Radio Télévision nationale congolaise (RTNC) is the national broadcaster of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is government controlled in a country with a poor record on press freedom. Radio-Télévision Nationale Congolaise broadcasts in Lingala, and French.
History
Radio Congo Belge (RCB) was created in 1940 by the general government of the Belgian Congo. After the country gained independence, Radio du Congo Belge (RCB) became Radiodiffusion Nationale Congolaise (RNC).
RTNC started television broadcasts in Kinshasa on November 24, 1966,[2] three hours a day (7pm to 10pm), on VHF channel 5.[3] By the mid-1970s, following the rename of the country to Zaire, the television station was known as Télé-Zaire, and had its broadcasting hours extended (6pm to 11pm weekdays and 10am or 1pm to 11pm weekends). A second station in Lubumbashi started in 1967, on channel 9.[4] Programming was mainly dedicated to news and current affairs topics, with smaller proportions of educational and entertainment programming.