Romanian public television plans to bring back news, culture channels

The administration board of the public television TVR voted to re-establish the TVR Info and TVR Cultural channels, the institution announced.

The decision was taken “in response to the increased public interest in themed TV channels,” TVR explained.

It was voted on February 9, with nine votes in favor, three against, and one abstention.

“In a society undergoing increasingly accelerated changes, faced with the global phenomenon of fake news, it is the duty of TVR to increase its offer of quality, informative programs, based on rigorous research, but also to bring art and culture close to the viewers,” a release from the institution reads.

By re-establishing TVR Info and TVR Cultural, the public broadcaster will better define the identity of the existing TVR 1, TVR 2 and TVR 3 channels with predictable programming, it said.

TVR Cultural, launched in 2002, was the cultural channel of TVR. It aired cultural news, documentaries about the arts, and various other shows. It closed in September 2012.

TVR Info, a channel that broadcast news and utility information, was launched in 2008. It closed the same year as TVR Cultural.

“We shouldn’t forget that many Romanians lamented the closing of the two channels. We will have the opportunity to show the viewers how important these two projects are for society. It will show there is an audience for serious, quality productions,” Dan Cristian Turturică, the president of TVR, said.

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