BTRC is the official state television and radio broadcaster service in Belarus. It is known as Belteleradiocompany. It now runs seven television channels and five radio stations that include: Belarus 1 (focused on news and current affairs), Belarus 2 (specialized in entertainment and sports), Belarus 3 (covering mostly cultural programs), Belarus 4 (with a focus on regional news and cultural programs), Belarus 5 (specialized in sports), Belarus 24 (targeting the international audience) and NTV Belarus (the local version of the national television broadcaster NTV Russia).
Media assets
Television: Belarus 1, Belarus 2, Belarus 3, Belarus 4, Belarus 5, Belarus 24, NTV Belarus
Radio: First Channel, Radio Station Belarus, Channel Culture, Radio Stalitsa, Radius FM
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Like most of the media in Belarus, BTRC is a government property. BTRC, the largest media holding in Belarus, is subordinated to the Office of the President Alexander Lukashenko. The President appoints directly the management of the station.
Source of funding and budget
BTRC is fully funded through allocations from the government budget, according to experts and journalists covering Belarus. In 2020, BTRC received a state subsidy to the tune of BYN 123.9m (US$ 47m), which represented the largest part of the total state spending in the media during the year, according to data from local experts and journalists.
Editorial independence
BTRC has been created by the Belarusian government as a state propaganda channel. The station’s editorial coverage is tightly controlled by the government, with the President of the country dictating its editorial agenda, according to local journalists and experts and ad hoc content analysis.
No domestic statute and no independent mechanism to validate the editorial independence of BTRC have been identified.
September 2023