Сербия радио және теледидарының тарихы

National public broadcasting service of Serbia

Radio Belgrade began its broadcasts in 1929. The first news announcer in 1929 was Jelena Bilbija. The first radio program in Serbia was broadcast in February 1929, when released radio signal was transmitted from the transmitter in Belgrade suburb of Rakovica. After five years, on 24 March 1929 Radio Belgrade began its regular broadcasting program, with art music.

Radio Television Belgrade (RTB), consisting of Radio Belgrade and Television Belgrade (TVB) was established as a result of the decision by the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Serbia on 13 February 1958. This came after the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's government decision of 1956 to invest in a television network. The first televised broadcast was on 23 August 1958, an edition of the Dnevnik (Journal) news programme with Miloje Orlović, Branislav Surutka, Olga Nađ, Olivera Živković and Vera Milovanović. The first RTB program was broadcast from the Belgrade Fair and from a new TV Studio build there. From 1961, RTS began to use quadruplex video tape recording equipment. The Sixties saw dramatic development in all genres of TV programs. TVB became famous by its sitcoms, directed and written by Radivoje Lola Djukić, Novak Novak and others (unfortunately, only a small proportion is preserved, owing to implicit censorship and shortage of tapes). Also, TVB had excellent documentary programs (series Karavan, Reflektor and others) and quizzes. By 1970, the entire territory of Serbia was covered by the RTS signal. On 31 December 1971, TVB started broadcasting in PAL color system on its second network. A new AM (radio) broadcast equipment in Zvečka, Obrenovac, with 2000 kW transmitter was erected in 1976. After the political turmoil in the 1970s (against the "liberals") the program of RTB became more sterile, however, in the 1980s it reached the zenith. In 1989, preparation for the formation of the RTS system officially began. That same year, 3K TVB started broadcasting as the youth, alternative TV channel. Along with it, Radio 101 started broadcasting in Belgrade and Vojvodina. Radio 101 was the more commercial youth radio, carrying pop and turbo folk hits. It was intended to complement the more alternative Belgrade 202. In 1990, a few regional studios (Niš, Kragujevac, Jagodina, Šabac) officially started broadcasting regional programming via a window in place of "Beogradska hronika". In 1991, all public broadcasters within Serbia began the formation of the RTS network system by merging their stations and programming direction to RTB, which served as flagship of the RTS network.

During the March 1991 anti war demonstrations in Belgrade, the protesters issued a series of demands, one of which was the sacking of RTB's general director, Dušan Mitević. The Yugoslav government eventually relented and removed Mitević from his position at RTB. On 8 October 1991, four RTB journalists were killed on the Glina–Petrinja road, in central Croatia, while covering Yugoslavia's civil war. RTS was established in 1992 with the merger of RTB and regional networks Radio Television Novi Sad and Radio Television Priština into a true national network. All transmitters, relay stations, antennas and other television equipment once owned by these broadcasters were inherited by RTS. As Yugoslavia disintegrated, RTS's journalistic standards plummeted. During the Siege of Dubrovnik, RTS claimed that smoke rising from the city's Old Town was the result of automobile tires set on fire by locals. During the Siege of Sarajevo, RTS newscasts showed an image of Sarajevo from the 1980s, untouched, thereby downplaying the severity of the siege. As the wars dragged on, the Yugoslav government began terminating the employment of many dissenting journalists. By January 1993, nearly 1,300 RTS employees – amounting to one third of the broadcaster's pre war workforce – had been fired. RTS was active during the Kosovo War and the concurrent NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. On 20 April, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Wesley Clark, ordered that RTS was to be bombed off the air. NATO missiles struck RTS at 2:06 a. m on 23 April. Serbia's Minister of Information, Aleksandar Vučić, scheduled to appear on CNN's Larry King Live from RTS's headquarters at 2:30 a. m., narrowly escaped the bombing. Sixteen RTS employees were killed and an additional 16 were injured. The human rights organization Amnesty International condemned the attack and described it as a war crime. NATO officials stated that the alliance considered RTS a legitimate target because of its "biased and distorted coverage" of the war. In 2002, Dragoljub Milanović, the general manager of RTS, was sentenced to nine and a half years' imprisonment for failing to evacuate the broadcaster's headquarters despite repeated threats by NATO officials that it would be bombed.

In 2011, RTS issued a written apology to the citizens of Serbia and former Yugoslavia for its actions during the regime of Slobodan Milošević and the break up of Yugoslavia. The letter apologises for the network's senseless reporting and the hurt it caused to the public. It vows "never to let history repeat itself." On 23 August 2014, at the 56th anniversary of the broadcaster, RTS got a new visual identity: focusing on new on screen logos introduced on 18 February for their terrestrial channels. At the same day, the watermarks changed themselves to fit into the 16:9 format.

RTS has two TV centers: in addition to the main TV production center within RTS headquarters complex in the downtown Belgrade, there is also TV production center in Košutnjak (housing two largest studios: Studio 8 and Studio 9). RTS offers live programming on its website.

RTS is a major player in Serbian sports broadcasting. Major sporting events are aired on RTS1, especially if a Serbian team or athlete is participating while all other sports broadcasting is aired on RTS2. The network has several shows which are specially dedicated to sports, aired on both RTS1 and RTS2. RTS broadcast its first Summer Olympic Games in 1996 (previously the Olympics were broadcast in Serbia through Yugoslav Radio Television, JRT) and has held broadcasting rights for both the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games ever since. RTS also holds rights to broadcast the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, FIBA World Cup, EuroBasket, FIVB Men's World Championship, FIVB Women's World Championship, FIVB Volleyball World League, European Men's Handball Championship, European Water Polo Championship, IAAF World Championships in Athletics, European Athletics Championships, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, US Open, Australian Open, etc. It has exclusive rights to the Serbian Cup football matches.

TV Slagalica (TV Puzzle) is the longest running quiz show in the Balkans. It has been on RTS programming since 1993 has always had a solid ratings. ''Bolji život (A better life) is one of the most iconic Yugoslav shows ever produced. Made during the '80s and '90s it works through the problems of a few families. The show brought in huge ratings for the network during its dark days of the '90s and after the production of the show ceased RTS has continually re run the series. Otpisani (Disposable Heroes) is a 1970s Serbian TV series, aired on RTS, based around youths from the resistance movement in Nazi occupied Belgrade that are high on the Gestapo's termination list. The series has achieved something of a cult status among its audience. The television series has been encored a total of seven times. Srećni ljudi (Happy people) is the most successful, long running, television series aired between 1993 and 1996. The most watched drama series in Serbia. Ranjeni orao'' (Wounded eagle) based on the novel by Serbian author Mir Jam, the 17 episode show premiered in December, 2008. Produced by Zdravko Šotra, the show had a cast of popular Serbian actors, most notably Sloboda Mićalović, Ivan Bosiljčić and Dragan Nikolić. The show is based in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between the two world wars and centres around the love life of Anđelka Bojanić. The show received extremely positive critical reviews and outstanding ratings. The show's final episode on 19 January 2009 was watched by 3,277,000 people, making it the most watched television show in Serbia. Due to viewer requests, once the show ended it was immediately reprised in primetime, making it the fastest repeated show on RTS. In its repeats it also managed to produce extremely high ratings.

RTS operates 4 radio stations, under the name Radio Belgrade. Радио Београд 1 is flagship channel which provides comprehensive news and current affairs programmes to the public as well as entertainment and culture shows. Радио Београд 2 is a cultural station based around social dialogue which constantly broadcasts thoughts about life and creation abroad and in Serbia. The station is known for documentary reporting, religious discussions, classical music, evergreen, jazz and satire. Radio Belgrade 2 shares the same radio waves as Radio Belgrade 3 and is broadcast from 6:00 until 20:00. Радио Београд 3 focuses on classical music and radio dramas. Radio Belgrade 3 shares the same radio waves as Radio Belgrade 2 and broadcasts from 20.00 until 06.00. Radio Belgrade 202 broadcasts short news segments, rock and pop music. Hosts of various music programmes on the radio often ask listeners to send in their thoughts via SMS or the Internet. Belgrade 202 also has a special morning programme broadcast from 06.00 until 09.00. which is based around current cultural, social and political trends. Since 18 September 2019, RTS also operates a number of online thematic stations; these are RTS Pletenica (folk music, ensembles and soloists), RTS Rokenroller (rock and pop music) and RTS Juboks (evergreen music), as well as RTS Vrteška which is intended for children and parents.

RTS has an archive of its TV programmes. In addition to 5000+ video tapes in the long obsolete quadruplex format, the archive contains tapes in C type helical scan, U matic, beta SP and digital formats. Also, the archive contains an extensive collection of newsreels, short filmed stories, and feature films on 16 mm and 35 mm tapes. PGP RTS is a music production company owned by the television network, starting with production in 1958 under the name PGP RTB and used to be one of two largest record labels in the former Yugoslavia. Today, it is the third largest record label in Serbia (after Grand Production and City Records).