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Yesterday The Open Broadcast Network officially celebrated two years as the
only television station broadcasting cross-entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina
transmitting for the first time on 7th September 1996.
OBN transmitted its first programme on September 7th 1996 beginning with 30 minutes of news a night and covering areas: Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zenica and Mostar. On 7th May 1997 OBN increased this schedule to six hours of programming a day and again increased it further to twelve hours a day in February 1998 - a very significant move for the network. Over the last couple of years research has shown an impressive increase in viewers to The Open Broadcast Network with only 4% of the population knowing who OBN were in 1997. This figure had increased dramatically by February 1998 when results showed that around 64% of the population, receiving the OBN signal, regularly watched OBN programmes. Recent research has now indicated this figure has increased even further to 80% which is extremely good news for OBN. The increase in coverage of the OBN signal has been assisted by affiliates from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina joining the OBN network being supported by technical facilities made available by OBN. This coverage has recently been extended even further by the installation of a 10KW transmitter on Mount Vlasic. A Governing Council of the donor countries supports and supervises OBN to ensure the network reflects, and maintains, the highest principles of media freedom and journalistic independence. OBN began with a central Hub in Sarajevo building on five existing independent TV companies. Since then additional independent TV stations, from throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, have joined to become part of the OBN Network which now proudly hosts twelve affiliate stations and four correspondent bureaus. The professional umbrella for the project was initially provided by the International Federation of Journalists which has now reverted to an important advisory role. Financial support came from many different sources with an initial US$ 10.2 million donated to start OBN from the European Commission, the USA, the Soros Foundation, Germany, Sweden, Japan, The Netherlands, Canada, the UK, Ireland and the Czech Republic with Denmark and Norway joining later. Whilst still relying heavily on funding and donations OBN has managed to utilise these funds conscientiously to upgrade technical equipment, increase the transmission area considerably and develop the company further. So far it has managed this on just US$ 14.2 million. Advertising has been developed meticulously and is now starting to provide a consistent monthly revenue which increases daily. OBN's objectives are to increase the revenue from advertising and commercial sponsorship so that the company can rely solely on this more reliable income to allow planning and development for OBN's future. OBN's most popular programmes are its flagship half-hour news feature programme, TV INFO, which has been praised for its unbiased and pluralistic reporting and TELERING, the phone-in debate programme. OBN presenters are also regularly voted the most popular presenters on television. Following recent donations the Hub in Sarajevo is now self-contained and working efficiently thus enabling OBN's Outside Broadcast Truck to go out into the field. Today, the truck was used for the first time transmitting first link from Mostar - another step forward for OBN. Having survived a particularly bumpy ride so far OBN is proud of its achievements considering the current economic climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina. OBN hopes to continue cross-entity broadcasting expanding its affiliate network and reaching an even larger audience in the future.
For further information please contact:
Notes for EditorsSignificant Milestones in the history of OBN
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