By Inna Pilevich: Today, Belteleradiocompany celebrates its 62nd anniversary. Then, in Minsk, the Radio Administration of the BSSR launched a block of national television programmes of about 2-3 hours of airtime. On 1 January 1956, Tamara Bastun greeted the audience from the screen for the first time. The first broadcast lasted 1 hour 55 minutes, and only 4,500 Belarusians followed it.
Back in the day, the black and white camera reproduced the red colour as black. This is why red lipstick was a taboo for the first leading Belarusian television. For the sake of a spectacular frame, news presenters had to wear the colour green on their lips. It was this color that gave the right shade when shooting on a black and white camera. These and other secrets of the first programmes of Belteleradiocompany are told by the guides of the Belarusian Television Museum, which is located right in the headquarters of Belteleradiocompany. The exhibition on Makayonka Street, 9 also includes a rare TV KVN, and the first bulky cameras.
Over the years, the TV centre has grown into the country's largest media holding. Today, Belteleradiocompany includes 7 TV channels and 5 radio channels. And now, Belteleradiocompany is making a steep into a new era of broadcasting. This year, the media holding will start broadcasting in HD.
Gennady Davydko, the Chairman of Belteleradiocompany: "We will completely modernize our technical capacities. We are acquiring all the necessary equipment in the required quantity and quality. It is the most modern equipment, so keep your satellites tuned to our channels and receive our signals of the highest quality in both the technical and creative sense of the word."
Also, the European Broadcasting Union entrusted Belteleradiocompany with holding the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Today, the country's main media holding is actively preparing for the 16th international song contest. A contest for the design of the symbols of the upcoming show was announced.
Ivan Eismont, the Deputy Chairman of Belteleradiocompany: "We received over 300 entries. They are very diverse – from drawings made by children in their notebooks to some very serious works of entire design companies. We have already chosen the leaders of this contest."
Eurovision’s Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand will arrive in Minsk on 18 January. The head of the contest will meet with the management of the media holding and stufy the training plan and the venue of the show.
On 15 February, a meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Junior Eurovision 2018 will be held in Minsk. The group includes representatives of the Netherlands, Italy, Russia, and the UK. The team plans to choose a hotel to accommodate delegations at the contest, determine the time of the show's broadcast, and approve the formula by which the voting will be carried out.
