The first TV broadcast in Croatia took place in Zagreb on August 25, 1939.
The magic of TV first appeared in Croatia in 1939, when the management of Zagrebački zbor (forerunners of Zagreb Fair) decided to show the unusual technical innovation to the public. Only two TV stations broadcast their programme in Europe at the time – one in London, and one in Berlin, and only a very limited number of people was able to see it.
Phillips was the company that enabled the people of Zagreb to witness this glorious new invention. Phillips technicians assembled a complex series of cables, lights and cameras at Savska cesta, broadcasting the image to several wireless receivers, with Erik Klaas de Vries in charge of the operation and also behind the camera, filming various Zagreb artists passing by.
On August 25, 1939, one day before Zagrebački zbor fair took place, many guests and journalists attended the broadcast, and, after the official ceremony, numerous visitors of Zagrebački zbor gathered in front of the TV and watched excitedly as the picture moved. Few of them knew how the strange green image made up of flickering green dots worked, but the overall impression was “vivid and deep,” the official reports stated. The reports also stated that the citizens were thrilled to watch artists get ready and perform. Some of the artists who performed in front of the camera were Ruža Cvjetičanin, Vera Grozaj, Tomislav Neralić, and Anka Kernic. The audience members were very lucky – they were able to watch the test programme being filmed and the artists filming it at the same time.
After De Vries left Zagreb, the TV excitement died down. It wasn’t until 1956 that the citizens of Zagreb were able to witness Part II of the spectacular TV event, when RTZ (Radiotelevizija Zagreb) broadcast their programme.
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The first live broadcast of a TV match took place in 1957, when Yugoslavia beat Italy 6:1, with one of the most popular Croatian sports commentators of all time, Mladen Delić, giving his commentary, including his legendary catchphrase “Ma ljudi moji, je li to moguće?”
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