Alpha TV is a Greek terrestrial channel (prior to 2000: ΣΚΑΪ, the Greek spelling of Sky). The station features a mix of Greek and foreign shows with an emphasis on entertainment programs. The studios are located near Athens. Alpha TV is owned by Luxembourg media giant RTL Group; previous owner Dimitris Kontominas sold majority share in the channel to RTL Group in 2008.
Alpha TV's logo, when the channel was called Skaï, was written using Greek letters. It was Latinized and changed to a blue font in 1999, when Kontominas bought it from Ioannis Alafouzos. In September 1999 it became Alpha-Sky and later A-Sky before changing to its present name in October of the same year. The logo was retained despite the changes in the channel's name. In 2006 the name was changed again to Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, to reflect the channel's popularity, and used a similarity of Swiss font letters. This A (alpha) logo is similar to the Attiki Odos logo. The font letters in 2003 changed and a circle was added over Alpha, but the two As (alphas) remain. In 2005 a new version was introduced and is colored with red, looking like the modern Adobe Logo and was updated prior to the launch of the 2007-2008 season. Ratings are now in the middle range after the introduction of Alter.
In Cyprus private broadcaster Sigma TV broadcasts a number of Alpha TV's programs. In the past, public service broadcaster CyBC used to broadcast Alpha TV programs.
In September 2008, Dimitris Kontominas sold a majority share (66.6%) of Alpha TV and Alpha Radio to Luxembourg media company RTL Group. Kontominas will continue to be involved with Alpha as he still owns 33.4% and has been named president of the new holding company called Alpha Media Group.
In March 2009 the company made significant changes to the news programming output. The afternoon news show has been cut to 15 minutes in duration and now airs at 13:00. The main evening news has also moved from the highly competitive slot of 20:00 and instead broadcasts at 19:00.
On January 5, 2012, RTL Group announced that they had reached an agreement to sell their share to minority owner Dimtris Kontominas, making him once again full owner of the channel. The deal is expected to be finalizing by the end of the 1st quarter of 2012.
Read more about Alpha TV: History, Programming, Alpha Sat, Reporters
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