Owned by Beatrix Schartl Country Liechtenstein Website www.1fl.li | Picture format 576i (PAL) Language German Founded 2008 | |
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Launched 15 August 2008; 8 years ago (2008-08-15) | ||
1FLTV (1 Fürstentum Liechtenstein Television) is Liechtenstein's first television broadcaster. It began operation on 15 August 2008 in the German language.
On 15 August 2008, 1FLTV began operation after being licensed by the Liechtenstein government. It broadcasts in German and is a business venture of Austrian businesswoman Beatrix Schartl.
Eurovision Song Contest
The people of Liechtenstein have always had an interest in participating in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, this was not possible as the country did not have a television channel of its own; if the channel joins the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) the country will be eligible to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. Liechtenstein had previously attempted to participate in 1976, but was disqualified for not having a national broadcaster.
1FLTV announced that they were going to submit their first application to become an active member of the EBU before 31 July 2009, with the intention of making a début at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, which was held in Oslo, Norway. However, this application bid was rejected by the EBU.
On 29 July 2010, 1FLTV applied for membership to the EBU again, which, if accepted, would allow Liechtenstein to send an entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 to be held in Germany. The application was still pending at the time of the contest, and therefore Liechtenstein yet again missed out on making their Eurovision début.
The head of 1 Fürstentum Liechtenstein Television (1FLTV), Peter Kölbel, has said that due to a lack of financial subsidies from the Government of Liechtenstein, participation will be impossible until 2013 at the earliest. 1FLTV have been trying to join the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 2010. However, the government has not granted the nation's only channel the necessary subsidies. Kölbel believes that the country had a good chance of joining the contest in 2013, if funding is approved.
On 10 September 2013, 1FLTV informed and confirmed to Esctoday.com that Liechtenstein would not be participating at the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. The broadcaster has no plans to join the EBU at the moment.