In 1979 the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country was approved, the document contained the possibility of creating broadcast media owned by the Basque government,[1] which would be used for the normalization of the Basque language.[2]
The channel began test transmissions on 31 December 1982 and officially launched on 16 February 1983 as ETB, using this name until the launch of its sister ETB 2 on 31 May 1986, at which point ETB was renamed to ETB 1. An HD feed of ETB 1 was launched on 21 December 2016.
ETB 1 was the first regional channel in Spain, also becoming the first channel to break the monopoly held by TVE 1 and TVE 2.[3]
Its programming includes: interviews, films, documentaries, sports, youth and children's programmes, making a strong emphasis on sports and children's programming.
The EiTB group's second main television channel, ETB 2, broadcasts in Spanish.