History
The idea of creating a Polish channel in Lithuania, TVP Wilno, appeared already in 2010, but its implementation ended in failure. [3] At the beginning of May 2016, after a five-year break, the permanent foreign correspondence office of TVP in Vilnius was reactivated. [4] Work related to the launch of the channel resumed in July 2018, when Mirosław Ciunowicz, as the representative of the management board, started creating the editorial office of the TVP Wilno channel. [5] The then head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Michał Dworczyk, announced in August 2018 that the channel would be launched in the fall of the same year. [5] On January 11, 2019, member of the management board of TVP S.A. and one of the originators of the station, Maciej Stanecki, stated at the conference that under favorable conditions, TVP Wilno may launch at the turn of March and April 2019. [6]
On March 21, 2019, the president of Telewizja Polska, Jacek Kurski, and the secretary of state for the Polish diaspora, European policy and public diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, signed an agreement on the creation, co-financing and distribution of the TVP Wilno channel, which, according to the plans, was to be launched in May 2019. [7] [2] [8] On July 1, 2019, Telewizja Polska announced the completion of the team and announced the start of tests in the same month. [9] On September 4, 2019, during the 29th Economic Forum in Krynica, a press conference of Telewizja Polska was held regarding the inauguration of TVP Wilno. [10]
The channel started broadcasting on September 17, 2019 at 17:30 Polish time (18:30 Lithuanian time). The first program broadcast was the Info Wilno news service. On the same day, the inaugural gala of TVP Wilno took place at the Polish Cultural Center in Vilnius, attended by: Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki, Minister of Communication of Lithuania Jarosław Narkiewicz, head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister Michał Dworczyk, Chancellor of the Government of Lithuania Algirdas Stončaitis, Polish ambassador to Lithuania - Urszula Doroszewska, Secretary of State for the Polish diaspora, European policy and public diplomacy - Szymon Szynkowski aka Sęk, chairman of the National Broadcasting Council - Witold Kołodziejski, president of TVP S.A. Jacek Kurski, member of the management board of TVP S.A. Marzena Paczuska and invited guests. [11]
Initially, the TVP Vilnius program consisted of the TVP Polonia schedule and a specially prepared block of programs for the residents of Lithuania, broadcast during prime time from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Polish time (6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Lithuanian time). [10] Currently, the station broadcasts an independent program every day 24 hours a day. [2]
On May 2, 2021, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the head of the Lithuanian government Ingrida Šimonytė signed the foundation act regarding the expansion of the Polish Cultural Center in Vilnius and the new headquarters of TVP Vilnius, and in September of the same year, the cornerstone for the expansion was laid. On September 10, 2021, the program began broadcasting in high definition. [12] In March 2023, a new, refreshed version of the TVP Wilno online portal was made available - wilno.tvp.pl. [13] Exactly two years after signing the foundation act - on May 2, 2023 - the new headquarters of the TVP Wilno editorial office was opened, which houses, among others, modern studio and newsroom facilities. [2]
