The main objective of this text is to present classical and contemporary music in the programmes of Macedonian National TV. We chose these music genres (both referred to as “serious music” in the past use of the Macedonian language, which is why divisions for serious music as a single genre existed within the TV, accounting for our consideration of these two genres as one whole genre in this text) mainly since the programmes featuring this kind of music are non-commercial and are consequently underrepresented in the broadcasting institutions at home and abroad. In general, the remaining genres provoke more interest, with obvious commercial purposes.
        The second reason for this research is the fact that according to our initial information, within the last several decades, MRTV notes an outstanding production of this type of programme. As we shall see later, this production is not directly influenced by the economic changes, i.e. the period of transition occurring in Macedonia during the last decade. Even though a constant reduction in production was expected from the mid 1990s and onwards, the information suggests different information ­ the number of realised programmes had been relatively stable during the 1990s, with a surprising tendency of rising. As opposed to this, changes occurred in the distribution of different types of programmes. This is an especially interesting phenomenon which deserves special theoretical attention. In order to show the presentation of the above-mentioned genres on National Television, we gathered data about the production of MTV according to the following parameters: number of programmes by years, titles and duration. In fact, with the formation of such a database, we took the first step in examining this phenomenon. According to these categories, the distribution should help the further deeper analysis of the factors influencing the formation of such a structure of the MTV programmes.

        General information about the MTV music programme

        Macedonian Television (MTV) officially began working on 28 December, 1964, as a supplement to the already existing Macedonian Radio, together later forming the institution Macedonian Radio and Television. Much like the radio programme, the very beginnings of the TV saw the emphasising of classical and contemporary music. A special division for serious music was immediately formed, with its first editor Vladimir Chuchkov. From the beginning, the classical music division was part of the Department for Culture and Art. Summing up the development and production of this division, generally, its production played the role of a true chest of cultural treasures not only of Macedonia, but bearing in mind the characteristics of the genre, of world music culture. Owing to the characteristics and the complexity of the genre, this division was the only professional national service for this genre for years, composed by a highly professional team. In fact, even today other television stations do not include divisions for this genre, but individuals present different programmes covering this subject. Naturally, this influences the quality and quantity, i.e. the choice and coverage of programmes of this genre on MTV.

        Examining MTV production of classical and contemporary music

        As we already mentioned, we shall examine MTV production according to: types of programmes, production by years and duration. Unfortunately, MRTV does not possess a central database for secondary data of its archived audio and video materials, so the data has been obtained from the database of the division for classical music. The digital database partially covers the audio materials, whereas the video materials are covered by a register in the documentation department, including entries on the titles of programmes, the number of tapes and the duration. This register has been organised according to divisions and types of tapes (C and beta). Simultaneously to this register, each division forms an individual database containing more detailed data about the recorded programmes. Evidently, such circumstances do not yield a consistent methodology for a clear definition of the fields and categories of the data to be entered.
        This is sufficient proof that MRTV faces a serious problem with the databases of secondary data concerning the recorded material.                 Urgent digitisation of the existing register is required, as well as a definition of the appropriate fields.
        As we already pointed out, the information used further in this text has been acquired from the register of the classical music division.

    a) type and number of programmes and duration

        Currently, according to the records of the classical music division, there is data about 1578 programmes recorded at the MTV production from its founding until today. Unfortunately, we cannot confirm this precise number, since we presume that certain programmes, especially those of the film production, have not been registered.
        We should also bear in mind the fact that this data does not confirm that the programmes have been preserved in the MTV archives, since in the past, with the lack of tapes, some programmes were erased and other material recorded on the same tape.
        Apart from the incompleteness of data, we believe that the existing information will suffice to illustrate the main intention of the text, to present MTV production in the past several decades. On the other hand, the addressing of the essential problem of digitisation will surely initiate a solution, enabling future required corrections.

        At the moment, in the classical music division, data is entered in 27 different groups of programmes. An examination of the types of programmes in this register follows:

        This table proves that currently, Macedonian Television holds an impressive amount of television coverage of classical and contemporary music. The total number of 1578 programmes and almost a thousand hours of programme speaks for itself. At the same time, this information serves as an illustration to how much attention and resources were dedicated to this genre in the past. In the last decade, during the economic transition ­ i.e. the change of the economic system in the Republic of Macedonia, television programmes became commercialised. Thus, the non-commercial genres were underrepresented or not represented at all on the new broadcasting stations. Therefore, the total number of programmes and duration shows the great contribution in promoting this type of music genre.
        Naturally, the number doesn’t reflect the content of the programme.  To an extent, the categories of programmes presented in this database can help define the content.
        On the other hand, it is clear that the categories are methodologically inconsistent in their definition. This fault originates from the inadequate registering of the secondary data, something we already mentioned. Thus, for instance, even though the Macedonian Philharmonic stands as an individual category, this field only covers the recordings of the Macedonian Philharmonic in Skopje. The recordings from the performances at the Ohrid Summer Festival, Skopje Summer, etc. are found in the categories of the mentioned festivals. This complicates the search of programmes with this ensemble, since they might be found in all the categories in this base. It is also seen that the category old programmes has no information concerning duration.
        Nevertheless, some of the data of the categories, such as the festival Days of Macedonian Music ­ a festival exclusively presenting Macedonian contemporary music, speaks of the content of the programmes. Some categories such as Macedonian Philharmonic, Macedonian Opera, Ballet, etc. speak of the TV presentation of specific performing ensembles. Bearing in mind the content of some of the other festivals, such as the Ohrid Summer, we may assume that these programmes feature worldly renowned performers, as well as concert programmes from all music periods.
        The presented table shows the type of programme and also the number and duration of programmes. It is obvious that the largest number of programmes is seen in: the Ohrid Summer Festival (278), the Pearls of Music Literature (234) and the Macedonian Philharmonic (176).
        The distribution according to duration is different: Ohrid Summer (over 184 hours), Macedonian Philharmonic (134 hours) and Days of Macedonian Music (over 109 hours). This data can be further used in identifying the structure of the database and defining some of its main characteristics.
        Nonetheless, we must emphasise that this table serves as proof of the quantity of production in this genre. This was the main motive in approaching this research. Even though the incomplete data greatly impedes research, we find that additional precise accounting should not mark a decline in the numbers of the programmes and their duration, rather, the missing information should only mark an increase in these numbers.
        In order to support our argument and to provide facile examination of the data, we grouped the information into more general categories where possible, such as for instances festivals, institutions, ensembles, etc. A table with the grouped programmes follows:

        This table proves that the largest number of television programmes originate from the festivals ­ 618 programmes with a duration of 411 hours, 13 minutes and 18 seconds. This serves as evidence of the programme preferences of the Macedonian Television.

    b) production according to years

        The next field of theoretical interest was the distribution of the programme according to years. We thus created a separate base where we entered the programmes according to the years of production. Being aware of the large number of programmes, we shall not present the entire database in this text. This database provides information about the type of production predominating in separate years.
        This paper will only present the database of the production of programmes according to the year of production.
 

        This examination proves that most of the recordings have been made on VTR or C tapes. This information is particularly important for the definition of the future strategy and methodology of digitally archiving this material.

        Conclusion

        Our research on the presentation of classical and contemporary music in the programmes of Macedonian National Television performed its main goal ­ to examine the distribution of these programmes according to the number of programmes, duration, and years of production.
The achieved results proved that this Macedonian Television employs a special programme policy concerning this genre, evident in the impressive number of programmes and their duration. Ever since the formation of the classical music division in the 1960s, an increase in the production of this genre is evident. The increase is specifically evident from the 1990s and onwards ­ a surprising fact, bearing in mind the economic situation of the country, the appearance of commercial television, and the financial difficulties MTV faced.
        Even though there is no current information concerning the content of the programmes, we assume that it includes important recordings by Macedonian music artists, as well as many worldly renowned musicians. Keeping in mind the rating and professionalism of MTV in the past, we may expect the quality of the recorded material to meet international standards.
        This brings up the problem of the urgency of digitally archiving this extremely important material, as global cultural heritage.
        The examination of the carriers where the material is recorded indicates that the carriers are volatile and that soon the problem of obsolete hardware will arise.
        The problem of the secondary databases is particularly prominent. These databases should provide information on the content of the material, the location, time and technology of recording, etc.
        All this indicates there is an urgent need to preserve these programmes, especially considering the financial difficulties the Macedonian Television faces nowadays.