Top Channel
 | |
| Type | National commercial network |
|---|---|
| Country | Albania |
| Network | DigitAlb |
| Headquarters | Kashar, Tirana, Albania |
| Programming | |
| Language | Albanian |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9) 1080i (HDTV 16:9) |
| Timeshift service | Available via DigitAlb |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Top Media Group / Hoxha family |
| Key people | Lorela "Lori" Hoxha |
| Sister channels |
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| History | |
| Founded | 2000 (as a company) 30 July 2001 (experimental broadcasts) |
| Launched | 20 December 2001 |
| Founder | Dritan Hoxha |
| Links | |
| Website | top-channel |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Albania | DVB-T2 and former analogue terrestrial coverage, UHF allocations varying by region |
| Streaming media | |
| DigitAlb OTT | Top Channel |
Top Channel (often abbreviated as TCH) is an Albanian national commercial television network based in Tirana, Albania. It was founded by media entrepreneur Dritan Hoxha and officially launched on 20 December 2001 after experimental broadcasts earlier that year. The channel is part of Top Media, a family-controlled media conglomerate that includes television, radio, digital and distribution assets such as DigitAlb, Top News and Top Albania Radio.
Top Channel became one of Albania's most influential private broadcasters in the 2000s, combining daily news bulletins, political talk shows, entertainment, comedy, reality television and investigative or satirical programming. Its best-known programmes have included Fiks Fare, Portokalli, Top Story, E Diell, Top Show, Shqip, Top Fest, The Voice of Albania, Big Brother Albania and Big Brother VIP Albania.
Because of its audience reach and ownership structure, Top Channel has also been discussed in studies of media concentration, political influence and media capture in Albania. The Media Ownership Monitor has described Top Channel as having long carried a public perception of closeness to Edi Rama, while also noting periods of conflict with Rama's government and periods in which the broadcaster aired critical stories about it. Wider assessments by Reporters Without Borders, the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom and Albanian civil-society monitors have described Albania's media market as highly concentrated in the hands of a few family-owned groups with non-media business interests, creating risks of political and economic pressure on editorial independence.