Branding FETV | First air date April 1, 1992 | |
 | ||
Slogan Totalmente bueno (Toally good) Channels Analog: 5 (VHF)
Digital: 48 (DVB-T) Translators (Ch. 8) Chiriqui y Bocas
(Ch. 7) Azuero y Cocle
(Ch. 6) Colon
(Ch. 9) Darien Owner Fundación para la Educación en la Television | ||
FETV is a television network that broadcasts on channel 5 in Panama City, and is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with repeaters throughout the country. The network and stations broadcast in the NTSC format. The network takes its name from the Television Education Foundation (FETV), its owner.
Contents
History
In 1990, the Catholic Church of Panama sought to create an educational television station in the country, and with the leadership of other churches and the commercial broadcasters, the Television Education Foundation (Fundación para la Educación en la Television) was formed.
The next year, the station received its frequencies to operate, and it bought the equipment used to operate FETV's predecessor on channel 5, Panavisión/Telecinco, in bankruptcy from Cofina, a governmental financial entity which had taken the channel 5 facilities as collateral for debts that Telecinco owed to the government.
After broadcasting test signals, FETV signed on April 1, 1992; the station went to air with 4 hours of programming a day.
The station's programming is largely educational and social in nature. In 2009 they signed a 3-way deal, with the nation's major commercial broadcasters, to avoid sale of the station to international broadcasters. FETV was the first station to cover Darien Province.
Programming includes children's shows, nature documentaries, medical and family topics talk shows, and programs from a variety of international broadcasters, such as Rome Reports, the Discovery Channel and National Geographic.