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| Programming | |
|---|---|
| Picture format | 576i (16:9SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Polcast Television |
| Sister channels | Tele 5 Water Planet Novela TV |
| History | |
| Launched | March 7, 1993 |
| Links | |
| Website | [1] |
Polonia 1 is one of the firstPolishcommercial television channels, consisting at first of a network of 12 (and - for a short time - even 13) local TV stations in bigger cities. The station was established bySardinian businessman Nicola Grauso, who shared a connection withSilvio Berlusconi.
Polonia 1 began broadcasting on air on March 7, 1993 by means of the following TV stations:
The broadcast of common block in each of the station, received daily onVHS tapes, began each day at 16:15 and lasted till midnight. Time was filled with such productions likeJapanese animated films, adventure and detective TV series (such asMacGyver andThe A-Team), Argentiniansoap operas such asManuela [es],Maria, andStellina, and also movies and documentaries produced by the local communities. Remaining broadcast time was filled with either re-runs of Polonia 1, or stations' own productions. (local news, etc.). There were exceptions from that general rule, asPTV Copernicus broadcastporn movies in the morning hours.
Polonia 1 gained huge popularity, becoming Poland's second most viewed TV station in 1994, second only to Poland's national broadcasterTVP1; this number is, however, questioned by many experts. In the licence competition announced same year, Polonia 1 lost due to exceeding the permissible 33% foreign capital share in the company - all-Poland licence was then assigned toPolsat.
Also local broadcasting frequencies competitions were lost by Polonia 1, asNational Council of Radio Broadcasting and Television (KRRiT) accused stations of the lack of independence fromItalian investors.
Despite not receiving licences, Polonia 1 stations still broadcast, still trying to undermine concession decisions ofKRRiT withSupreme Administrative Court of Poland (NSA) - with no effect.
August 29, 1994 was the day when prosecutor's office inWarsaw,Kraków,Opole,Lublin,Poznań andSzczecin (with the support of localanti-terrorist teams) conducted action of closing Polonia 1 stations, which broadcast on frequencies reserved solely for the usage ofPolish military. Broadcasters were accused of direct life endangering.
After about 2 weeks following the closure, Polonia 1 started broadcasting viaEutelsatSatellite.
September 21, 1994 saw another wave of closing stations - this time inGdynia,Łódź,Katowice andOlsztyn. Remaining stations inBydgoszcz andWrocław - after broadcasting for the next few months, willingly switched off theirTransmitters.
Despite earlier announcements, Polonia 1 did not compete in the next licence competition.Nicola Grauso withdrew fromPoland. Polonia 1 was sold toPolcast and now consists of lifestyle programming,teleshopping and pornography movies.
Between 1994 and 1997, Polonia 1 was distributed on the Romanian channelTVR 2 on Saturday nights.
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