| Network Name: | Radio-Télévision nationale congolaise |
| Network Logo: | Logo-RTNC.png |
| Former Names: | Office Zaïrois de Radio Télévision (1981–1997) |
| Launch Date: | [1] |
| Network Type: | Broadcast |
| Available: | National |
| Owner: | Government of Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| RTNC 1 | |
| Owner: | RTNC |
| Country: | DR Congo |
| Language: | Lingala, French, and English |
| Area: | National |
| Headquarters: | Kinshasa |
| Former Names: | Tele-Zaïre (1981-1997) |
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 currently broadcasts in Lingala, French, and English.
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.[5] In preparation for the start of color broadcasts in 1974, Télé-Zaïre received US$1.6 million investments from RCA, which not only saw the implementation of color television, but also increased the facilities in Kinshasa.[6]
Between 1981 and 1997, it was known as the French: Office Zaïrois de Radio Télévision (OZRT) at the time of Zaire,[7] it was also the only Zairian agency to broadcast on the airwaves since the 1972 law. Since political liberalization in the 1990s, other private companies have broadcast audiovisual media. It took its current name on May 17, 1997, following the coming to power of the AFDL, the party of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.
RTNC covers 70% of the Congolese territory (as of 2001)[8] and operates two television channels:
In the early 2000s, RTNC seized Canal Kin Télévision and TKM, renaming them RTNC3 and RTNC4 in the process.