TELEVISION

After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Pakistan Television's Dacca television station was renamed Bangladesh Television, officially losing its affiliation with PTV. Bangladesh Television's logo appeared on the television screen for the first time on 17 December 1971.[13] The next year, the autonomous corporation was converted into a fully government-owned department on 15 September. The network established its first relay station in Natore in 1974.Show more

In 1975, the offices and studios were shifted to the newly built headquarters located at Rampura in Dhaka with newer technology. In 1977, Fazle Lohani created a new magazine show for BTV based on The David Frost Show on BBC, Jodi Kichhu Mone Na Koren, which ended right after his death.Bangladesh Television commenced color transmissions in December 1980, marking the first official full-time color broadcasts in South Asia.[11][21][24] In 1984, Bangladesh Television merged with Bangladesh Betar to form the National Broadcasting Authority.

As of 1985, via the Satkhira relay station, television sets in West Bengal in India could receive terrestrial signals of BTV. As of 1986, BTV broadcast for 9 hours a weekday and 14 hours on weekends usually during the evenings. It also aired special programming during Fridays, national and religious holidays. It began relaying broadcasts of CNN and BBC in 1992, marking the first presence of foreign television in Bangladesh. In 1994, BTV telecasted its first private production, a one-hour play Prachir Periye, directed by Atiqul Haque Chowdhury. The network established its Chittagong station on 19 December 1996.

During the 1980s to 1990s, Bangladesh Television created several popular television series, such as Ei Shob Din Ratri, Bohubrihi, Ayomoy, Ityadi, Kothao Keu Nei, Aaj Robibar, and many others. It has also aired several foreign television series, such as Alif Laila and The Sword of Tipu Sultan, which helped with the network's success. The era from the 1980s to the year 2000 was often called the "golden age" of Bangladesh Television. In May 1997, Bangladesh Television received an Asiavision Award for its coverage of the cyclone that occurred in that year.