NCN Television (Guyana TV channel)
{{Infobox television channel
| name = National Communications Network
| logo =
| logo_size =
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| launch_date = January 1, 1988
| closed_date =
| picture_format = 480i 1080P (NTSC and ATSC)
| language = English
| network =
| owner = National Communications Network, Guyana
| country = Guyana
| area = National
| headquarters = Georgetown
| former_names = Guyana Television (1988-2004)
GTV 10 (1988-1996)
GTV 11 (1996-2004)
| replaced =
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| terr_serv_1 = UHF
| terr_chan_1 = Analog VHF 11, Digital 1-2
}}
NCN Television is the television service of the National Communications Network, Guyana. Created in 1988 as an independent government outlet, it was merged with GBC in 2004 and became a part of the current NCN.
History
NCN TV's predecessor, Guyana Television Company, was licensed in October 1987,{{cite book |title=Is Regulation Still an Option in a Digital Universe?: Papers from the 30th University of Manchester International Broadcasting Symposium, 1999 |date=2000 | publisher=University of Luton Press }} going on air on January 1, 1988, broadcasting an experimental service for an hour a week on Sundays using a 400-watt transmitter donated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on VHF channel 10.{{cite book |title=Combroad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xn8jAQAAMAAJ |access-date=17 September 2024 |date=1988 | publisher=Commonwealth Broadcasting Association }} A merger of the three government media units was set for late March 1992.[https://books.google.pt/books?id=E0w5AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7 Nascimento criticises manner of reassignment of TV channels]
An assessment taken by the National Frequency Management Unit in 1992 said that GTV was the only television station in Guyana to comply with technical and programming requirements.[https://books.google.pt/books?id=X6ZjAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1 TV stations warned, Stabroek News, June 30, 1992] In 1996, with the release of an official VHF frequency plan for Georgetown by the NFMU, GTV planned to move to channel 11, a decision pending approval of the Broadcast Authority Bill. The station's executive chairman Earl Bousquet said that the move in frequencies was to prevent co-channel interference, as Neil Blackman's NBTV (now known as HBTV) occupied channel 9.[https://books.google.pt/books?id=E0w5AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7 Nascimento criticises manner of reassignment of TV channels, Stabroek News, October 16, 1996]
On March 1, 2004, GTV and GBC merged to become NCN.{{cite book |title=Mergent International Manual |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GOMdAQAAMAAJ |access-date=17 September 2024 |date=2009 | publisher=Mergent }} In 2006, it took over the lottery broadcasts that formerly aired on VCT Network, strengthening its position in the market.[https://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/01/11/opinion/letters/the-demise-of-vieira-communications-ltd-began-when-the-lottery-company-moved-the-nightly-draw-from-vct-to-ncn/ The demise of Vieira Communications Ltd began when the lottery company moved the nightly draw from VCT to NCN], Stabroek News