TV Koper-Capodistria celebrates 50th anniversary
Koper, 6 May - TV Koper-Capodistria, the public broadcaster's bilingual TV centre on the coast, will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Saturday as a unique TV station that nurtures cross-border cooperation.
Koper
The bilingual TV channel TV Koper-Capodistria marks its 50th annivresary.
Photo: Mitja Volčanšek/STA
TV Koper-Capodistria first started broadcasting on 8 May 1971 via a transmitter on Mt Nanos. Its first show was a daily news show in Italian, said editor-in-chief for the Italian minority Robert Apollonio.
The TV channel has been broadcasting in colour since the very beginning, and was a pioneer in many ways, he said.
It was the first TV channel in the former Yugoslavia to air a religious show and was the first to offer a sports programme. Together with the regional seat of the Italian public broadcaster Rai for Friuli Venezia Giulia, it created the first cross-border TV channel.
TV Koper-Capodistria's efforts in connecting the Italian and Slovenian minorities in Slovenia and Italy with their countries and its cooperation in Slovenia, Italy and Croatia's Istria are unique in Europe, said RTV Slovenija director general Andrej Grah Whatmough.
Deputy assistant of the director general for radio and television programme for the Italian minority Antonio Rocco said TV Koper played an important role in preserving the linguistic and cultural identity of the Italian minority.
To mark the anniversary, TV Koper-Capodistria will be offering a virtual tour of its centre on social networks as of Saturday and a documentary about the TV channel in five parts.