Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (; ), or CyBC (; ), is

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

public broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

service. It transmits island-wide on four radio and two domestic television channels, and uses one satellite channel for the Cypriot diaspora. It also transmits on a separate high definition channel. CyBC is a public broadcaster, meaning it is non profit and thus has no shareholders. CyBC was partially funded by a

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

on electric bills, a practice which ended on 1 July 2000;Cyprus Mail: CyBC ‘mustn’t take subsidy for granted’
..From 1st day of July, EAC bills will no longer include a CyBC levy ../ref> CyBC is currently funded by the state budget. The amount of the tax was dependent on the size of the home and, as a

hypothecated tax The hypothecation of a tax (also known as the ring-fencing or earmarking of a tax) is the dedication of the revenue from a specific tax for a particular expenditure purpose. This approach differs from the classical method according to which all g ...

for public television, was similar in principle to the

television licence A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

systems in other countries. The corporation is a member of the international broadcasting community, belonging to the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU), the Broadcasting Organisation of Non-Aligned Countries (BONAC) and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA).

History and legal framework

CyBC began as the Cyprus Broadcasting Service, with its first radio broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday, 4 October 1953. Programmes were broadcast in Greek, Turkish and English on 434 and 495 metres

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...

(691 and 606 kilohertz). The station provided a free weekly broadcast known as ''Radio Cyprus''. Television broadcasting began on 1 October 1957. Broadcasts were initially five days a week, averaging three hours a day, and the service covered a radius of 33 kilometres from

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

. On 1 January 1959, the CBS ceased to be a government department and was renamed the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation under Chapter 300A of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Act. The corporation was modelled in part on the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

. CyBC was admitted as an associate member of the

on 1 January 1964, becoming an active member five years later. As the state broadcaster, CBC is responsible for implementing the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. According to Article 171 of the constitution: Article 19 of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Act (Chapter 300A) states:

Television

CyBC operates three domestic channels (CyBC 1, CyBC 2 and CyBC HD) and an international service (RIK Sat) for the Cypriot diaspora. It also carries

Euronews Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...

, and ERT World. On 1 July 2011 all analogue television transmissions ended, and CyBC broadcasts on its own

DVB-T DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Fe ...

network.

RIK 1

RIK 1 features news and current-affairs programming in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: political, financial and sports news; documentaries and feature films, operas, concerts, ballets and plays.

RIK 2

RIK 2 primarily carries entertainment programming: Cypriot and foreign series, feature films, Cypriot and foreign movies, music and children's programmes. It also broadcasts news in Greek, Turkish and English. Since 1 February 1993, PIK2 has simulcast

as part of its daily schedule (about 80 hours per week).

RIK HD

RIK HD channel simulcasts domestic and international special events along with the standard-definition channels. Events simulcast in HD by CyBC in 2013 included Formula 1 auto racing,

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

, the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

and the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

RIK Satellite

RIK Satellite is the international service of RIK TV, broadcasting to Europe and North America. It is currently available as a

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

service in Europe on the Hellas Sat 2 and Eutelsat 33E

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

s and as a digital terrestrial television channel in Greece. In North America, Titan Television is the distributor for Canada and the United States. On 23 September 2014, the channel debuted in Canada on Bell Fibe TV.

Radio

CyBC has four radio channels (First, Second, Third and Fourth), which aim to transmit quality programs and provide information, culture and entertainment to all communities in Cyprus. Programs are broadcast in a number of languages 24 hours a day and are also available via satellite and on the Internet.

First Channel

The First Channel known as RIK Proto (CyBC Radio 1) features news, current affairs, educational and cultural programmes on 963 and 693 kHz AM and 97.2, 92.4, 105 and 91.4 MHz FM. It has programming for children and young adults on history and classical, modern and traditional music. Since 27 June 1999 CyBC has broadcast a program for

Maronites Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally resided near Mount ...

, ''The Voice of Maronites''. A programme for the Catholic community began on 13 November 1999.

Second Channel

This channel, known as RIK Deftero (CyBC Radio 2), is a service for Cyprus's Turkish and Armenian communities. The Armenian broadcast is from 17:00 to 18.00 daily. The broadcast to the

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

aims to maintain ties with them, and programming includes three news bulletins daily (at 07:30, 13:15 and 16:50). The Second Channel is on 91.1, 93.1, 94.2 and 97.9 MHz FM is streamed online at www.cybc.com.cy and can also be heard on Hellas Sat in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Third Channel

The Third Channel, known as RIK Triton (CyBC Radio 3) the most popular CyBC channel in Cyprus, is primarily an entertainment and information channel on 603 and 1044 kHz AM and 94.8, 94, 96 and 106.7 MHz FM.

Fourth Channel

The Fourth Channel is known as RIK Classic (CyBC Classic) and presents classical, jazz and classic rock music on 88.2, 90.2, 90.5 and 100.9 MHz FM.

External Service

CyBC Greek-language programming is available for Greek Cypriot expatriates in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on weekends via

shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30& ...

. The External Service uses a transmitter, operated by VT Communications, which is also used for

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

programming in the area. The External Service daily news broadcast is also rebroadcast in the United Kingdom by the UK radio station London Greek Radio.

Logos

File:Cybc.jpg, 2000–2015 File:CyBC new logo.png, 2015–2017 File:Logo RIK 2017.svg, 2017–present

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Publicly funded broadcasters Television channels in Cyprus Greek-language television stations European Broadcasting Union members Multilingual broadcasters Radio stations established in 1953 Television channels and stations established in 1957 1953 establishments in Cyprus State media Government-owned companies of Cyprus Defunct shortwave radio stations