Romanian Television celebrates its anniversary on New Year’s Eve because it began regular broadcasting in 1956. Romania’s public broadcaster, Televiziunea Română, started test transmissions in Bucharest on 23 August 1956, then made its first regular broadcast on 31 December that year.
The first transmission came from a small former cinema studio at 2 Molière Street in Bucharest. Because the launch coincided with New Year’s Eve, the date became both a broadcasting milestone and the symbolic anniversary of Romanian television.
A common mix-up is confusing the 1956 launch with later milestones, such as the creation of TVR as a formal public television society or the arrival of additional channels. The annual New Year special also grew into a tradition, linking the broadcaster’s year-end programming with its founding date.