RFE/RL's Balkan SERVICE

In Brief

• Language: Albanian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Serbian
• Coverage: Bosnia-Herzegovina -- 12 original weekly TV and radio hours, including weekly joint TV programs: "TV Liberty" and "Open Parliament." Macedonia -- seven hours original weekly radio hours, plus 10-minute weekly TV program "Sunday Interview." Serbia -- 14 original weekly radio hours. Montenegro -- 3 1/2 original weekly radio hours.
• Frequency: FM, MW, CBL, and Satellite
• Internet: www.slobodnaevropa.org, www.evropaelire.org, www.makdenes.org

History

• The South Slavic Service was established in 1994 as a multiethnic broadcaster in the Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language.
• Albanian-language broadcasts to Kosovo were added in March 1999, a program for Montenegro was added in July 2000, while Macedonian-language broadcasts began in September 2001.

Highlights

• The service and affiliate partners throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina created Radio 27, a network of local stations in June 1998.
• The Balkan Service since 1996 has its own television show known under the brand name "TV Liberty," based in Sarajevo. Apart from Bosnia-Herzegovina public broadcaster BH1TV, over 30 local television stations are rebroadcasting a mosaic on current issues, in both entities of Bosnia-Herzegovina -- the Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation.
• The Macedonian subunit has a 15-minute interview with a personality of the week broadcast by Kanal 5 and ALSAT, two major Macedonian electronic media in the country's two main languages, Macedonian and Albanian.