The Kyrgyz National Broadcasting Corporation (Улуттук Телерадиоберүү Корпорациясы), known by its Kyrgyz-language acronym UTRK and formerly branded as KTRK, is Kyrgyzstan’s state broadcasting corporation, based in Bishkek. According to UTRK’s own account, its history traces to December 8, 1958, when Kyrgyzstan’s first television broadcast aired, an event now marked annually as the country’s professional Radio and Television Workers’ Day; the organization’s radio operations date back further, to 1931. The corporation operates Kyrgyzstan’s main television channels, including the National First Channel, Ala-Too 24 news channel, and several radio stations, along with the Republican Radio-Television Center and the Kyrgyztelefilm studio. In 2022, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament converted the broadcaster from “public” to “national” status, abolishing its independent oversight board and giving the president the power to appoint and dismiss its general director directly. UTRK has served as a domestic broadcast partner for Chinese state-linked media content in Kyrgyzstan, including a joint programming section with privately owned cable operator Dolon TV that carries “China TV Theater,” a strand created by China’s National Radio and Television Administration to place PRC state-produced programming abroad.