December 1956 (30 December 1956)
Links
Website	www.1tv.ge

First Channel (Georgian: პირველი არხი, romanized: p'irveli arkhi), also called 1TV, is a Georgian television channel owned and operated by Georgian Public Broadcaster, launched in 1956. This channel is received by the 85% of the population of Georgia.

History

Soviet era

In the post-war years, the implementation of the idea of ​​television broadcasting began in Tbilisi. During the year, construction of a television tower and the main television studio was underway in Tbilisi, where the studio-hardware unit and television transmitter were to be located. The design of the studio and the author of the first logo of the Georgian television broadcasting studio was graphic artist Tengiz Samsonadze. The first programs were created on the pure enthusiasm of newly arrived employees and on a small technical base. Liya Mikadze and Alexander Liluashvili-Machavariani were appointed announcers.

Officially, television broadcasting in the Georgian SSR began on December 30, 1956, when the first television program from Tbilisi was broadcast: Akaki Dzidziguri went on air at 20:00 local time. The first director of the TV channel was Merab Jaliashvili, the first head of the television studio was Dmitry Gulisashvili, the first director was Shota Archvadze. The Georgian SSR became the first Transcaucasian republic in which television broadcasting began on a permanent basis. On December 31, 1956, New Year's greetings from the residents of Tbilisi were shown: the appeal to the residents was read by the worker of the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant Amiran Pantsulaya and the chief architect of Tbilisi Alexander Tevzadze. On the wave of success, trainer Margarita Nazarova and her tiger were invited to the television studio, which was noted by the Literary Georgia newspaper as a good omen.

The first channel of the Georgian SSR broadcast the programs “Writers in the Studio”, “New Books”, “Masters of the Georgian Stage” and the television magazine “Art”. There were foreign guests in the television studio: British ballet dancer Beryl Gray, Italian film actress Lucia Bose, Spanish matador Luis Miguel Domingin, Greek singer Yovanna, American group Ice Review, singer Dean Reed and pianist Van Cliburn. In January 1957, Niko Lordkipanidze’s first television production “Old Men” was shown (directed by Merab Jaliashvili, scripted by Medea Lordkipanidze, starring Cecilia Takaishvili and Sandro Zhorzholiani), and a month later “Mozart and Salieri” based on the work of the same name by A.S. Pushkin (screenwriter Konstantin Chichinadze, director Merab Dzhaliashvili).

Since March 1957, a mobile television station operated at the Tbilisi television studio; in the same year, sports commentators Erosi Manjgaladze and Kote Makharadze began working for the Tbilisi television studio for the first time. In November 1957, “Tbilisi Speaks and Shows” went on air, and the program “Around the Country with a Movie Camera” began airing, which was a series of television documentaries. The director of this program was Georgy Kereselidze, the cameramen were Tengiz Lomidze, Georgy Balakhadze and Givi Kantaria. In 1958, the Main Editorial Board of youth programs opened a series of programs “Museums and Archives of Georgia” in honor of the 1500th anniversary of the founding of Tbilisi, and in the same year the editorial office of socio-political programs (editor-in-chief Shota Salukvadze) and the editorial office of art programs (editor-in-chief) appeared Ilya Rurua).

At the end of the 1950s, theatrical performances began to be shown on television: “Such Love” by Mikheil Tumanishvili, “The Inheritance” by Guy De Maupassant, “To Kill a Man” by Jack London, “Mrs. McWilliams and the Storm” by Mark Twain and “The Adventures of Cippolino” by Gianni Rodari. Director Tariel Kurtshaveli was responsible for organizing the television production in the studio. In 1958, the first meeting of television employees with viewers took place live, and in the same year a new television repeater was built, which made it possible to broadcast the all-Union “News” and the Russian-language program “Soldiers”. In 1959, the first full-length film “Mother's Hand” was shot based on the story by Tamara Chkhaidze, which a year later won first prize at the Soviet film competition.

In 1960, low-power repeaters were installed in the towns of Tianeti, Dmanisi and Sighnaghi, and the spread of television broadcasting in Georgia proceeded without prior planning. In particular, a television studio in Sochi allowed residents of the Black Sea region to receive television programs from Tbilisi. In the same year, an outdoor production was shown for the first time, broadcast by a mobile television studio - “Kako Chachagi” by Ilya Chavchavadze on the occasion of the poet’s anniversary. The director was Shota Karukhnishvili, who conducted the first such experiment in the USSR. Since 1961, a photo archive has been operating in Georgia, and television broadcasting is carried out at a constant level.

From 1970 to 1981, the development of the First Channel of Georgian Television was associated with the work of Grigory Ratner. In 1972, an antenna and special equipment for television and radio broadcasting were installed on Mount Mtatsminda, which allowed 600 thousand families of the Georgian SSR to receive republican television programs. The coverage of the First Channel of Georgian Television reached 94% by 1981 (for comparison, the coverage of Program I was 80%, Program II - 40%, and Georgian Program II - 30%).

Since independence

In April 1991, Georgia's independence was proclaimed, but Abkhazia and South Ossetia simultaneously announced their secession from Georgia. Eduard Shevardnadze, who was supposed to lead independent Georgia to prosperity and further development, was unable to cope with the economic crisis, the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and rampant banditry. One of the consequences of his unsuccessful policy was systemic power outages and, as a result, meager funding for Georgian television and deterioration of equipment. The main information program in Georgia at that time was the program “Moambe” (“Bulletin”), broadcast in both Georgian and Russian - the Russian version was hosted by Mark Ryvkin, who worked on Georgian television for more than 40 years.

For his strictly pro-government point of view, the Abkhaz authorities subjected him to severe criticism, since he preferred to cover events in Abkhazia in a scenario that was beneficial to the Georgian central authorities. However, he was also criticized in the Georgian parliament: MP Sarishvili raised the question of the responsibility of journalists of the First Channel of Georgian Television for reports and the competence of Ryvkin, who consistently spoke in support of Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Eduard Shevardnadze. In 2003, the program was cancelled, and Ryvkin was fired after the Rose Revolution: on November 22, 2003, Georgian television live covered the process of dismissal of Eduard Shevardnadze, however, according to witnesses, the quality of the recording and television picture was frankly low, as a result of which the foreign audience in principle I couldn’t make out what was happening on the screen.

In 2004, when Mikheil Saakashvili became president, the “Broadcasting Law” was adopted, according to which Georgian Public Broadcasting became an institution independent from the government, governed by a Board of Trustees. Moreover, they are appointed jointly by the President and the Parliament of Georgia, and funding is calculated from a certain percentage of Georgia’s GDP. In many ways, the Broadcasting Law helped shape the modern image of the First Channel of Georgian Television, making it open in its editorial policy - in addition, it was under Mikheil Saakashvili that the share of Russian-language television broadcasting in Georgia increased. However, fierce competition between the Georgian-language First Georgian and the Russian-language First Caucasian Information against the backdrop of the conflict in South Ossetia led to a reduction in Russian-language broadcasting in 2010. Currently, Russian-language broadcasting, as well as broadcasting in other languages, is managed by the Second Channel of Georgian Television and the TV 3 channel.

The official website of the First Channel of Georgian Television is available in seven languages: Georgian, Abkhaz, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Ossetian, English and Russian.

Programs

The content of the channel is based on news, talk programs, sports, documentaries, series, the Eurovision Song Contest and foreign movies.

• Moambe (მოამბე)
• P'olit'ik'uri k'vira / Political Week (პოლიტიკური კვირა)
• P'irveli tema / First Topic (პირველი თემა)
• Me miq'vars sakartvelo / I love Georgia (მე მიყვარს საქართველო)
• Tskhovreba mshvenieria / Life is Wonderful (ცხოვრება მშვენიერია)

External links

• Official website
• 1TV Live
• Mobile TV app (IOS and Android):
  • IOS App
  • Android App