BTV Khulna
Television station of Bangladesh Television in Khulna
Television channel
 | |
| Type | Relay station |
|---|---|
| Country | Bangladesh |
| Broadcast area | Khulna Division |
| Network | BTV Dhaka |
| Headquarters | Khalishpur, Khulna |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Bengali |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Government of Bangladesh |
| Parent | Bangladesh Television |
| History | |
| Launched | 11 March 1977; 47 years ago (1977-03-11) |
| Links | |
| Website | btv |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Analog terrestrial | VHF channel 11 (November 1996)[1] |
Bangladesh Television Khulna or BTV Khulna is a BTV-affiliated relay television station broadcast from Khulna, serving southwestern Bangladesh. Established on 11 March 1977, it relays programming from the main television station of BTV in Dhaka.[2]
There have been multiple attempts to convert BTV Khulna to a full-fledged regional television station, with none of them being successful to this day. It is headquartered in the Khalishpur Thana of Khulna.[2]
History
Initial plans and establishment
In the 1960s, when BTV was a part of Pakistan Television, as Bangladesh itself was part of Pakistan at the time, there were plans to establish relay television stations in Khulna, Chittagong, and Rajshahi.[3] However, experimental broadcasts from the station only commenced in the year 1976, a while after the independence of Bangladesh.[4] A two-floor building, equipped with a 500-feet broadcasting tower and a high power transmitter, was built for the station in the Khalishpur Thana of the city. It officially went on the air on 11 March 1977. The station initially broadcast using 10 kilowatts of power and spanning 80 aeronautical kilometers.[2][5] As of August 1989, BTV Khulna broadcast on VHF channel 11 with an upgraded 90 kilowatt transmitter.[6]
Attempts to convert
During a public meeting in the Khalishpur Prabhati School in Khulna held on 5 March 2011, former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina announced that BTV Khulna will fully commence transmissions as a regional station. Alongside other high officials, the then Director General of Bangladesh Television, M Hamid, visited the headquarters of the Khulna station on 5 October 2012. Later, on 26 January 2013, at a meeting at the Khulna Press Club, M Hamid announced that BTV Khulna will become a full-fledged station, subsequently setting up new various broadcasting facilities and then starting test broadcasts. It was supposed to officially be launched on 16 December 2013, but as the facilities were brought to Dhaka from the Khulna station, this was postponed.[7][5]
However, in May 2014, Sheikh Hasina rejected a proposal by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to upgrade some of BTV's relay stations, including the one in Khulna, to full-fledged television stations while expressing her dissatisfaction with the quality of programmes broadcast on BTV at the time.[8] Nevertheless, the same announcement to convert BTV Khulna into a full-fledged station was made in 2015 by then Minister of Information Hasanul Haque Inu,[9] and 2021 by Hasan Mahmud.[10] There were calls by the people of Khulna to take appropriate measures to fully convert BTV Khulna to a regional station from a relay one, thus preserving the local culture of the Khulna region.[5]
References
- ^ "Television Factbook" (PDF). 1997. p. 546. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ a b c "প্রধানমন্ত্রীর প্রতিশ্রুতির এক যুগেও বাস্তবায়ন হয়নি বিটিভির খুলনা কেন্দ্র". banglanews24.com (in Bengali). 7 November 2023. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ "Television Factbook" (PDF). 1972. p. 1084. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ সকল প্রস্তুতি সম্পন্ন হলেও চার বছরে চালু হয়নি খুলনা বিটিভি. The Daily Sangram (in Bengali). 22 April 2015. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
- ^ a b c Moniruzzaman, GM (16 February 2024). "Residents demand full-fledged BTV centre in Khulna". Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ "Television Factbook" (PDF). 1990. p. 409. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ বিটিভির দর্শক, আয় কমছে, ঋণ করে চ্যানেল বাড়াচ্ছে. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 6 February 2016. Archived from the original on 23 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ Karim, Mohosinul (18 May 2014). "No upgrading of 5 BTV sub-stations". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "জুনের পরেই বিটিভি খুলনা কেন্দ্রের নির্মাণ শুরু : তথ্যমন্ত্রী". Jago News 24 (in Bengali). 10 January 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ "BTV will upgrade its Khulna center to a full-fledged station". The Independent. 24 September 2021. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
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