Telecommunications in Albania include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
Television in Albania was first introduced in 1960. RTSH dominated the Albanian broadcasting field up to the mid-1990s, a period when privately owned radio and TV stations started to occupy the vast empty Albanian frequencies.
Radio Televizioni Shqiptar is the national public broadcasting company of Albania. Founded in 1938, it operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. The international television service via satellite RTSH Sat was launched in 1993 and is aimed at Albanian-speaking communities in Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and northern Greece, plus the Albanian diaspora in the rest of Europe. RTSH is funded by a combination of commercial advertising, an annual licence fee of US$10.00 and grant-in-aid from the Albanian government.
Radio Television of Kosovo is the public service broadcaster in Kosovo. RTK operates two radio services, offering a diverse range of news, music, and entertainment programs. Additionally, it runs four 24-hour television channels, broadcasting a variety of content including news, sports, culture, movies, and documentaries. RTK’s services are available on terrestrial and satellite networks, ensuring wide accessibility across Kosovo and to the diaspora.
Kënga Magjike is an annual music competition organised by the Albanian television broadcaster Televizioni Klan. The music competition has been broadcasting annually since its inauguration in 1999 with the exception of 2020 and 2023.
Vizion Plus is a national privately owned channel established in 1999 in Tirana, Albania. The channel started as a local station and a few years later began broadcasting all over Albanian territory.
Agim Zajmi was an Albanian painter. For his contribution to painting, he received the People's Artist of Albania medal.
Television in North Macedonia was first introduced in 1964; it remains the most popular news medium. The public broadcaster is the Macedonian Radio Television, founded in 1993. TEKO TV (1989) from Štip is the first private television channel in the country. Other popular private channels are: Sitel, Kanal 5, Telma, Alfa TV, Alsat-M and TV 24. Most private media are tied to political or business interests and state media tend to support the government. Public broadcast networks face stiff competition from commercial stations, which dominate the ratings. A European Union sponsored report says that with scores of TV and radio networks, the market is overcrowded and many local broadcasters are struggling to survive financially.
Television in Kosovo was first introduced in 1974. The Radio Television of Pristina was the first Albanian-speaking broadcaster in Kosovo, founded in 1974 following Radio Pristina's founding in 1945. It was forcefully shut down in 1990 by the Yugoslavian government, forbidding the flow of information through Kosovan airwaves during the Kosovo War. In wartime, the information blackout was covered by Radio 21 and Koha Ditore, while television was under the sole ownership of the Radio Television of Serbia.
ABC is an Albanian free-to-air television channel based in Tirana. It was founded in 2010 on the frequency of the defunct Italian-Albanian channel Telenorba Shqiptare and in 2019 was acquired by ABC Management sh.p.k. It is part of the ABC Media Group, together with Television 7 (T7) and Gazeta Express (gazetaexpress.com) in Kosovo. ABC News Radio, a radio relay channel is available on 105.0 FM in Tirana.
Elvana Gjata is an Albanian singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born and raised in Tirana, she has been referred to as a "Diva of Albanian music". She rose to recognition in Albania and other Albanian-speaking territories in the Balkans following the release of her two studio albums, Mamës (2007) and Afër dhe larg (2011). The singer saw further success through many acclaimed singles, as well as her extended plays 3 (2018) and Çelu (2021), and has achieved multiple number one singles in the Albanian singles chart. Gjata has also received numerous awards and accolades, including two Balkan Music Awards, a Festivali i Këngës Award, four Kënga Magjike Awards and a Top Fest Award.
The media in Pristina includes some of the most important newspapers, largest publishing houses and most prolific television studio. Pristina is the largest communications center of media in Kosova. Almost all of the major media organizations in Kosova are based in Pristina.
A1 Macedonia DOOEL Skopje is a telecommunications company in North Macedonia owned by A1 Telekom Austria Group. A1 offers broadband internet, cable and terrestrial television, mobile telephony and landline.
Klan Kosova is a Kosovan private cable television channel based in Pristina, Kosovo. It was founded on 2 December 2008 and launched on 17 February 2009 as a Kosovan affiliate to TV Klan under the supervision of media mogul Aleksandër Frangaj. It is currently one of the most popular private broadcasters in the country.
Fax News is an Albanian news television station first launched on October 6, 2017. The station is available on the national digital radio-television network. It is also offered as part of a package plan by ISP provider Abcom, part of the Tring terrestrial platform and can be also streamed online.
Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with the song "Karma" performed by Anxhela Peristeri. Its entry was selected through the national selection competition Festivali i Këngës organised by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) in December 2020. To this point, the nation had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since its first entry in 2004. Prior to the contest, the song was promoted by a music video and various television and radio appearances in Albania, Greece, Kosovo and San Marino.
"Thirr" is a song by Albanian singer and songwriter Elvana Gjata, written and composed by the singer and produced by Macedonian producer Darko Dimitrov. It was released as a single by Loudcom Media under exclusive license from East Music Matters on 4 February 2021. Musically, it is an Albanian-language ballad which lyrically touches on a past and painful relationship. A minimalist music video was uploaded to the singer's YouTube channel on her birthday on 3 February 2021.
TVALB is an Albanian-American IPTV/OTT platform designed for streaming TV channels from all over the world. Particularly, it was created for the Albanian community living in the US and Canada to provide them with their native video content.
Big Brother VIP Kosova 2, was the second season of Big Brother VIP Kosova, hosted by Alaudin Hamiti and Jonida Vokshi. The season began airing on 20 October 2023 on Klan Kosova, and ended after 106 days on 3 February 2024. The viewers can watch for the whole season live from the house in two live pay-per-view channels, with the name Big Brother VIP Kosova 1 and Big Brother VIP Kosova 2, which are available on the Kosovan TV platform Artmotion, as well as on NimiTV and TVALB for the Kosovo-Albanian diaspora in other countries of Europe, United States and Canada. For the first time, the show was also broadcast in Albania on the TV platform Tring.
Albania 