Ben Tre Radio and Television Station: 48 years of formation and development

Ben Tre Radio and Television Station technicians post-process the station's programs.

Early days of construction

Right on the occasion of the 1st Provincial Party Congress (round 1) in December 1976, the province had a policy to establish the Provincial Radio Station. The provincial leaders assigned comrade Pham Cong Nghiep, at that time a member of the Propaganda Committee, in charge of the Press Subcommittee and Standing Member of the Department of Information and Culture, to urgently build the Provincial Radio Station to promptly serve the 1st Provincial Party Congress, round 2 in March 1977.

With the support of many groups and individuals, Ben Tre Radio Station was established. The antenna installation area as well as the working place and program printing studio were supported by Mr. Vo Van Van's family on the land of the family's old printing house. Each part and equipment of the antenna was collected from the old facilities and supported by the Voice of Vietnam Radio . The process of building the antenna was supported by the local people.

The beginning was difficult, the facilities were lacking when the small room was only big enough to hold an old PAUER radio transmitter with a capacity of 1KW. On the first day of broadcasting, the transmitter had to be placed on an old brick floor. Every time a program was recorded, a cart had to be hired to transport the station's only AKAI tape recorder to combine with the machine of the town's Radio Station to do it. The station's staff at that time was only 10 people along with 2 technical staff sent by the Voice of Vietnam to support.

After nearly 3 months of construction from December 1976 to March 2, 1977, 5 days before the opening of the first Provincial Party Congress, Ben Tre Radio Station successfully conducted a test broadcast. At exactly 7:30 a.m. on March 7, 1977, Ben Tre Radio Station officially broadcast, broadcasting the opening news of the first Provincial Party Congress (round 2). The birth of Ben Tre Radio Station marked a remarkable step forward in the revolutionary journalism career of the province.

From the beginning, the broadcast time was only 30 minutes per day, with news and arts programs. Gradually, the station developed more diversely, launching columns to propagate the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, answering listeners' letters, the program "Sifting the muddy to bring out the clear", radio stories... which were loved by many people.

In 1995, the province had a policy to establish Ben Tre Radio and Television Station. With great efforts, on March 7, 1995, Ben Tre Radio and Television Station came into operation, broadcasting on UHF channel 23 with a capacity of 1KW. When it first started broadcasting, the station only produced a news program and some reports about the country and people of Ben Tre, with a total duration of 30 minutes, the rest were cultural and entertainment programs, film screenings... After a period of stable operation, the station continued to open more diverse sections such as: population, agricultural extension, fisheries, health ... Since 2009, the station has invested in more modern equipment and developed the production of increasingly diverse radio and television programs.

Entering the digital age

Implementing the Provincial Digital Transformation Project for the period 2020 - 2025, with a vision to 2030 and the instructions and requirements of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee, Ben Tre Radio and Television Station has made strong investments and made efforts to comprehensively innovate in press activities and products.

The goal of the Station is to focus on synchronous and comprehensive digital transformation in all areas of operation, modern management and operation, on the basis of effectively applying and exploiting the achievements of the 4.0 technology revolution, fully meeting the criteria and indicators of digital transformation. Developing convergent media models, increasing utilities and experiences for listeners and listeners, sustainable development on the basis of promoting the application of new and advanced technologies in management and operation and providing high-quality press products. The Station focuses on investing in innovation in the following aspects: synchronously equipping modern digital infrastructure and technology, training and standardizing the staff and improving the quality and creating new product content, meeting the requirements of digital management, digital production and digital society of the Station.

The station has been invested by the province in 2 new studios as well as equipped with HD standard cameras, continued to equip storage, editing equipment, and digital broadcasting control to meet technical requirements for HD broadcasting. Regarding radio, the station broadcasts FM at 97.9MHz frequency, with a transmitter capacity of 10KW, 17 hours/day. Regarding television, the station broadcasts DVB-T2 terrestrial digital on channel 27 UHF, 18 hours/day. THBT television programs are transmitted on Vinasat satellite, cable television systems VTVcab, HTVC, SCTV, Hanoicab, digital television K+, IPTV system (MyTV, MobiTV, Viettel, HTV online), broadcast online on the electronic information page http://thbt.vn, social networking channels Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, PODCAST, THBT PLUS and developing THBT Go application on mobile devices...

Through the expansion of coverage, it has created attraction and increased interaction with audiences inside and outside the province, as well as been welcomed by overseas Vietnamese. The form of presentation of topics and programs has been innovated, suitable for propaganda needs and the needs of many audiences, following the trend of modern radio and television.

The station regularly innovates the form and content of traditional programs and columns, and invests in upgrading the Coconut Movement column. At the same time, it opens many new columns such as Resolutions and Life, New Dong Khoi Emulation, improves propaganda work on Party building, inspection and supervision, mass mobilization, cadre organization, studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style, and increases the frequency of the Security - National Defense column...

Promoting the achieved results, the Party Committee, Board of Directors and all cadres and civil servants of Ben Tre Radio and Television Station continue to unite, strive and improve the quality of operations. Aiming to build the station into a modern and multimedia press agency with high-quality human resources, advanced technical and technological foundation, ensuring good service for the propaganda work of the Party, State and the province widely among cadres, party members and the people of the province.

Article and photos: Thanh Dong

Source: https://baodongkhoi.vn/dai-phat-thanh-va-truyen-hinh-ben-tre-chang-duong-48-nam-hinh-thanh-va-phat-trien-21052025-a146964.html