Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (; ; mostly called RTSH ) is the national public broadcasting company of Albania. Founded in 1938, it operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. The international television service via satellite RTSH Sat (former TVSH Sat) was launched in 1993 and is aimed at Albanian-speaking communities in Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and northern Greece, plus the Albanian diaspora in the rest of Europe. RTSH is funded by a combination of commercial advertising, an annual licence fee of US$10.00 and grant-in-aid from the Albanian government. There are 12 TV channels in the first multiplexer and 11 radio channels. RTSH also runs a Satellite Multiplexer with 7 channels. RTSH 1 is the flagship generalist channel. RTSH 2 is dedicated niche communities, including cultural and ethnic minorities, broadcasting news editions in Greek, Montenegrin and Aromanian. RTSH 3 is dedicated to Albanians living abroad. RTSH also has dedicated channels, for news (RTSH-24), sports, music, children, etc. In addition, four regional radio and TV stations serve local areas in Gjirokastër, Korçë, Shkoder, and Kukës. The international radio service broadcasts radio programmes in Albanian and seven other languages via Internet Radio, Radio on the Satellite and on OTT with an App for both iOS and Android. Medium wave (AM) and short wave (SW) broadcasts were switched off in 2017. The broadcaster is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union. It organises the music competition Festivali i Këngës, which has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1962. Since 2003, Festivali i Këngës has also determined Albania's representative in the Eurovision Song Contest. History Early development The beginnings of RTSH date to the creation of Radio Tirana on 28 November 1938. The first Albanian radio station was launched by King Zog I (1895–1961) and Queen Geraldine Apponyi (1915–2002) in a ceremony at the former building of the Municipality of Tirana. A year earlier, a shortwave transmitter with a power of 3 kW at 40 meters was put in operation in Laprake (Tirana) and intended mainly for communication, but was also used to broadcast 3 hours of programmes per day. The first broadcast consisted of choral singing, where Jorgji Truja and Marije Kraja sang an introductory piece, followed by the unique timbre of Kaliopi Nushi's voice who pronounced the following phrase: "Mirëdita, kjo është Radio Tirana" (English: Good day, this is Radio Tirana). This