On 27 February 2019, the longest-running graphic design (2006–2019) was changed to a new one, but the station's logo remained virtually unchanged until 2021 when the logo was changed again as part of a major overhaul; however, the sun concept of the logo has remained.
A high-definition simulcast feed of Polsat HD was launched in 1 September 2009.
History
Polsat began test transmissions on 1 December 1992, and started regular broadcasts on 5 December 1992 at 16:30 CET via the Eutelsat II-F3 satellite. The first programme broadcast by Polsat was the Polish animated series Wędrówki Pyzy [pl]. To circumvent licensing issues, it originally broadcast from a studio in Hilversum (the Netherlands) and imported programming had to come by plane.[1] Its initial broadcasting reach was very small at only 20% of the population, but was considered to be attractive for advertisers, as most of its viewers were found in larger cities, had a significant overrepresentation of under-50s and had higher incomes.[2] The owner and main founder of the channel, Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, originally planned that after the regulation of radio and television regulations, the television headquarters would be located in Wrocław, but ultimately they were located in Warsaw.
In the summer of 1993 a group of 9 young journalists working in the Polsat TV newsroom established the first independent news program in Central and Eastern Europe broadcasting live every evening, Informacje. In the core team of journalists were Jarosław Sellin, Paweł Maciąg, Tadeusz Święchowicz and Adam Pawłowicz [pl].
On 5 October 1993, Polsat finally obtained a legal license from the Polish National Broadcasting Council to broadcast terrestrially in Poland, and began free-to-airterrestrial transmissions on 27 January 1994. Polsat therefore became the first Polish TV channel to break the monopoly previously held by TVP.
Polsat initially broadcast its program in two blocks, afternoon (16:30 to 19:00) and night (23:15 to about 01:00). The channel broadcast for 4 hours and then 8 hours a day (from 16:30 to about 01:00). On October 1, 1994, it increased its daily airtime to 16 hours a day. From September 6, 1999 to the end of 2009, it broadcast 23 hours a day (6:00 - 5:00). From the beginning of 2010, the program is broadcast around the clock, but once a month at 1:00 a.m. the channel shuts down for maintenance.
In late January 1994, talks emerged of a possible buying by News International, owned by Australian-American media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, shortly after the network was awarded the right to broadcast terrestrially nationwide. No final decisions had been taken under the grounds that Murdoch was not a legal member of the consortium. Had Polsat accepted, Murdoch would take up to 33% of the shares. Polsat had said that its bid for the national license were under the grounds that its license was a "purely Polish bid with no foreign links".[3]
In 1999 Paweł Maciąg became the first United States correspondent for Polsat TV based in New York City. As an eyewitness, he covered the tragic events of 9/11 from Ground Zero in New York.
From September 15, 2020, the Polsat TV signal is broadcast on the Internet by the broadcaster's VOD Polsat Go and Polsat Box Go internet services.
From the very beginning, events, concerts and galas were also broadcast. New Year's Eve music concerts have been broadcast since 2006, and in 2015–2019 and from 2021 - Polsat SuperHit Festival. In 1996–2002, the National Dance Music Festival in Ostróda was broadcast (mainly as part of Disco Polo Live), in 1999 - the Telekamera gala, and occasionally Polsat's anniversary gala.
Branding
The name Polsat was thought up by Polish satirist Tadeusz Drozda, at a time when the channel broadcast from the Netherlands by satellite. The first logo, made up of an S formed by two arches, and to the left the word POLSAT divided in two separate syllables (with the second below the first) was designed by Jacek Błach, and the music for the ident was composed by Grzegorz Ciechowski. In 1994, after achieving its terrestrial license, the channel rebranded and adopted a sun as its logo. In an interview given to Super Express in 2011, Zygmunt Solorz-Żak was believed to be "superstitious", with the sun being created by a friend - the golden Aztec sun - to assure the success of the channel.[4] The first logo was designed by Jacek Błach and the ident music was composed by Grzegorz Ciechowski.
On 27 February 2006, Polsat changed its logo and graphic design, replacing the blue look. The logo shows of a sun putted inside an orange square with shining stripes, and the red square with the text "POLSAT". The idents font is FF DIN (also used on RTL).
Polsat and its thematic sister channels started to show elements of rebranding from 2 August 2021. The Polsat channels officially changed their logos and graphic design on 30 August 2021.
