TV channels Belarus

Belarusian television is built around the state: the National State TV and Radio Company runs the flagship national channels and the thematic stations, an international service speaks to audiences abroad, and the Vitebsk region keeps its own local screens.

The Three National Channels

Belarus-1 is the country's main television channel and the flagship of the National State TV and Radio Company, combining news, entertainment and information programming for a national audience. ONT - Obshchenatsionalnoye Televideniye, or All-National Television - is Belarus's second state-owned station, established on 15 February 2002 by presidential decree when it took over the former relays of Russia's Channel One; its grid mixes national news and current affairs with entertainment shows, series and cultural programming. STV, Stolichnoe Television from Minsk, registered in October 2000, completes the trio of channels with national coverage, offering films, news and entertainment.

Thematic Channels of the State Broadcaster

Beyond the flagship trio, the Belteleradio family supplies the thematic stations. Belarus 2 is the family entertainment channel aimed at a younger audience, with entertainment shows, educational programmes, comedy series and cinema. Belarus 3 is the socio-cultural channel, following cultural events in Belarus and around the world. Belarus 5 Internet is the company's sports project for online viewing, the internet arm of its sports coverage.

Beyond the Borders, and Back to the Regions

Belarus 24 is the international satellite channel of the state broadcaster, on air since 2005 and known earlier as Belarus TV; it presents the country to audiences abroad, primarily in Russian, drawing on the programmes of the national channels. Regional broadcasting is carried by two Vitebsk services: Belarus 4 Vitebsk, the company's regional project for the Vitebsk area combining local news and events with films and series, and the municipal TV channel Vitebsk, one of the city's sources of local news, culture and entertainment.