TRT Arşiv Turkish Radio and Television Corporation Archive

History and Founding

The TRT Archive (TRT Arşiv) is the broadcasting archive of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Türkiye Radyo-Televizyon Kurumu), Turkey's national public broadcaster. TRT was founded on 1 May 1964 as an independent public entity. Radio broadcasts in Turkey date to 6 May 1927, when the Turkish Wireless Telephone Inc. launched broadcasts from Istanbul; these were brought under the TRT umbrella in 1964. TRT held a monopoly on television and radio broadcasting in Turkey until the introduction of commercial radio in 1990 and commercial television in 1992.

Collections and Holdings

The TRT Archive contains decades of broadcast material from TRT's extensive network of television channels and radio stations. The archive includes documentaries, news programs, cultural programs, drama productions, music recordings, and sports broadcasts produced since the corporation's founding in 1964 and from earlier radio archives dating to 1927. TRT today operates 17 television channels and 17 radio channels, broadcasting in 41 languages and dialects.

Notable Materials Related to Journalism and Media

As the sole broadcaster in Turkey for much of the 20th century, TRT's archive constitutes a comprehensive record of Turkish broadcast journalism. The archive includes historical news programs, political broadcasts, and cultural documentation spanning over 60 years of Turkish television history and nearly 100 years of radio history.

Access and Usage

The TRT Archive is accessible online through TRT's website, where segments of historical programming, news footage, and documentary content are made available to the public.