GTV (Ghana)

The Ghanaian government set up a feasibility study for the introduction of a television service in 1959. This led to a training agreement with Canada in 1961. Training did not start until 1963, under the supervision of two officials from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Frank D. Goodship and Wes Harvison. In the same year, a television training house was created.^[1]

Ghana Television was launched on 31 July 1965 at 4pm, after a few months of test transmissions, exactly thirty years since the launch of Radio ZOY (later Radio Ghana).^[1] The station's facilities were built by British company Marconi.^[2] At its launch speech, Kwame Nkrumah defended that GTV should be used for "education in the broadest purest sense". The channel broadcast from 6pm to 10.30pm on weekdays and 4pm to 10.30pm on weekends. 75% of its programming was local, the highest percentage out of a country in Africa at the time. The remaining 25% was given to foreign programming, including documentaries, feature films and international TV series such as I Love Lucy, The Saint and The Twilight Zone. There was some censorship at the time, as operators were told to fade to black whenever foreign films and series had scenes of kissing, shooting and violence, which were not suitable for children.^[1]

At 7.30pm on launch day, the first news bulletin was broadcast.^[1] After the overthrowing of Nkrumah's government on 24 February 1966, the separate television body merged with Radio Ghana to form the current Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.^[1]

During the first years, GTV has been broadcasting with noncommercial programming in 4 transmitters. The audience was estimated to be at one million, in Accra and some provincial capitals.^[1] During the brief period under Nkrumah, he discouraged that GTV would be used as a commercial tool.^[3] On February 1, 1967, GTV introduced daily commercial programming.^[4]

By the early 1970s, GTV broadcast two daily hours of programmes for schools and a five-hour regular daily service.^[5]

GTV broadcasts mainly local programming, with over 80% of the schedule consisting of original productions. Although its main production studio is located in Accra, capital city of Ghana, it has affiliations nationwide and covers 98% of the airwaves in Ghana, making it the most powerful mode of advertisement in Ghana. Although GTV is largely funded by the Ghanaian government, it also collects annual fees from viewers.

GTV currently broadcasts shows from international networks from regions such as Europe, US, and Japan. Some of these shows and networks include: In The House, The Cosby Show, Taina, Becker, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Family Matters, Moesha, Soul Food, King of Queens, CNN, PBS, Cartoon Network, NBA, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Passions, Touched by an Angel, BBC Radio, as well as a host of others. Though most of these shows are no longer broadcast on GTV, they once did or still are.

GTV also shows many foreign movies, particularly American movies, as well as African-American music videos. Although entertaining, most of the shows on GTV are either educational (for example, portraits of Ghanaian artists like Eric Adjetey Anang), or attempt to address Ghanaian social issues. The station also broadcasts live international events like the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, Miss World and Miss Universe. Local competitors of GTV TV-Network include TV3 and Metro TV, and all TV broadcast in Ghana located Accra.

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