Studies, pre-genocide Assessment studies with French aid were made in 1984 when signals from neighboring countries were received in parts of the country. In June 1988, TVR was already in the planning stages; a study was entrusted to the
ITU in September, co-financed with the UNDP. However Rwanda, with its "privileged relations with France", issued a request to the French government on 23 May 1990, followed by a mission from the director of Cultural Action of the French Ministry of Cooperation and Development between 21 and 25 September, studying the implementation of TVR with high ORINFOR officials, including its conditions and modalities. A complementary study was made between 26 March and 9 April 1991 by two experts from
TDF to install transmitters in the sites recommended by the ITU, not only for television, but also for FM radio. Rwanda, together with
Chad, was among the last countries in
Françafrique to introduce television. Initially, it was predicted that TVR's programming would consist mainly on programming with socio-cultural topics, covering topics such as development, safety, education, environment and evolution of society. Also a priority were coverage of key important events in the political, cultural, religious and sporting sectors. TVR made its first broadcast with a message from President
Juvénal Habyarimana, with its programming restricted to Saturdays and Sundays from 6pm to 11pm, before starting broadcasts on Fridays and, progressively, covering the whole week. Its first and provisional facilities were located at
Nyarurenge, in downtown Kigali, while waiting for the permanent facilities in Gacukiro to be completed. At launch time, 70% of its programming was local, with the remaining output coming from foreign sources (films, football matches, international news offered from CFI and DW). On 6 April 1994, Habyarimana died and the start of the
genocide prompted TVR to suspend its operations on 7 April. TVR is, indirectly, considered to be one of the first "victims" of the genocide. By the end of the year, TVR was broadcasting three days a week. In 1996, the channel finally achieved a seven-day schedule. In May 2002, it began carrying the daily output of the barter syndication service
African Broadcast Network. As of 2006, TVR broadcast from 10am to midnight, with the bulk of the daytime schedule being filled with live simulcasts of the French service of Euronews, BBC World and Deutsche Welle's English service. A rebroadcast of CNN International aired at 11pm before closedown. TVR refused to air the
2008 Africa Cup of Nations due to a lack of payment with the rights holder. Its counterparts in Zambia and Ghana were facing the same issue. In 2012, TVR lost its television monopoly.
Rwanda Television and conversion to high definition On 3 March 2016, RTV was made available on
DStv, enabling the channel to have a wide satellite reach. The channel was made available to Rwandan subscribers on channel 299. On 8 November 2022, thanks to a new agreement between Canal+ Afrique and the RBA, the provider started carrying the channel in high definition, ahead of the
2022 FIFA World Cup. Only RTV's main channel (380) was converted, with the second channel (630) remaining in SD. In addition, RTV announced an outreach plan for the World Cup, enabling its broadcast to 10,000 viewers in fourteen large screens across Rwanda. ==Channels==