Alpha TV

Alpha TV
Launched	27 September 1999
Owned by	Alpha Satellite Television S.A.
Picture format	1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Audience share	14.5 (21/05/2018 - 27/05/2018, AGB)
Country	Greece
Language	Greek
Broadcast area	Greece
Formerly called	Alpha Sky (27 September - 24 October 1999)
Replaced	Skai (1993-1999)
Sister channel(s)	Channel 9
Website	ALPHA TV
Availability
Terrestrial
Digea	Channel 46, 24
Satellite
NOVA Greece	Channel 109
Cosmote TV	Channel 110
DigitAlb	Channel 125 (SD)
Streaming media
Alpha	ALPHA TV LIVE

Alpha TV is a Greek free-to-air channel. With Antenna TV it is one of the two biggest stations in Greece, after the collapse of Mega channel, due to financial problems. The station features a mix of Greek and foreign shows with an emphasis on information. The studios are located near Athens. Alpha TV is owned by Alpha Satellite Television S.A. 100% shareholder of which is the Alpha Media Group Ltd. In Cyprus, private broadcaster Sigma TV broadcasts a number of Alpha TV's programmes. In the past, public service broadcaster CyBC used to broadcast Alpha TV programmes.

History

• 1993: Skai TV was launched to compete with Mega and ANT1 similar to ERT Channels. It began broadcasting with a heavy emphasis on news and sports. At the time, its sister station was the #1 ranked radio station in Athens, Skai 100.4.
• 1994: Skai TV began to exchange family/children's programmes from Star Channel with Alpha's children's programming.
• 1999: Skai TV sold, renamed Alpha Sky and later A-Sky during a transition period.
• 1999: Renamed to Alpha TV.
• 2005: Alpha TV begins broadcast of Alpha Australia, the international network of Alpha and signs up with UBI World TV to make Alpha Australia available in Australia as well as the Asia - Africa.
• 2007: Alpha TV launches its channel Alpha Sat into North America on DirecTV.
• 2008: Alpha Australia debuts in New Zealand via UBI World TV.
• 2008: Alpha TV & Alpha Radio are sold to RTL Group, who now control majority share in the company.
• 2012: RTL Group sell their share to Dimitris Kontominas, giving him full control of the channel.
• 2016: On 4 April, makes premiere Pancyprian RANGE Cyprus Alpha channel; on 6 July, began the pilot broadcast of Alpha HD.

When the channel was called Skai TV, was written using Greek letters. It was Latinized and changed to a blue font in 1999, when Kontominas bought it from Ioannis Alafouzos. In September 1999, it became Alpha-Sky before changing to its present name in October of the same year. The logo was retained despite the changes in the channel's name. In 2006, the logo was changed to Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, to reflect the channel's popularity. The font letters in 2003 changed and a circle was added over Alpha, but the two As (alphas) remain. In 2005, a new version was introduced and is coloured with red. The logo was updated prior to the launch of the 2007-2008 season.

In September 2008, Dimitris Kontominas sold a majority share (66.6%) of Alpha TV and Alpha Radio to Luxembourg media company RTL Group. Kontominas will continue to be involved with Alpha as he still owns 33.4% and has been named president of the new holding company called Alpha Media Group.

In March 2009, the company made significant changes to the news programming output. The afternoon news show has been cut to 15 minutes in duration and now airs at 13:00. The main evening news has also moved from the highly competitive slot of 20:00 and instead broadcasts at 19:00.

On 5 January 2012, RTL Group announced that they had reached an agreement to sell their share to minority owner Dimitris Kontominas, making him once again full owner of the channel. The deal was finalized by the end of the first quarter of 2012,^[1] and in March 2013, Bertelsmann said that they had divested Alpha TV.^[2]

Programming

Current programming for the 2014-2015 broadcasting season includes: ^{(as of October 2014)}

Alpha Sat

Alpha Sat is the international service of Alpha TV that broadcasts 'the best of Alpha' to audiences in Asia, Africa, Australia / New Zealand and North America. Alpha Sat launched in Australia in August 2005 and in 2008 in New Zealand, and is available via UBI World TV. In June 2012, UBI World TV ceased operations, and as a result Alpha Sat was temporarily unavailable to viewers in Australia.

In January 2013, the channel re-launched via TV Plus, an upstart satellite provider.

In North America, Alpha Sat launched in May 2007 in the United States on the DirecTV platform. On 1st of January 2011, Alpha Sat moved to rival satellite platform Dish Network. On 14 May 2013, Alpha Sat was officially added to the CRTC's approved list of foreign services, allowing the channel to expand into Canada. Odyssey Television Network, who sponsored the application to get Alpha Sat on the approved list, is the official Canadian distributor of the channel.^[3] Alpha Sat officially launched in Canada on 30 July 2013, via Rogers Cable and Vidéotron. It is also available on Bell TV and Bell Fibe TV.

Reporters

• Dimos Verikios
• Antonis Sroiter
• Nikos Manesis

See also

• List of programs broadcast by Alpha TV

References

External links

• Official site (in Greek)
• Alpha Sat (in Greek)