Lithuanian National Radio and Television

Last updated
Lithuanian National Radio and Television
Native name
Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija
TypePublicly funded public service broadcaster
Industry Mass media
FoundedJune 12, 1926;97 years ago (1926-06-12) (radio)
April 30, 1957;66 years ago (1957-04-30) (television)
Headquarters
S. Konarskio g. 49, Vilnius
,
Lithuania
Area served
Lithuania
Key people
Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė (CEO)
Production output
LRT Studios
ServicesTelevision, radio, online
Website www.lrt.lt

Lithuanian National Radio and Television (Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija) is a non-profit news network that has been providing regular radio services since 1926 and television broadcasts since 1957. LRT joined the European Broadcasting Union in 1993. LRT operates three national television channels, radio stations and an internet website.

Contents

LRT is the largest media group in Lithuania and is publicly owned. Its main purpose is to serve the public interest and the public's right to trustworthy and objective information. LRT's radio and television services operate from its headquarters in Vilnius. LRT radijas, the main LRT radio station, has the biggest share in Lithuanian radio market and pays most of attention to the operative news and educative on-air production.

History

LRT headquarters in Vilnius LRT by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg
LRT headquarters in Vilnius

The Lithuanian Radio started regular broadcasting on 12 June 1926. The television service has been broadcasting since 30 April 1957. In 1965, radio broadcasts were started in English. In 1975, the first coloured programme from LRT was broadcast. Radio and television services are now operating from LRT headquarters in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. At the end of 2019, LRT employed approx. 600 people. [1] In May 2007 LRT started a project of converting all of its films, including some five thousand hours of cinefilm and some 30,000 hours of videotapes to digital. The oldest entry dates back to 1895.

LRT comprises seven media channels broadcasting nation-wide. The content of all the channels is integrated and shared across all three platforms: television, radio, and on-line (web-portal and LRT's accounts on social media networks). LRT produces around two-thirds of its content in-house, while one third is commissioned from external producers. [1]

In delivering international news coverage, LRT cooperates with private and public media, including Deutsche Welle, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and others. LRT was admitted as a fully active member of the European Broadcasting Union on 1 January 1993. From the restoration of independence in 1991 to 31 December 1992, LRT was a member of the International Radio and Television Organisation.

Governance

LRT entry hall LRT entry hall.jpg
LRT entry hall

The LRT Council is the highest governing institution of LRT. The Council supervises the implementation of the LRT mission, approves the annual income and spending by LRT administration. The Council comprises twelve members prominent in social, scientific and cultural fields, appointed for six-year terms.

On financial issues, the LRT Council and the management are being consulted by the LRT Administrative Commission. The Administrative Commission is made up of five members – management and (or) finance specialists – who are appointed by the Council for a term of four years.

Currently, the LRT Council is chaired by Eugenijus Valatka with Irena Vaišvilaitė acting as Vice-Chair. [1]

Budget

LRT operations are funded by taxpayers. LRT budget depends directly on taxes collected in the year before the last. The state allocates 1.5 percent of the personal income tax and 1.3 percent of the collected excise duties. The LRT's budget for 2019 stood at 41.65 million euros. Budget project for 2020 envisages allocating 46.30 million euros for LRT. [1]

Between 1992 and 2015 LRT had received income from advertising. [2]

Facilities and equipment

Camera in one of the LRT studios LRT TV studios.jpg
Camera in one of the LRT studios

LRT has TV studios of 70 sq.m, 120 sq.m, two studios of 300 sq.m and one studio of 700 sq.m. LRT also uses OB stations for broadcasting. Studio facilities include modern computer graphics equipment.[ citation needed ]

Platforms and channels

LRT TV and live radio broadcasts are accessible globally on LRT.lt (except for foreign content which is restricted by authors' rights in other countries).

Radio

Television

Online

See also

Related Research Articles

Public broadcasting, sometimes public service broadcasting, is not subject to political interference or commercial influence.

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Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Something" written and performed by Andrius Pojavis. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. The national final took place over ten weeks and involved 39 competing entries. In the final, seven entries remained and the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote selected the top three to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, a jury vote entirely selected "Something" performed by Andrius Pojavis as the winner.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Attention" written by Vilija Matačiūnaitė and Viktoras Vaupšas. The song was performed by Vilija, which is the artistic name of Matačiūnaitė. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. The national final took place over 12 weeks and involved 20 artists and 16 songs competing in two different competitive streams. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote, and "Attention" performed by Vilija eventually emerged as the winner following the final.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "This Time" written by Vytautas Bikus and Monika Liubinaitė. The song was performed by Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. The national final took place over eight weeks and involved 12 artists and 12 songs competing in two different competitive streams. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote, and "This Time" performed by Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila eventually emerged as the winner following the final.

Edita Mildažytė is a Lithuanian journalist, documentarian and social activist, widely known as the host of the longest running talk show in Lithuanian TV history, “Bėdų turgus”, on air since 2001.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "I've Been Waiting for This Night" written by Jonas Thander and Beatrice Robertsson. The song was performed by Donny Montell, who previously represented Lithuania in the 2012 contest with the song "Love Is Blind", placing 14th in the final. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. The national final took place over 10 weeks and involved 28 artists competing in two different competitive streams: artists that applied with a song and artists that were matched with a song from the song submissions LRT received because they did not have a song. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. In the final, six artists and songs remained and "I've Been Waiting For This Night" performed by Donny Montell was selected as the winner.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Rain of Revolution" written by Viktorija Ivanovskaja, Denis Zujev and Michail Levin. The song was performed by the band Fusedmarc. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The national final took place over 10 weeks and involved 49 competing entries. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. In the final, seven artists and songs remained and "Rain of Revolution" performed by Fusedmarc was selected as the winner.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Happy You" written and performed by Aivaras. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia. The national final involved 15 competing entries and "We All" performed by B'Avarija was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a jury panel, votes from the venue audience and a public vote, however the entry was later disqualified due to a Lithuanian version of the song being released on CD at the end of 2001 and replaced by runner-up "Happy You" performed by Aivaras.

Lithuania originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "On Fire" written by Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas and Mantas Banišauskas. The song was performed by the band The Roop. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final Pabandom iš naujo! 2020 in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The national final took place over six weeks and involved 36 competing entries. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. In the final, eight artists and songs remained and "On Fire" performed by the Roop was selected as the winner.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Discoteque" written by Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas, Laisvūnas Černovas, Kalle Lindroth and Ilkka Wirtanen. The song was performed by the band The Roop. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final Pabandom iš naujo! 2021 in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The national final took place over four weeks and involved 21 competing entries. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. In the final, six artists and songs remained and "Discoteque" performed by the Roop was selected as the winner.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Sentimentai" performed by Monika Liu. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final Pabandom iš naujo! 2022 in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2022 contest. The national final took place over six weeks and involved 34 competing entries. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. In the final, eight artists and songs remained and "Sentimentai" performed by Monika Liu was selected as the winner.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "Stay" performed by Monika Linkytė. The Lithuanian broadcaster, Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (LRT), used the national selection Pabandom iš naujo!2023 to select their representative.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "LRT - About LRT". apie.lrt.lt.
  2. "LRT uždrausta komercinė reklama, pakeistas finansavimo modelis". 23 December 2013.

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