HBC (Herendoland)

HBC, formerly HBC 1, is a Herendish free-to-air public television channel, owned and operated by the English-language Herendoland Broadcasting Corporation. HBC was launched on August 16, 1958 as one of the first two television channels to be launched nationwide in Herendoland. HBC is the equivalent of its Portuguese-language counterpart RTH1.

HBC’s programming output mainly consists of documentaries, news, sport and some current affairs, similar to Britain’s and Australia’s.

History
In 1956, the Herendish government passed the Television Act of 1956, which enabled the two public radio broadcasters at the time, Herendoland Broadcasting Corporation (HBC) and Rádiodifusão Herendoland (RDH), to launch their own television networks.

On August 16, 1958, HBC began television broadcasts at 12:15pm, 15 minutes after RDH launched their own television service, initially in Cercadas and Meidelo. HBC extended its television service to Turiz in September that year, and all three regions carried HBC and RTH by 1960.

On April 1, 1975, test colour broadcasts began on HBC and RTH, initially only limited to news programs and sports telecasts. In 1976, both networks began full colour transmission.

HBC’s sole television service was renamed to HBC 1 in October 1979, concurrently with the launch of HBC 2. On September 2, 1994, HBC 1 and HBC 2 began 24-hour television broadcasts.

In 2002, digital terrestrial television began to roll out in Herendoland, and HBC began broadcasting in digital widescreen on January 1 that year. Following the launch of HBC 24 in 2005, HBC 1 reduced their news programming with the discontinuation of afternoon news.

On April 1, 2011, HBC 1 reverted back to its name of HBC, as part of HBC’s corporate rebranding. In 2014, HBC shut down its analogue signals nationwide, becoming a digital-only television channel.

Programming
HBC operates on a 24-hour broadcast day since September 1994. Before 1994, HBC only broadcasted from 6am to 11:30pm daily.

HBC has two news programs, HBC Breakfast and HBC Tonight, which air from 7am to 10am and 9pm to 10pm respectively. The rest of HBC’s programming are made up of documentaries, sport and current affairs, some of which are simulcasts of HBC Now.