20 channels
Moldova’s television scene is shaped by its small size and deep linguistic divide. With only 19 channels, the market is intimate but politically charged. The state broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) runs the flagship Moldova 1, delivering news in Romanian with a formal, steady tone that feels closer to public-service tradition than the flashy commercial channels. Alongside it, commercial stations like Prime TV and Publika TV cater to the Russian-speaking audience, broadcasting news and talk shows in Russian, often with a more opinionated, confrontational style. This bilingual reality is unique in Europe: many households flip between Romanian and Russian feeds depending on the time of day. Primetime starts around 19:00, when general entertainment channels run locally produced variety shows, music programs, and imported Romanian or Russian series, usually dubbed rather than subtitled. News is king, especially on the legislative front: Parliament TV broadcasts sessions live, a transparency nod that draws viewers during political crises. Music channels remain surprisingly popular, leaning heavily on Moldovan folk-pop and Russian mainstream hits. Compared to neighboring Romania, Moldova’s TV is more fragmented by language and more reliant on Russian content; unlike Ukraine, it lacks a strong oligarch-owned channel system. The documentary category, though small, features historical deep dives into Soviet-era Moldova, a recurring national obsession.
