| TV Puls | |
| Launch Date: |
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| Owner: | Telewizja Puls |
| Picture Format: | / 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Former Names: |
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| Sister Channels: | Puls 2 |
| Country: | Poland |
| Language: | Polish |
| Website: | tvpuls.pl (in Polish) |
| Terr Serv 1: | Polish Digital |
| Terr Chan 1: | MUX 2 (SD) (Channel 7) |
TV Puls is a Polish commercial television channel, which was based on Telewizja Niepokalanów with the support of companies such as PKN Orlen, KGHM Polska Miedź, PZU Życie, Prokom and which started broadcasting in March 2001. Due to financial problems, it ended broadcasting on 1 April 2003. With the help of the private company Antena 1 and of the owner of Polsat, Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, TV Puls resumed broadcasting in June 2003. Until recently, the station's programming was largely devoted to Catholic issues, as the majority of the company's stock was owned by the Franciscan Order.
In 2006 News Corporation acquired 35% of the stock and began a major overhaul of the programming. On 28 October 2007, the channel were revised with a new logo and a more mainstream target group, as well as it starts to broadcast a new information program: Puls Raport. However, on 16 July 2008, it was decided to remove the program from the schedule, and the reason for this decision was the poor audience share results and the excessively high costs of production. Later on 3 November 2008, it was announced that News Corporation has sold its 35% stake to the remaining shareholders.[1]
The channel develops. It gives many entertainment programs, series and documentaries. TV Puls in June 2010 received a license to broadcast channel for children and young people Puls 2 (launched on 19 July 2012).
Telewizja Niepokalanów was launched on December 1, 1995 by the Franciscan Order. They also owned a broadcasting license via several terrestrial transmitters located, among others, in Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź. The station's range covered over half of the Polish population.
The intention of the station's creators was to evangelize the Polish population. Live broadcasts of important religious events were broadcast on the air, special programs concerning the Roman Catholic Church, feature films, reportages and an information program - "Tydzień w Kościele – Przegląd Wydarzeń" (A Week in the Church - Overview of Events) were broadcast. In addition, cultural and music programs, such as the "Musical Window" (Muzyczne Okienko), aimed at evangelization through music. The invited artists presented a life full of essential values. Among the guests were: Jan Pospieszalski, Mieczysław Szcześniak, Beata Kozidrak, Urszula, Ryszard Rynkowski, Krzysztof Krawczyk and Jacek Kaczmarski. This station's schedule was maintained until the end of February 2001, when it was replaced by TV Puls.
The creators of TV Niepokalanów wanted to continue their work by launching a de facto successor channel called Telewizja Niepokalanów II. The channel started on August 12, 2001 and shut down on June 25, 2003, caused by the financial problems at TV Puls, whose collapse in its formula at the time led to the creation of TN2.
TV Puls was established on the basis of the former Telewizja Niepokalanów thanks to the support of state-owned companies (PKN Orlen, KGHM Polska Miedź, Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne, PZU Życie) and Prokom by the Franciscan Order.[2]
The company initially broadcasting the TV Puls program was called Telewizja Familijna S.A. The station began broadcasting on March 18, 2001 on the terrestrial and satellite frequencies of TV Niepokalanów. TV Puls' flagship news program was Wydarzenia TV Puls, presented, among others, by Bogdan Rymanowski and Magda Mołek. The main current affairs magazine was the Raport Specjalny edited by Jacek Łęski - a program dealing with topics in the field of investigative journalism.
TV Puls quickly lost financial liquidity due to excessive spending and withdrawal from Prokom. On May 28, 2002, the flagship news program Wydarzenia was taken off the air and replaced by the much cheaper Serwis Pulsu. In October 2002, TV Puls started switching off terrestrial transmitters. The debt of TV Familijna reached USD 130 million. On April 1, 2003, TV Puls ended broadcasting.
Soon the station's help was offered by the private company Antena 1, thanks to which the station resumed terrestrial and satellite broadcasting on June 25, 2003, simultaneously cutting itself off from the indebted company "Telewizja Familijna". In August 2003, the owner of Polsat, Zygmunt Solorz, declared support for TV Puls. Since then, the station has been broadcasting under the name TV Niepokalanów Puls. The original name returned on December 6, 2003, when the then-current look came on the air. TV Puls also cooperated with Polsat in advertising matters and in the production of programs by Antena 1, a company related to Polsat. The station in its broadcasting license had a Christian and family character. In June 2006, Zygmunt Solorz-Żak withdrew from TV Puls.
On June 28, 2006, it was announced that approximately 25% of shares in the station are controlled by a new foreign investor, News Corporation, owned by the media magnate - Rupert Murdoch. Thanks to this investment, the station was supposed to generate income and started producing new programs. In January 2007, thanks to the changes to the concession terms, TV Puls ceased to be a religious and social television, and began to be a universal channel with programs on family-Christian topics. The program was filled mainly with feature films and series.
As of April 2007, News Corporation owned 35% of the shares. On October 28, 2007, changes took place on Puls TV, especially with regard to the journalistic and informative side. On that day, the new channel scheduling was implemented. The hosts of the new Puls Raport news service at 19:30 and 22:00 were, among others Krzysztof Ziemiec, Katarzyna Trzaskalska, Katarzyna Olubińska, Piotr Maślak, Paulina Drapała, Katarzyna Niedźwiedź-Szałajko, Michał Siegieda and Marek Pyza. On the same day, the station's logo and graphic design changed. On January 15, 2008, the National Broadcasting Council granted TV Puls additional terrestrial TV transmitters in Wrocław and Szczecin. They were launched on April 30, 2008, later a transmitter was also launched in Katowice.
On February 29, 2008, the station's president, Farell Meisel, was replaced by Dariusz Dąbski. On July 16, 2008, the last edition of the Puls Raport program was aired, which was taken off the air due to too high maintenance costs in relation to revenues.
On September 1, 2008, TV Puls changed its logo and graphic design again. On November 3, 2008, News Corporation informed about selling 35% of shares in TV Puls to other shareholders.
On July 24, 2009, the station again applied for a change in the license provisions so that it could broadcast a generalist format. Ultimately, the National Broadcasting Council complied with the broadcaster's request. Permanent religious programs were no longer available in the fall schedule of 2009.
From August 31, 2009, TV Puls also started broadcasting animated series intended for children, in the morning schedule Stacja Porankowo there were Polish animated series such as The Enchanted Crayon (Zaczarowany ołówek), Bolek and Lolek, Reksio, etc. In the evening schedule of Junior TV, there were international series like: Gadget and the Gadgetinis, Once Upon a Time... Man, The Flintstones, W.I.T.C.H. The Jetsons, Tom and Jerry, Peter Pan and the Pirates, Simsala Grimm, Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, etc.
At the beginning of October 2009, the shareholder structure in the station changed. The 75% stake was taken over by the station's president, Dariusz Dąbski, and the 25% stake in the company is owned by the Province of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (Franciscan Fathers).
In the same year, TV Puls informed about plans to launch an internet television devoted to religious affairs in the future, as well as a channel for children. In October 2009, the station reached the break-even point, and in November it made a profit.
In January 2010, TV Puls acquired the rights to show one of the WWE programs - WWE Superstars. It was broadcast on Wednesdays at 20:30.
On February 22, 2010, 25% of the shares of the stations previously owned by the Province of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual was taken over by the station's president - Dariusz Dąbski, as a result of which he took full control of the station. At the same time, he informed that the channel would no longer be looking for an investor, but would focus on developing the programming offer.
From 5 to 11 April 2010, TV Puls was ahead of TV4 and TVN 7 in terms of viewership, ranking 7th in the list of the 20 most watched stations according to AGB Nielsen (with a score of 1.93%). In mid-May 2010, the station slightly modified its programming, introducing a few new programs. At the same time, it applied to the National Broadcasting Council for a license to launch a new TV channel under the working name of Puls Kids, which eventually became Puls 2. It is to be broadcast via satellite, and ultimately terrestrial via MUX-2.
On September 29, 2010, an agreement was signed in which TV Puls transferred the right to broadcast the digital multiplex signal to Emitel. Thus, the channel appeared in digital terrestrial television (DVB-T) in the 2nd multiplex, systematically implemented in Poland. The 2nd digital multiplex began airing on September 30, 2010.
In December 2010, the station began working with TVN. The cooperation was aimed at selling advertising time on TV Puls by TVN. The cooperation was concluded for 10 years and at the end of 2020 it was replaced by an agreement with the Polsat Media advertising office belonging to Telewizja Polsat. From November 7, 2011, the station broadcasts alternately in two picture formats - 16:9 and 4:3. Previously, it broadcast its signal in fixed 4:3, and 16:9 programs were broadcast in letterbox.
On July 19, 2012, the second channel, Puls 2, was launched. On March 11, 2013, TV Puls received Telekamera 2013 in the lifestyle channel category. On May 20, 2013, TV Puls switched off the last terrestrial analog transmitters. Thus, TV Puls is the first nationwide terrestrial broadcaster to terminate analogue terrestrial broadcasting. On February 10, 2014, between 9:00 and 10:00, TV Puls was encrypted on the Hot Bird satellite, and on September 2, 2014 TV Puls launched its HD feed, initially available only on cable networks, and from October 19, 2016 also on satellite.
On April 10, 2016, the TV Puls channel, for the first time in history, took 3rd place in the daily viewership results in the commercial audience group 16-49 (6%), ahead of TVP1 and TVP2.
On April 15, 2021, Puls 2 appeared on the Cyfrowy Polsat platform on channel 157.
Production of TVN: