Jan Werich by UnknownCzech Radio
Jan Werich and the Karel Vlach Orchestra
The Karel Vlach Orchestra, whose beginnings go back to 1938, represented Czechoslovak jazz in the late 1940s when it was still referred to as the “music of intellectual poverty”. A positive role was undoubtedly played by the legacy of JiVoskovec and Werich’s Osvobozené divadlo.
Members of the Brno Orchestra of Folk Instruments (1956) by UnknownCzech Radio
Brno Orchestra of Folk Instruments (BROLN)
Folk music was the second fundamental musical genre of the 1950s. The Brno Orchestra of Folk Instruments (BROLN) was founded in 1952 and quickly became established among other radio ensembles. The photograph shows the orchestra’s members in 1956.
Jiří Hanzelka and Miroslav Zikmund (1958) by Jiřina CinybulkováCzech Radio
Jiří Hanzelka and Miroslav Zikmund
Two engineers who became famous due to their around-the-world journey in a Tatra 87 car. Between 1948–50, they visited 42 countries. Czechoslovak Radio broadcast reports from these travels and continued to do so even two years after Hanzelka and Zikmund had returned home.
Karl Münchinger conducting SOČR at the Prague Spring (1960) by UnknownCzech Radio
K. Münchinger conducting SOČR at the Prague Spring Festival
The radio mainly promoted classical music in its musical programming and dramaturgy. The members of the Radio Symphony Orchestra attended the Prague Spring every year from 1948 and the radio broadcast all concerts from this festival.
Filming of the radio play Ruy Blas (1961) by Petr BöhmCzech Radio
Filming of the radio play Ruy Blas
The repertoire of plays recorded in the 1960s was very wide-ranging. There was room for contemporary Czech authors, as well as international authors. The photograph shows the recording of Hugo’s novel Ruy Blas in an adaptation by František Kožík.
Oldřich Nový and Anna Suchánková at the studio tape recorder
In the first half of the 1960s, the editing of compiled material on tapes was primarily undertaken on Jansen studio tape recorders, as documented by this picture of actor Oldřich Nový and technician Anna Suchánková. It was a proven device of East German production.
Jiří Šebánek a Zdeněk Svěrák ve vinárně U Pavouka (1965) by UnknownCzech Radio
Army Radio Broadcasts: Winebar U Pavouka
The army radio broadcasts were entirely unique: nowhere else in the world was this cultivated than in Czechoslovakia. It shifted away from educational sections in support of military discipline and focused on having a real dialogue with listeners.
Marta Kubišová at the R40/T10 exhibition (1967) by UnknownCzech Radio
Czechoslovak Radio Dance Orchestra
Kubišová, Gott, Neckář… These are just some of the names of the many singers for whom cooperation with the Dance Orchestra and Czechoslovak Radio helped launch a successful career. For Contact with the radio was essential at that time.
The little radio "reporter"
Despite the fact that the first international event that Czechoslovak Radio ever covered directly on site was the Nuremburg Trials, it was not until the 1960s that it adopted its own network of permanent foreign correspondents. This doll served to promote the foreign correspondents.
The small revolution that Czechoslovak Radio underwent in the 1960s ended with the Warsaw Pact invasion. The radio building on Vinohradská Street in Prague became the site of the most severe clashes between the outraged public and the soldiers of the foreign armies.
The funeral of Milan Kadlec (1968)Czech Radio
Survey on the day of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
The radio survey conducted among Prague residents on 21 August 1968 is fascinating due to the respondents’ uninhibited reactions and the natural interview style of reporter Sláva Volný, who emigrated to Munich soon after the beginning of normalization.
In the 1950s, editors used outside broadcasting vans to record their reports. The reporter’s mobility was only as ample as the microphone’s cable was long. Ten years later, this limiting factor disappeared with the advent of new technology in the form of portable tape recorders
Actress Hana Maciuchova and actor Jiri Adamira during the filming of the radio play Life for Real (1981) by Helena MárováCzech Radio
Filming of the radio play Life on the Edge
In the 1970s, radio plays had to adhere to a realistic form and draw from the classical repertoire. However, in the following decade, original Czech radio dramas once again came to the forefront, thanks in part to the Prix Bohemia festival.
The radio is on strike (1989) by UnknownCzech Radio
Radio on strike
State-run Czechoslovak Radio initially informed the public about the events of 17 November 1989 and the subsequent protests in a somewhat non-specific and distorted manner. The first breakthrough in the broadcasts occurred in the program Microforum Magazine.
Dobré jitro show with Jan Kovařík (1992) by UnknownCzech Radio
Dobré jitro show with Jan Kovařík
Listeners were able to spend the first few hours of each new day with the Good Morning program, even after November 1989. Significant Czech personalities from cultural or scientific fields frequently contributed to the program and joined the regular presenters.
Hanging the Roma flag on the building of the Jewish town hall in Prague (2016) by Jana ŠustováCzech Radio
Hanging the Roma flag on the building of the Jewish townhall
The Velvet Revolution brought a big change to Czechoslovak Radio. In 1992 it ceased to be a state medium and became a public medium. One of the most distinct features of this change was the fact that broadcasting began to give more space to ethnic minorities, religion, etc.
Radio broadcasting from the expressway of Mayor Zenkl
The historical first live broadcast from an express train took place as part of the Good Morning program. It was the brainchild of the then music editor Jiří Dohnal, who wanted to combine the possibilities provided by radio with the unprecedented popularity of the Czech railway.
Anti-war protest outside the White House in September 2002
One of the main journalistic priorities of public radio news coverage is maintaining a network of top flight international reporters who provide instantaneous information from the centre of world events along with in-depth knowledge of local contexts.
A new odyssey – Mongolia (2006) by Khalil BaalbakiCzech Radio
A new odyssey – Mongolia
Miroslav Bobek, an editor from the station Czech Radio 2 Prague, came up with the original idea of following the stork migration live in the mid-1990s. The program was very popular with listeners and it was subsequently followed by a number of other expeditions.
In addition to extensive content and personnel changes, the radio also had to resolve the matter of its new premises. The old building on Vinohradská Street was no longer able to meet the radio’s new demands and it was also in poor condition. Director General Vlastimil Ježek decided in favour of the construction of the new Studio Building directly adjoined to the existing radio building on Vinohradská Street. Broadcasts commenced from the Studio Building in 2000.
Actress Pavla Tomicová during the filming of the radio play Koule (2011) by Martin VelíšekCzech Radio
Radio comedy Kuule
The main character of this comedy, subtitled The Story of a Shot-putter, is a famous former athlete. Due to its inspiration by recent history, the play Koule, premiered in January 2011 and directed by Aleš Vrzák, met with an unprecedented response.
The live broadcast of Jules Verne's radio play From the Earth to the Moon (2018) by Khalil BaalbakiCzech Radio
The live broadcast of radio play From the Earth to the Moon
Dvojka station presents a unique live broadcast of a play every summer. The actors perform in the presence of an audience and are accompanied by musicians and Foley artists. In 2018, Jules Verne’s play was broadcast using an parabolic antenna pointed at the moon.
Award-winning Concert for animals in the Beskydy countryside (2020) by Jiří ŠedaCzech Radio
Award-winning Concert for animals in the Beskydy countryside
Ladislav Železný’s Concert for Wildlife project for CRo’s Vltava station received the prestigious Prix Europa award in 2021. Musicians and sound artists played a unique concert as a thank you to nature for permanently creating an environment, in which we are capable of living.
The newest station of Czech Radio, the digital station Radio Wave, is looking for new and progressive ways to reach the young generation of listeners. They are also among the pioneers in podcasting.
