Television Telecommunications in Moldova

television industry in moldova begun in 1956 construction of country s first dedicated television tower in chişinău took little on year complete, finished tower 196 meters tall , broadcast within 60 km radius. first television transmission sent on 30 april 1958 @ 19:00 , included amongst other things cheers parties participated in project s development local celebrities.

at first programs broadcast 2 times week on friday , sunday end of 1958 broadcasts became daily. first live broadcast in country happened in 1958.

in 1961 coverage area expanded after several relay masts constructed in bălţi, cahul , comrat. since 1974 broadcasts made in color , in 1977 first dedicated television studio built still in use day. in 80 s there more million citizens access television sets. during soviet era there weren t many channels available of them being news , general purpose channels state owned. industry didn t change , after fall of ussr when television industry in country started gain momentum. 1 of first cable companies begin operation in country eurocable began operation shortly after collapse of soviet union, company offered cable television customers multiple local , foreign channels. eurocable remained dominant cable television provider until mid 90 s when bought suncommunications merged own service , re-branded suntv. because eurocable , later suntv began gathered large subscription base , remain dominant cable television provider day offering services in several large towns in country, although might change moldtelecom rapidly gaining momentum. during 2000s many other chişinău based cable television providers such satellit, delta , alfa emerged offering similar services suntv. in 2015 there 83 registered television providers. in 2007 arax communications launched own cable television network called zebra tv became first digital network in country, suntv followed launching own digital network later year. until accessing television possible via cable in 2011 starnet , moldtelecom launched separate iptv services in chişinău , other towns offering multiple channels in both sd , hd qualities. local broadcasting has remained undeveloped since time first launched although progress towards better quality quite rapid local channels hoping go digital in near future.

subscriptions , penetration level. (2016)

number of multichannel tv subscriptions - 269,900
penetration level - 7.6%

structure of multichannel tv subscriptions, reception technology. (2016)

cable - 71.0%
iptv - 29.0%

*statistics not include data transnistria.