Radio Télévision nationale congolaise (RTNC) is the national public broadcaster of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is headquartered in the RTNC Building in Lingwala, Kinshasa, and operates radio and television services throughout the country. Its programming includes news, current affairs, education, culture, and entertainment, broadcast in French and the country's four national languages: Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili, and Tshiluba.
The RTNC originated as Radio Congo Belge (RCB), established by the colonial authorities in 1940. After independence in 1960, it became Radiodiffusion Nationale Congolaise (RNC). On November 1966, the RNC became known as the RTNC following the introduction of television broadcasting. The television service later became known as Télé-Zaïre in 1972, and in 1981 the national broadcaster was reorganized as the Office Zaïrois de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision (OZRT). It adopted its present name following the fall of Mobutu's government in 1997.
Since its reorganization under Decree No. 09/62 of 3 December 2009, the RTNC has operated as a sociocultural public institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Communication and Media.
History
1937–1960: Colonial radio broadcasting
According to Congolese jurist and author Jonathan Kendwa Ndwaya, Jesuit missionaries established the private station Radio Léo in January 1937 at Collège Albert 1er, now Collège Boboto, to train an African elite, with an emphasis on classical music. Canadian social anthropologist Bob W. White noted that Belgian radio enthusiast and entrepreneur Jean Hourdebise established the first commercial radio station in the Belgian Congo in 1939. His Radio Congolia broadcast local and international news in four African languages—Tshiluba, Kikongo, Swahili, and Lingala—and was the first station to install loudspeakers for broadcasts in the African quarters of the city. Kendwa also noted that the colonial authorities confiscated the missionaries' station in 1940 following the outbreak of World War II. The confiscation marked the official establishment of Radio Congo Belge (RCB), which "remained intended exclusively for Europeans", with Africans excluded from accessing it as a source of information.
French historian and researcher Charlotte Grabli noted that on 1 January 1949, the colonial authorities inaugurated Radio Congo Belge pour Africains (RCBA) as a substitute for traditional communication methods such as the tam-tam. Radio was thus incorporated into the colonial project of extending Belgian influence while adapting existing forms of communication. The programming consisted of news bulletins and programs specifically devoted to civic and moral education. These programs were generally broadcast in all four national languages—Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba, and Kiswahili—for the benefit of the indigenous population, while French-language broadcasts were intended specifically for Europeans and the évolués. Broadcasts opened with a musical march known as the uélé, adapted from indigenous rhythms and named after the Uélé River region in the Oriental Province. Performed by the Force Publique, the uélé promoted a supra-ethnic identity while reinforcing colonial ethnic classifications. RCBA director Karel Theunissen identified five major groups: Bangala, Bakongo, Baluba, Baswahili, and Banyarwanda. Within this colonial framework, Congolese announcers and musicians began developing their own forms of expression. Pauline Lisanga joined RCBA in 1949 as its first female presenter. A member of the Bapoto community, she became known for her broadcasting work and was among the earliest female performers of Congolese rumba. Unlike some other colonial radio services, RCBA, later renamed Émissions Africaines, promoted local music from the outset.
1960–1971: Radiodiffusion Nationale Congolaise and RTNC Following the Congo's independence on 30 June 1960, RCB became Radiodiffusion Nationale Congolaise (RNC), headquartered in Léopoldville and operating a 50-kilowatt transmitter. During the Congo Crisis, control of the station became strategically important to Patrice Lumumba, Joseph Kasa-Vubu, and United Nations forces, while Radio Brazzaville was also used at times. As the country fragmented into rival regional administrations, stations in Orientale, South Kasai, Kivu, and Katanga broadcast their own accounts of local and national events and sometimes transmitted official messages between the competing governments.
RNC's national service broadcast from Léopoldville on shortwave at 11,755 kHz (25.52 metres). Its programming, which sometimes extended to 20 hours per day, reached audiences throughout the Congo and abroad. European broadcasts were transmitted in French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, while news and feature programs were also presented in Kiswahili, Tshiluba, Kikongo, Lingala, and other African languages. Separate broadcasts directed toward the Americas were transmitted in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. In September 1961, the central government, through Information Minister Joseph Iléo, unsuccessfully requested a 100-kilowatt transmitter from the United States. Although RNC's existing transmitter had a nominal capacity of 50 kilowatts, it was operating at a maximum output of seven kilowatts. In the summer of 1961, RNC journalists Simon Gombo and François Kabeya studied radio journalism at Syracuse University through the U.S. State Department's Leader Exchange Program. With guidance from university faculty, they produced a study titled New Horizons for Radio Congo, which examined techniques for reaching different segments of the Congolese audience. It included simplified scripts and informal dialogues designed to explain unfamiliar or complex subjects. Gombo and Kabeya concluded that simplified programming was necessary and could be effective, but cautioned that audiences might reject it if it were explicitly labeled "simplified".
One of the most prominent breakaway stations was Radio Katanga in Élisabethville (now Lubumbashi). In 1961, Katangese and United Nations forces fought for control of its headquarters. The station broadcast news, features, and music in English, French, and Swahili on 11,866 kHz (25.58 metres). It also operated two shortwave transmitters carrying programs in Swahili, French, Tshiluba, Bemba, Sanga, and other local languages. Its programming included women's features, educational content, and programs intended for the armed forces and police. Several low-powered clandestine stations also began broadcasting in late 1960. Most operated from Katanga and Kivu and supported regional separatist movements, although their influence was reportedly limited. In 1963, the African Technical Service for Broadcasting (Service technique africain de radiodiffusion, STAR) was established in cooperation with the RNC to develop educational and cultural programming. Its production center in Kinshasa created tape-recorded educational programs for transmission through the RTNC network.
On November 1966, the organization became known as Congolese National Radio and Television (Radio-télévision nationale congolaise; RTNC) following the introduction of television broadcasting. The Ministry of Information defined its three principal functions as information, education, and entertainment and regarded its integration with the national radio service as a means of supporting national development. It operated for three hours each evening on VHF channel 5. The service was developed under a 1965 agreement between the Ministry of Information and France's Office de coopération radiophonique (OCORA). OCORA planned and installed equipment manufactured by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and established television-production and equipment-maintenance training for Congolese personnel. A television service also began operating in Lubumbashi in collaboration with the College of Saint Francis de Sales. In 1969, Kinshasa had an estimated 10,000 to 11,000 television sets, while Lubumbashi had approximately 2,000. Broadcasts from Brazzaville could also be received in Kinshasa. In September 1969, the first planned television viewing center was inaugurated in Menkao, about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Kinshasa. Additional centers were planned for villages within range of the Kinshasa and Lubumbashi stations.
Television RTNC broadcast facilities of the Congo as of 1968: KinshasaLubumbashiModulationFMFMPolarizationHPHPBand W70008000Lines625625Frames2525Video Power5Frequency215250221750 Before April 1967, the country had three private radio stations: two in Lubumbashi and one in Kinshasa. The Kinshasa station, operated by the Roman Catholic secondary school Collège Albert 1er (now Collège Boboto), broadcast religious programming for two hours on Sunday mornings. In Lubumbashi, the Collège Saint-François de Sales operated Radio Collège, which broadcast in French, Swahili, and Bemba during evenings and on Sundays. Supported by the Salesian missionary order and voluntary contributions, it operated FM, shortwave, and medium-wave transmitters and began limited television broadcasting in 1966. Another Lubumbashi station, UFAC, was operated by the Katanga Veterans and broadcast 26 hours per week in French, Flemish, English, and Swahili. In April 1967, the government suspended all private radio stations, although Radio Collège was permitted to continue operating its television service in collaboration with the RTNC. From 1966, officials placed particular emphasis on educational programming and regarded radio as an important means of communicating government policy and current information throughout the country. They also viewed national radio as a means of promoting unity among the country's ethnic groups. In 1968, STAR announced plans to establish rural listening centers and develop a "school of the air", with pilot projects underway by 1969. The ban remained in force in 1969, leaving the RTNC as the country's only domestic broadcaster.
By that year, the country had an estimated 800,000 radio receivers and a listening audience of between four and five million. Earlier that year in March, the Ministry of Information announced an agreement with a French company to install a 600-kilowatt transmitter in Kinshasa for the Voice of African Brotherhood (La Voix de la Fraternité Africaine)'s external service. Scheduled to begin operating in early 1970, the transmitter was intended to extend coverage across Central Africa. The agreement also provided for the installation of a 300-kilowatt transmitter in Kisangani in 1970 and another transmitter in Lubumbashi in 1971.
The government operated eight radio stations: two in Kinshasa and six in provincial capitals. Radio RTNC broadcast facilities in the Congo as of 1968: LocationPower (in kilowatts)Wave lengthFrequencyTransmitter type²BandKinshasa1225.401331CFTHMW1063.694710——1050.054880BB—1042.167115——1041.847170BBSW5041.757185RCASW5031.069660CFTHSW1030.699775——10025.4311790CFTHSW10019.6815245——(250 watts)61.4890GatesFMBukavu1061.044889BBSWKisangani1049.306085——Lubumbashi1063.224745BBSW1050.355958MarconiSW7.541.647205——Lubumbashi (Kilobelobe)2031.459450RCA—10025.4311795——10025.2811866³BBSWLuluabourg1048.986125BBSWMbandaka1061.955993BBSWMbuji-Mayi2041.127295—— The most powerful transmitters were located in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi in the early 1970s. The Voice of African Brotherhood broadcast in French, English, and Portuguese from a 100-kilowatt transmitter at Kilobelobe, near Lubumbashi. The government defined the national network's objectives as providing domestic and international news, entertainment, and education.
1972–present: Télé-Zaire, Office Zaïrois de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision, and RTNC