TV mast which first brought television to Estonia's islands turns 60
An iconic and still functioning TV mast on Saaremaa recently turned 60.
On December 28, 1965, the residents of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa finally got TV coverage with transmission from the mast, in Orissaare, on the east of the island, carrying ETV and two radio channels.
The 180-meter tall structure was matched with similar ones at other locations in Estonia, to ensure full coverage for the country, at the time under Soviet occupation.
"Nearly 60 years ago, four masts were built according to the same project. The Orissaare mast has two sister masts which are today in Pärnu and Tartu. In addition, there was one mast that is no longer in its original location today, and in its place, ERR's new building is to be constructed," said Veiko Sepp, board member at Levira, which operates the still-functioning masts.
Nearly a decade later, in 1974, color TV reached the islands via the same mast, despite the fact that there were only 10 registered color TV sets on Saaremaa at the time.
This development was followed by the arrival of stereo radio broadcasts from the tower four years later.
With the phasing out of analogue TV, the mast does not function as it used to.
"No signal comes from the mast at all. This VHF band is completely different, and we have not had a medium-wave transmitter for a long time either. Completely silent! But if it picks up some medium-wave or short-wave signal from the world, then it will come through!" Aare Kann, who manages the facility, told "Aktuaalne kaamera."
In 1997, radios on Saaremaa switched to the FM frequency band, while two years later televisions switched to the PAL B/G NICAM format. Analogue TV broadcasting was shut down across Estonia in 2010.
However, the mast has found a new lease of life and weathered the storms of tech change, as it can be used to transmit digital signals too.
According to Levira, the number of viewers of over-the-air programs has continued to rise, Sepp said, to around 221,000 today.
"If this trend continues, then over-the-air television is clearly a necessary and free service for people," he added.
A Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB)+ digital radio transmitter was also launched at Orissaare last year.
Levira today transmits TV and radio in Estonia via 22 TV masts nationwide.
"The television mast has five transmitters, and each transmitter carries several programs. In total, more than 20 television programs are broadcast," Kann added.
The Tallinn mast is long gone, but when ground was broken for the ongoing building of the new ETV broadcasting house, the mast's original concrete moorings had to be dynamited before work could continue.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
