Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRN) () is a

unitary enterprise A unitary enterprise () is a government-owned corporation in Russia and some other post-Soviet states. Unitary enterprises are business entities that have no ownership rights to the assets that they use in their operations. This form is possibl ...

created on August 13, 2001, by

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

of the president of the Russian Federation. The company is included in the list of Russian strategic enterprises. RTRN operates Russia's

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV, DTT, or DTTB) is a technology for terrestrial television, in which television stations broadcast television content in a digital signal, digital format. Digital terrestrial television is a major technologica ...

(DTT) network — the largest operating broadcasting network in the world. It consists of 5040 transmission sites and 10,080 transmitters. Almost 75% out of the 5040 transmission sites were built from scratch. RTRN's DTT services cover 98,4% of the Russian population. RTRN provides terrestrial transmission of 20 must-carry public television channels and three radio stations broadcasting over the territory of the Russian Federation. RTRN also serves other radio and television channels of both all-Russian and regional types distributing the programs of the latter. Multichannel terrestrial radio and television broadcasting in Russia is provided by 78 broadcasting centers functioning as RTRN regional branches. Moscow broadcasting signal reaches the regions through satellite and land communication channels. RTRN was appointed to execute the deployment of the DTT network in the

DVB-T2 DVB-T2 is an abbreviation for "Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial"; it is the extension of the television standard DVB-T, issued by the consortium DVB, devised for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial telev ...

standard according to the federal target programme "Development of TV and Radio Broadcasting in the Russian Federation in 2009-2018". RTRN is a member of DVB consortium, and was a member of 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) before withdrawal from the union in February 2022.

Organization's activities

The Digital Switchover

Since 2010, in accordance with the federal target program "Development of Television and Radio Broadcasting in the Russian Federation for 2009-2018," RTRN has begun construction of a

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

network in Russia. In December 2018, the construction of all necessary infrastructure for broadcasting terrestrial television in digital format in all regions of Russia was completed and the last tower, named "Hurrah", was inaugurated. The Federal target Program is considered the largest digital television development program in the world. In 2012, by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 287-r dated March 3, 2012, the

standard was recognized as the unified standard for digital terrestrial television in Russia. The transfer of the

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 ...

digital terrestrial television network operating since 2010 to the DVB-T2 standard was completed on January 15, 2015 throughout Russia. The DVB-T2 standard is broadcast in Russia only by RTRN. RTRN is the only on—air operator of the first, second and subsequent multiplexes of digital terrestrial television in Russia. In digital terrestrial television, the first and second multiplexes are called RTRN-1 and RTRN-2. The signal is transmitted, as a rule, at frequencies in the

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

(Ultra high frequency) range. The first and second multiplexes in digital terrestrial television are free for viewers, are not encoded and are open ( FTA) for reception without the use of a

conditional access Conditional access (CA) is a term commonly used in relation to software and to digital television systems. Conditional access is an evaluation to ensure the person who is seeking access to content is authorized to access the content. Access is man ...

system throughout Russia. In 2013, RTRN began broadcasting the second multiplex in Russia. Until 2019, during the transition period, RTRN conducted parallel digital and analog broadcasts of mandatory publicly available TV channels, as long as broadcasters were willing to pay for broadcasting in both formats. In 2019, the broadcasting of federal channels in analog format ceased. RTRN continued to broadcast in analog format only regional and municipal TV channels that were not included in the "digital Twenty". The regions switched to digital television broadcasting without problems thanks to the work of the hotline and volunteers. The audience was assisted by 70,000 volunteers, 30,000 municipal social workers, and 50,000 Russian Post employees. By August 2024, the coverage of the RTRN digital television network had increased to 98.6% of Russian residents.

Regional digital broadcasting

In 2017, RTRN, in close cooperation with VGTRK, organized regional digital terrestrial television and radio broadcasting and began broadcasting regional programs everywhere as part of the first multiplex. Regional programs are available on NTV,

Russia-1 Russia-1 () is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship channel of the All-Russia ...

, Russia-24 TV channels and radio stations Radio Rossii,

Mayak The Mayak Production Association (, , from 'lighthouse') is one of the largest nuclear facilities in the Russian Federation, housing Production reactor, production reactors (''non'' electricity) and a reprocessing plant. The closest settlement ...

Vesti FM Vesti FM (, ''News FM'') is a Russian national radio station owned and operated by VGTRK. The station's manager is Ekaterina Shchekina. Operating throughout Russia, the station broadcasts on FM and MW and it, along with Radio Rossii and Radio ...

. Providing the population of the Russian Federation with regional digital terrestrial television and radio broadcasting was the main objective of the federal target program "Development of Television and Radio Broadcasting in the Russian Federation for 2009-2018". To achieve this goal, RTRS created a multiplexing center in each region, developed and patented an original technology for distributed program modification. Since November 2019, programs of mandatory publicly available regional channels have been released in digital format also on OTR as part of the first multiplex. Local news and broadcasts are broadcast up to five hours a day: three hours in the morning and two in the evening.

Digital TV services

Through DVB-T2 digital terrestrial television, RTRN provides free-of-charge services: SDTV standard definition television, digital radio, stereo sound, subtitles, teletext, TV guide, time and date synchronization with digital broadcast data, interactive hybrid television in the

HbbTV Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) is both an industry standard ( European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) TS 102 796) and promotional initiative for hybrid digital television to harmonise the broadcast, Internet Protocol Televi ...

standard.

Planned maintenance services

In the future, RTRN plans to provide services through digital terrestrial television DVB-T2: high-definition HDTV, ultra-high definition UHDTV,

Dolby Digital Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3 (see below), is the name for a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, it is lossy compression (except for Dolby Tr ...

sound, multi-sound (choice of broadcast language), audio transcription, notification system, access to the government portal services ("Electronic Government").

Radio broadcasting

Analog radio broadcasting

RTRN conducts analog terrestrial radio broadcasting in two frequency-modulated ultrashort wave ( VHF) bands: 65.90-74.00 MHz (VHF OIRT) and 87.5-108.0 MHz (VHF CCIR, FM).

Digital radio broadcasting

RTRN broadcasts the all-Russian radio stations Radio of Russia, Mayak and Vesti FM in digital quality as part of the first RTRN-1 multiplex. In the 2010s, RTRN tested digital radio broadcasting standards with the assistance of the Ministry of Digital Communications of Russia, including the DRM standard. In 2018, for the introduction of this technology, RTRN received the Zvorykin Award in the nomination "For the creation and/or improvement of equipment/technology in the field of television and radio production".

Unique TV towers

The tallest TV tower in RTRN's network is the

Ostankino Tower Ostankino Tower () is a television and radio tower in Moscow, Russia, owned by the Moscow branch of unitary enterprise Russian TV and Radio Broadcasting Network. Standing , it was designed by Nikolai Nikitin. , it is the tallest free-standin ...

in Moscow. Ostankino was designed by

Nikolai Nikitin Nikolai Vasilyevich Nikitin (; 15 December 1907 – 3 March 1973) was a Soviet architect, structural designer and construction engineer, best known for his monumental structures. Biography Early life Nikolai was born in Tobolsk, Russian Empire ...

. It was erected in 1967. Ostankino was built to mark the 50th anniversary of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

. It is named after the surrounding Ostankino district of Moscow. The tower is the tallest free-standing building in Russia and a symbol of Russian broadcasting. It is currently the tallest free-standing structure in Europe and 11th tallest in the world. Between 1967 and 1974, it was the tallest in the world. With 1,771 feet tall (540 m), Ostankino tower is one of the most famous landmarks of Moscow attracting thousands of tourists per year. The TV tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers (WFGT). The other concrete structure in RTRN's network is Novorossiysk TV Tower. The tower is used for FM and TV transmission in

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was History In antiquity, the shores of the ...

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

. It was completed in 1996 and is 261 metres tall. Saint Petersburg Television Tower is the second-tallest tower after the concrete

and the tallest lattice tower in Russia, possessing a total height of 326 m (1,070 ft). It was the first dedicated television tower in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and now is utilized for transmitting for FM-/ TV-broadcasting throughout the

federal city The term federal city is a title for certain cities in Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and several national capitals. Germany In Germany, the former West German capital Bonn has been designated with the title of federal city (''Bundesstadt''), ma ...

. The Saint Petersburg TV Tower ranks as the eleventh-tallest lattice tower in the world, the second-tallest television tower, and the tallest lattice television tower in the whole of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Telecommunications companies of Russia Federal State Unitary Enterprises of Russia Companies based in Moscow