International Radio and Television Organisation

Alliance of media entities

"Intervision Network" redirects here. For other uses, see Intervision.

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International Radio and Television Organisation

Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision

The OIRT logo

Members at the date of dissolution

Members who participated at various times before dissolution

Associate members

Merged into| European Broadcasting Union
Established| 28 June 1946; 78 years ago (1946-06-28)
Dissolved| 1 January 1993; 32 years ago (1993-01-01)
Type| Union of broadcasting organisations
Headquarters| Brussels, Belgium (1946–1950)
Prague, Czechoslovakia (1950–1993)

The International Radio and Television Organisation (official name in French: Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision or OIRT (before 1960 International Broadcasting Organization (IBO), official name in French: Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion (OIR)) was an East European network of radio and television broadcasters with the primary purpose of establishing ties and securing an interchange of information between those various organizations responsible for broadcasting services, promoting the interests of broadcasting, seeking by international cooperation a solution to any matter relating to broadcasting, and studying and working out all measures having as their aim the development of broadcasting.

## History

[edit]

Without British participation, 26 members founded the OIR on 28 June 1946. The next day, at the General Assembly of the International Broadcasting Union (IBU), an attempt was made to dissolve this body, but the motion failed to obtain the required majority. However, 18 of the 28 existing members left the IBU and become co-founders of the new OIR.[1]

In 1946, the newly created OIR installed itself in the IBU building in Brussels. Technical activity was taken up again under the authority of two directors, one delegated by the Soviet Union and the other by France. However, the political situation gradually degraded into the Cold War and this created an uneasy situation of distrust within the staff of the Technical Centre.[1]

In 1950 some members (mostly western European) left the organization to form the new European Broadcasting Union (EBU), among them Belgium, Egypt, France, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Tunisia and Yugoslavia.[1]

Broadcasting organizations from the following countries remained members: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland (also a member of EBU), East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Syria and the Soviet Union.

As a consequence, the OIR headquarters and its Technical Centre was relocated from Brussels to Prague in 1950.[2][3] Staff members from Belgium and other Western countries, some of whom had already been active before the war, stayed on in Brussels and the centre became the technical centre of the new EBU.

Unlike the EBU, the OIRT was not limited to European and Mediterranean countries and operated as a global organization. Members of the organization included countries aligned with the Eastern bloc, such as Cuba, Vietnam, the People's Republic of China and North Korea (although the latter's membership was temporarily inactive after their break with the USSR), as well as the allies of the USSR that were temporarily led by communist parties, such as Nicaragua and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, and the African and Middle Eastern states having been temporarily associated or supported by the socialist camp.

On January 1, 1993, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the OIRT merged with the European Broadcasting Union and all European OIRT memberships were transferred to the EBU.[3][4]

## Intervision

[edit]

One of several logos used by the Intervision Network. This one comes from the Soviet Union.

The television network of OIRT was established in 1960 and was called Intervision[5] (Russian Интервидение, German Intervision, Albanian Intervizioni, Bulgarian Интервизия, Polish Interwizja, Czech Intervize, Slovak Intervízia, Hungarian Intervízió, Romanian Interviziune, Finnish Intervisio).

Between 1977 and 1980 the OIRT organised four Intervision Song Contests in Sopot, Poland, in an attempt to imitate the Eurovision Song Contest.

## History of members

[edit]

Country  | Organism  | Abbreviation | Date of joining  | Date of exit

|
|
|
|

Afghanistan | Radio Television Afghanistan | RTA | 1978 | 1992
Albania | Radio Televizioni Shqiptar | RTSH | 1946 | 1961
Algeria | Radiodiffusion télévision algérienne | RTA | 1962 | 1970
Belgium | Institut national de radiodiffusion | INR | 1946 | 1950
Nationaal Instituut voor de Radio-omroep | NIR | 1946 | 1950
Belarus | Bielaruśkaja Tele-Radio Kampanija | BTRC | 1991 | 1992
Bulgaria | Bălgarsko Nationalno Radio | BNR | 1946 | 1992
Bălgarska Nationalna Televizija | BNT | 1959 | 1992
China | Radio Peking | RP | 1952 | 1961
Beijing Television | BTV | 1958 | 1961
Cuba | Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión | ICRT | 1962 | 1992
Czechoslovakia | Československý rozhlas | ČSR | 1946 | 1992
Československá televise | ČST | 1957 | 1992
Egypt | Egyptian Radio and Television Union | ERTU | 1946 | 1950
Estonia | Eesti Raadio | ER | 1991 | 1992
Eesti Televisioon | ETV | 1991 | 1992
Finland | Yleisradio | Yle | 1946 | 1992
France | Radiodiffusion française
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française | RDF / RTF | 1946 | 1950
East Germany | Rundfunk der DDR | DDR | 1951 | 1990
Deutscher Fernsehfunk | DFF | 1952 | 1990
Hungary | Magyar Rádió | HU | 1946 | 1992
Magyar Televízió | MTV | 1952 | 1992
Italy | RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana | RAI | 1946 | 1950
Latvia | Latvijas Radio | LR | 1991 | 1992
Latvijas Televīzija | LTV | 1991 | 1992
Lebanon | Télé Liban | TL | 1946 | 1950
Lithuania | Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija | LRT | 1991 | 1992
Luxembourg | Compagnie luxembourgeoise de radiodiffusion | CLR | 1946 | 1950
Moldova | TeleRadio-Moldova | TRM | 1991 | 1992
Monaco | Radio Monte Carlo | RMC | 1946 | 1950
Morocco | Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision | SNRT | 1946 | 1950
Netherlands | Nederlandse Radio Unie | NRU | 1946 | 1950
Nicaragua | Sistema Sandinista de Televisión | SSTV | 1984 | 1990
North Korea | Korean Central Broadcasting Committee | KCBC | 1953 | 1992
Poland | Polskie Radio | PR | 1946 | 1992
Telewizja Polska | TVP | 1952 | 1992
Romania | Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune | ROR | 1946 | 1992
Televiziunea Română | TVR | 1956 | 1992
Russia | Radio Dom Ostankino :
\- Radio Mayak (MK)
\- Radio Orpheus (OP)
\- Voice of Russia (VOR) | RDO | 1991 | 1992
Kanal Ostankino | C1 | 1991 | 1992
RossijskoeTeleradio | RTR | 1991 | 1992
Soviet Union | Vsesoyuznoye radio |  | 1946 | 1991
Tsentral'noye televideniye SSSR | TsT SSSR | 1946 | 1991
Syria | Organisme de la Radio-Télévision Arabe Syrienne | ORTAS | 1946 | 1992
Tunisia | Radio Tunis | RT | 1946 | 1950
Ukraine | Natsionalna Radiokompanya Ukraïny | NRU | 1991 | 1992
Natsionalna Telekompaniya Ukraïny | NTU | 1991 | 1992
Vietnam | Voice of Vietnam | VOV | 1956 | 1992
Vietnam Television | VTV | 1976 | 1992
South Yemen | Aden Radio |  | 1971 | 1990
Yemen TV |  | 1971 | 1990
Yugoslavia | Jugoslovenska Radio-Televizija | JRT | 1946 | 1950

## Associated members

[edit]

Country  | Organism  | Abbreviation | Date of joining  | Date of withdraw

|
|
|
|

West Germany | Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland | ARD | 1988 | 1992
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen | ZDF | 1988 | 1992
Mongolia | Mongolian National Broadcaster | MNB | 1967 | 1992

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "EBU 50th Anniversary" (PDF). Difussion EBU. Geneva: European Broadcasting Union. 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
2. ^ Lewis, David (January 20, 2012). "The Situation of Public Broadcasting in Europe" (PDF). Geneva: European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 12, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2017. "The EBU was founded in 1950 and initially drew its membership largely from western Europe, while a rival sister organization based in Prague, the OIRT, served the state broadcasters under Soviet domination the other side of the Iron Curtain."
3. ^ a b Central and Eastern Europe: Audiovisual landscape and copyright legislation. Audiovisual Eureka and European Audiovisual Observatory. 1994. ISBN 978-9-0621-5459-3. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
4. ^ "50 years of Eurovision" (PDF). EBU Dossiers. Geneva: European Broadcasting Union. January 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2005. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
5. ^ Paulu, Burton (1967). "Programs: information". Radio and Television Broadcasting on the European Continent. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 141\. ISBN 9780816660469. OCLC 321366. Retrieved July 24, 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Intertel from Transdiffusion Archived 2008-06-08 at the Wayback Machine

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