The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish: ) is the national public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio broadcaster in Turkey. Before the introduction of commercial radio in 1990, and subsequently commercial television in 1992, it held a monopoly on broadcasting. More recent deregulation of the Turkish television broadcasting market produced analogue terrestrial television. Today, TRT broadcasts around the world, including in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the United States, and Australia.

Around 70% of TRT's funding comes from a license tax on television and radio receivers. Additionally, a 2% TRT tax was added to the electricity bills until January 2022. As these are hypothecated taxes, as opposed to the money allocated to general government funds, the principle is similar to that of the television licence levied in a number of other countries, such as the BBC in the United Kingdom. The rest of TRT's funding comes from government grants (around 20%), with the final 10% coming from advertising. Although theoretically unbiased, TRT's editorial stance strongly supports the government.

History

thumb|TRT's headquarters in [[Ankara.]]

thumb|TRT Istanbul Tepebaşı studios

TRT's predecessor, was one of 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950; it would return to the EBU fold as TRT in 1972. The original company started radio test broadcasts in 1926, with a studio built in Istanbul in 1927 and a studio in Ankara following in 1928.

Test transmissions started on TRT 1 on 31 January 1968. A full national television schedule, which at that time linked the areas in and around Ankara, Istanbul, and İzmir, started in December 1971. TRT renewed its membership in the European Broadcasting Union (having been a founding member previously offering only radio) starting on 26 August 1972, with Turkey's first Eurovision Network event, a football match (Turkey vs. Italy), airing across Europe on 13 January 1973. The entire lineup switched to colour on 1 July 1984.

TRT organised the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, with the semi-final on 12 May 2004 and the final on 15 May 2004. On 19 May 2012, TRT 1 HD started simulcasting with TRT 1 upscaled to full HD 16:9 DVB-S2 standard.

In January 2018, TRT celebrated its 50th anniversary. All TRT channels broadcast a collection of old idents and news studio (still being modern logo) as part of the celebration in form of nostalgia. Each day new idents were made. This event also happened in 1978, 1988, 1998 and 2008. On 9 May 2023, TRT Diyanet Children's channel started its test broadcast.

During the July 2016 coup attempt, TRT offices in Istanbul and Ankara were raided by lieutenant colonel Umit Gencer and other soldiers. TRT news anchor Tijen Karas was forced to read a statement from the plotters live on TV declaring the coup. After the coup attempt, people in TRT were either fired or forced to retire. According to Haber-Sen Union, 1800 workers were forced to retire. The union protested this situation on 21 November 2018 in Istanbul, Ankara, Diyarbakir and Brussels. During the protests, TRT employees stated that they were exposed to psychological pressure defined as MOBING. TRT employee Osman Köse stated that more than 3,000 TRT employees had been transferred to other state institutions and 5,000 people had been dismissed from TRT. Many TRT employees were dismissed and imprisoned on charges related to the coup attempt. According to the list published in the 'Resmi Gazete' of the state, 312 people were dismissed. According to a report provided by Gülen-linked NGO Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF), approximately 150 TRT employees were accused of being members of a 'terrorist organisation'.

Directors general of the TRT

The directors general of the institution are as follows:

  1. Adnan Öztrak (1964–1971)
  2. Musa Öğün (1971–1973)
  3. İsmail Cem (1974–1975)
  4. Nevzat Yalçıntaş (1975)
  5. Şaban Karataş (1976–1977)
  6. Cengiz Taşar (1978–1979)
  7. Doğan Kasaroğlu (1979–1981)
  8. Macit Akman (1981–1984)
  9. Tunca Toskay (1984–1988)
  10. Cem Duna (1988–1989)
  11. Kerim Aydın Erdem (1989–1993)
  12. Tayfun Akgüner (1993–1996)
  13. Yücel Yener (1997–2003)
  14. Şenol Demiröz (2003–2005)

Services

Television channels

thumb|During the days when the photo was taken, [[Ankara Radio|Radio Station Ankara used to do live broadcasting. Every Saturday, Radio Kids Club programme was broadcast. Ankara Radio Station started broadcasting at the basement floor of Ankara Palas in 1927. After moving several times, it finally settled in its final destination at the Atatürk Boulevard since 28 October 1938.]]

All television channels can be watched via Turksat satellite in Europe in Asia and terrestrial in Turkey and neighbouring countries. Some of them are also found on cable TV systems.

Domestic

In high definition and ultra definition

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! Logo

! Name

! Launched

! Description

|-

|align="left" |89x89px

|TRT 1

|January 1968

|General entertainment channel with a broad schedule featuring local and foreign series, Turkish and Hollywood cinema, live shows with Turkish folk music, Turkish classical music and pop music, live sport, news & current affairs plus special events.

|-

|align="left" |89x89px

|TRT 2

|launched September 1986, shut down March 2010, relaunched February 2019

|Highbrow channel with a broad schedule featuring cultural and educational shows, heavy promotion of the arts (Turkish and international), cultural talkshows, documentaries, and local and foreign films.

|-

|align="left" |89x89px

|TRT 3 Spor

|October 1989

|Live and archive sport including Formula 1, World and European Figure Skating Championships, World and European Athletics Championships, Turkish Women's Volleyball league, U18 Basketball plus feature programmes. When parliament is in session, TRT 3 relays live coverage of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM-TV).

|-

|align="left" |89x89px

|TRT Çocuk

|November 2008

|Children's programming, animated programmes and educational programmes.

|-

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|TRT Kurdî

|January 2009

|Channel broadcasting in Kurdish.

|-

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|TRT Müzik

|November 2009

|24-hour music channel with Turkish folk and classical music. It also airs pop, rock, jazz & ethnic music.

|-

| align="left" |89x89px

|TRT Belgesel

|November 2009

|24-hour documentary channel.

|-

| align="left" |89x89px

|TRT Haber

|May 2010

|News and current affairs, sports news and weather.

|-

| align="left" |89x89px

|TRT 4K

|February 2015

|Ultra HD television channel of TRT. This is the first 4K television channel in Turkey.

|-

| align="left" |89x89px

|

|September 2019

|Alternate sport channel to TRT Spor.

|-

| align="left" |89x89px

|TRT EBA TV

|2020

|The channel focuses on education and broadcasts school lessons for primary, secondary and high school students, which are supported by the digital Eğitim Bilişim Ağı (EBA) system.

|-

|

|

|2026

|Turkey's young channel. Programmes with technology, science, racing, culture, art and other. The channel's slogan is "Gelecek Sensin" (Future Is You).

|-

|}

International

thumb|TRT Avaz announcer who interviewed during the 2014 state elections in Austria.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! Logo

! Name

! Launched

! Description

|-

|align="left" |89x89px

|TRT Türk

|2001

|formerly known as TRT INT – International news, current affairs, documentaries and cultural programming aimed at both Turks and Turkish speaking audience living abroad. It's the first TRT channel to make extensive use of a private production company for news programming.

|-

|align="left" |89x89px

|TRT Avaz

|March 2009

|International channel aimed at the Turkic republics and Turks living in the Balkans. The channel has a focus on entertainment and documentaries as opposed to TRT Türk's new focus on news. Programmes are broadcast in a mixture of languages including Turkic and Russian.

|-

|align="left" |89x89px

|TRT World

|30 June 2015

|International news, current affairs, documentaries and cultural programming in English for international audiences.

|-

|align="left" |89x89px

|TRT Arabi

|4 April 2010

| Broadcasts 24 hours a day in Arabic language with programs aimed at Arabs in Turkey, as well as the wider Arab world and Middle East.

|-

|}

Minority languages

TRT has a special TV channel for Kurdish that broadcasts on a 24-hour / 7-day basis called TRT Kurdî and other TV and Radio stations that broadcast programmes in the local languages like Armenian, Arabic, Bosnian and Circassian a few hours a week.

Another special TV channel aimed at the Turkic world, TRT Avaz was launched on 21 March 2009 and broadcasts in the Azerbaijani, Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tatar and Turkmen languages; while the TRT Arabic television channel started broadcasting on 4 April 2010.

Closing and opening times throughout the years

  • 31 January 1968: TRT 1 opened at and closed at

Radio channels

thumb|TRT Radio Istanbul headquarters in Harbiye, [[Şişli, Istanbul]]

  • Radyo 1 (launched in May 1927) – spoken-word programmes including culture, arts, drama, news, science, society, education and history...
  • TRT FM (formerly Radyo 2, launched in May 1964) – A mixture of Turkish pop, folk and classical music, foreign pop, call ins, news and travel information
  • Radyo 3 (launched in September 1974) – Classical music, jazz, world music, foreign pop & rock
  • (formerly Radyo 6, launched in 2009) – Broadcasting in Kurdish language for Kurds in Turkey
  • (launched in September 1993) – News programmes. Also a sport news, comment with news. Sometimes common voice with TRT Haber TV channel.
  • TRT Nağme – Turkish classical music
  • (formerly TRT Avrupa FM) – Broadcasting for Turks in Europe
  • TRT Türkü – Turkish folk music and türkü
  • Voice of Turkey (launched in December 1982) – Broadcasting with 41 different languages and around the World.

Regional channels

  • Antalya Radyosu – Broadcasting in Antalya, covers west Mediterranean Region, Turkey
  • Çukurova Radyosu – Broadcasting in Mersin, covers east Mediterranean Region, Turkey
  • Erzurum Radyosu – Broadcasting in Erzurum, covers Eastern Turkey
  • GAP Diyarbakır Radyosu – Broadcasting in Diyarbakır, covers South Eastern Turkey
  • Trabzon Radyosu – Broadcasting in Trabzon, covers Northern Turkey

Mobile/Web Applications

  • tabii (launched May 2023) - tabii is international watch platform. Language with English, Turkish, Urdu, Arabic and Spanish. Availability content with TRT content, Turkish & World movie/serie(s), documentary, kids content, sport and tabii's originals. Live TV channels with TRT channels, tabii TV, tabii Çocuk, tabii Spor. Sport contents as UEFA Europa, UEFA Champions and UEFA Conference League.
  • TRT Arabi Mobile App - Similar of TRT Haber mobile application. News content as Arabic.
  • TRT Çocuk Mobile Apps - TRT Çocuk's mobile applications with "TRT Çocuk" (mobile app), "TRT Çocuk Oyun Dünyası" (game), "TRT Çocuk Kitaplık" (book) and trtcocuk.net.tr games.
  • TRT Dinle (launched 2020) - TRT Dinle is listen app with music, audiobook, podcast. Availability music content with Turkish/World pop & rock, Turkish folk & classical, jazz, classical music, world music, chill, blues, soft, soul and other. Live radio channels with Radyo 1, TRT FM, Radyo 3, TRT Nağme, TRT Türkü, TRT Radyo Haber, TRT Kurdî Radyo and other. Features with playlist, like, live radio, discover.
  • TRT Haber Mobile App - Embedding trthaber.com web content for show news as Turkey & World news, ecomony news, culture-art news, out of world news, news from TRT and other.
  • TRT World Mobile App - Similar of TRT Haber mobile application. News content as English.

Teletext and EPG

TRT started teletext trial-runs, called "Telegün", on 3 December 1990 on all TV channels. An electronic program guide (EPG) is available on 6 channels.

Exportation of TRT programmes

TRT, recognized as Turkey's state television broadcaster and engaged in public broadcasting, initially captured viewership with imported programs, series, and films from abroad, gradually expanding its screens to include domestic productions and producing its own content. Examining television studies at both international and national levels reveals that the societal, economic, and sociological challenges within countries have consistently been reflected in cinema or television productions throughout different periods.

Turkish TV series, widely popular within Turkey, have now gained international recognition, surpassing expectations and serving as a promotional tool for Turkey, leading the country to become the second-largest exporter of TV series globally . Turkey, exporting its TV programmes internationally since 1981, particularly highlighted by the export of the series "Aşk-ı Memnu" first aired on TRT in 1975 to France, has become the second-largest exporter of TV series globally after the United States as of 2019, and in 2022, it is known that around 100 Turkish series were exported to 150 countries, emphasizing the economic significance and communicative role of TV series. Turkish dramas have evolved from domestic productions to globally exported products, competing with local shows and U.S. imports in terms of viewership, and they have also expanded their reach to countries beyond their linguistic regions, including Azerbaijan, other Turkic-speaking nations, and Western Europe, where a significant expatriate Turkish audience resides. Considering all these, it can be noted that “Turkish TV series now reach 400 million viewers worldwide”. It should be also stated that "after 2010, the film and television sector received growing support from the Ministry of Customs and Trade to promote exports in the sector". Besides, "Turkish serials for television have typically been sold to international broadcasters in packages of 100 commercial hours per show. In another noteworthy development, TRT has been offering its original productions free of charge for international viewers, either dubbed or subtitled, on their YouTube platforms".

When Turkish exports initially gained popularity in the Middle East and Balkans, there was a prevailing belief that the resonance of content and characters with the cultural preferences of the audiences explained their widespread appeal. However, as research indicates that transnational viewers in the Middle East find the stories, traditions, and family relations relatable to their own reality, it is noteworthy that Turkish TV exports have also garnered popularity in diverse regions such as Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

TRT Persian launched in December 2024 aimed at Iran and international news in Persian for Iranian and international Persian audiences. Zahid Sobacı, director-general of TRT, previously said that TRT Persian would be launched by the end of 2024 and emphasized twice that “we must disturb Iran.”

News

TRT offers online news services in Turkish and other languages.

  • TRT Afrika
  • English
  • French
  • Hausa
  • Nigerian Pidgin
  • Swahili
  • Somali
  • TRT Arabi (Arabic)
  • TRT Balkan
  • Albanian
  • Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian
  • Bulgarian
  • Greek
  • Macedonian
  • Romanian
  • TRT Հայերեն (Armenian)
  • TRT Deutsch (German)
  • TRT Español (Spanish)
  • TRT Français (French)
  • TRT Haber (Turkish)
  • TRT Kurdî (Kurdish)
  • TRT на русском (Russian)
  • TRT World (English)
  • TRT Azərbaycan (Azerbaijani)
  • TRT Chinese (Chinese)
  • TRT دری (Dari)
  • TRT Nederlands (Dutch)
  • TRT ქართული (Georgian)
  • TRT עִבְרִית Hebrew)
  • TRT हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • TRT Magyar (Hungarian)
  • TRT Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • TRT Italiano (Italian)
  • TRT 日本語 (Japanese)
  • TRT Қазақша (Kazakh)
  • TRT 글로벌 (Korean)
  • TRT Кыргызча (Kyrgyz)
  • TRT Melayu (Malay)
  • TRT پښتو (Pashto)
  • TRT فارسی (Persian)
  • TRT Polski (Polish)
  • TRT Português (Portuguese)
  • TRT Tatarça (Tatar (Latin))
  • TRT Türkmençe (Turkmen)
  • TRT اُردُو (Urdu)
  • TRT ئۇيغۇرچە (Uyghur (Arabic))
  • TRT Oʻzbekcha (Uzbek)
  • Discontinued:
  • Tatar (Cyrillic)
  • Uyghur (Latin/Cyrillic)
  • Turki (South Azerbaijani)
  • Afghani (Southern Uzbek)
  • Turkmence
  • Danish
  • Finnish
  • Norwegian
  • Swedish

Logos

<gallery>

File:TRT Oldest Logo.svg|1968 - 1985

File:TRT logo (1980).svg|1985 – 1990

File:TRT logo (1990-2001).svg|1990 – 2001

File:Turkish Radio and Television logo (2001-2012).svg|2001 – 2018, still used in some channels until 2021.

File:TRT logo (2018-).svg|2018 – present, first used by TRT World from 2015.

</gallery>

See also

  • Timeline of broadcast in Turkey
  • Media freedom in Turkey (covers censorship aspects)
  • Media of Turkey
  • Emel Gazimihal (first female speaker)

References

  • TRT World
  • TRT Sales