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Phonograph record

A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), a vinyl record (for later varieties only), or simply a record or vinyl is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the outside edge and ends near the center of the disc. The stored sound information is made audible by playing the record on a phonograph (or "gramophone", "turntable", or "record player").

Records have been produced in different formats with playing times ranging from a few minutes to around 30 minutes per side. For about half a century, the discs were commonly made from shellac and these records typically ran at a rotational speed of 78 rpm, giving it the nickname "78s" ("seventy-eights"). After the 1940s, "vinyl" records made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) became standard replacing the old 78s and remain so to this day; they have since been produced in various sizes and speeds, most commonly 7-inch discs played at 45 rpm (typically for singles, also called 45s ("forty-fives")), and 12-inch discs played at 33⅓ rpm (known as an LP, "long-playing records", typically for full-length albums) – the latter being the most prevalent format today.

Overview
The phonograph record was the primary medium used for music reproduction throughout the 20th century. It had co-existed with the phonograph cylinder from the late 1880s and had effectively superseded it by around 1912. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as the compact cassette were mass-marketed. By the 1980s, digital media, in the form of the compact disc, had gained a larger market share, and the record left the mainstream in 1991. Since the 1990s, records continue to be manufactured and sold on a smaller scale, and during the 1990s and early 2000s were commonly used by disc jockeys (DJs), especially in dance music genres. They were also listened to by a growing number of audiophiles. The phonograph record has made a niche resurgence in the early 21st century, growing increasingly popular throughout the 2010s and 2020s. Phonograph records are generally described by their diameter in inches (12-inch, 10-inch, 7-inch) (although they were designed in millimeters ), the rotational speed in revolutions per minute (rpm) at which they are played ($8 1/3$, $16 2/3$, $33 1/3$, 45, 78), and their time capacity, determined by their diameter and speed (LP [long play], 12-inch disc, $33 1/3$ rpm; SP [short play or single play], 10-inch disc, 78 rpm, or 7-inch disc, 45 rpm; EP [extended play], 12-inch disc or 7-inch disc, $33 1/3$ or 45 rpm); their reproductive quality, or level of fidelity (high-fidelity, orthophonic, full-range, etc.); and the number of audio channels (mono, stereo, quad, etc.).

The phrase broken record refers to a malfunction when the needle skips/jumps back to the previous groove and plays the same section over and over again indefinitely.

Present production
, 48 record pressing facilities exist worldwide, 18 in the US and 30 in other countries. The increased popularity of the record has led to the investment in new and modern record-pressing machines. Only two producers of lacquers (acetate discs or master discs) remain: Apollo Masters in California, and MDC in Japan. On 6 February 2020, a fire destroyed the Apollo Masters plant. According to the Apollo Masters website, their future is still uncertain. Hand Drawn Pressing opened in 2011 as the world's first fully automated record pressing plant.

Naming
The various names have included phonograph record (American English), gramophone record (British English), record, vinyl, LP (originally a trademark of Columbia Records), black disc, album, and more informally platter, wax, or liquorice pizza.

Early development
Manufacture of disc records began in the late 19th century, at first competing with earlier cylinder records. Price, ease of use and storage made the disc record dominant by the 1910s. The standard format of disc records became known to later generations as "78s" after their playback speed in revolutions per minute, although that speed only became standardized in the late 1920s. In the late 1940s new formats pressed in vinyl, the 45 rpm single and 33 rpm long playing "LP", were introduced, gradually overtaking the formerly standard "78s" over the next decade. The late 1950s saw the introduction of stereophonic sound on commercial discs.

Predecessors
The phonautograph was invented by 1857 by Frenchman Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. It could not, however, play back recorded sound, as Scott intended for people to read back the tracings, which he called phonautograms. Prior to this, tuning forks had been used in this way to create direct tracings of the vibrations of sound-producing objects, as by English physicist Thomas Young in 1807.

In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the first phonograph, which etched sound recordings onto phonograph cylinders. Unlike the phonautograph, Edison's phonograph could both record and reproduce sound, via two separate needles, one for each function.

The first disc records

The first commercially sold disc records were created by Emile Berliner in the 1880s. Emile Berliner improved the quality of recordings while his manufacturing associate Eldridge R. Johnson, who owned a machine shop in Camden, New Jersey, eventually improved the mechanism of the gramophone with a spring motor and a speed regulating governor, resulting in a sound quality equal to Edison's cylinders. Abandoning Berliner's "Gramophone" trademark for legal reasons in the United States, Johnson's and Berliner's separate companies reorganized in 1901 to form the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey, whose products would come to dominate the market for several decades.

Berliner's Montreal factory, which became the Canadian branch of RCA Victor, still exists. There is a dedicated museum in Montreal for Berliner (Musée des ondes Emile Berliner).

Early speeds
Early disc recordings were produced in a variety of speeds ranging from 60 to 130 rpm, and a variety of sizes. As early as 1894, Emile Berliner's United States Gramophone Company was selling single-sided 7-inch discs with an advertised standard speed of "about 70 rpm".

One standard audio recording handbook describes speed regulators, or governors, as being part of a wave of improvement introduced rapidly after 1897. A picture of a hand-cranked 1898 Berliner Gramophone shows a governor, and says that spring drives had replaced hand drives. It notes that:

"The speed regulator was furnished with an indicator that showed the speed when the machine was running so that the records, on reproduction, could be revolved at exactly the same speed...The literature does not disclose why 78 rpm was chosen for the phonograph industry, apparently this just happened to be the speed created by one of the early machines and, for no other reason continued to be used."

In 1912, the Gramophone Company set 78 rpm as their recording standard, based on the average of recordings they had been releasing at the time, and started selling players whose governors had a nominal speed of 78 rpm. By 1925, 78 rpm was becoming standardized across the industry. However, the exact speed differed between places with alternating current electricity supply at 60 hertz (cycles per second, Hz) and those at 50 Hz. Where the mains supply was 60 Hz, the actual speed was 78.26 rpm: that of a 60 Hz stroboscope illuminating 92-bar calibration markings. Where it was 50 Hz, it was 77.92 rpm: that of a 50 Hz stroboscope illuminating 77-bar calibration markings.

Acoustic recording
Early recordings were made entirely acoustically, the sound was collected by a horn and piped to a diaphragm, which vibrated the cutting stylus. Sensitivity and frequency range were poor, and frequency response was irregular, giving acoustic recordings an instantly recognizable tonal quality. A singer almost had to put their face in the recording horn. A way of reducing resonance was to wrap the recording horn with tape.

Even drums, if planned and placed properly, could be effectively recorded and heard on even the earliest jazz and military band recordings. The loudest instruments such as the drums and trumpets were positioned the farthest away from the collecting horn. Lillian Hardin Armstrong, a member of King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, which recorded at Gennett Records in 1923, remembered that at first Oliver and his young second trumpet, Louis Armstrong, stood next to each other and Oliver's horn could not be heard. "They put Louis about fifteen feet over in the corner, looking all sad."

Electrical recording

During the first half of the 1920s, engineers at Western Electric, as well as independent inventors such as Orlando Marsh, developed technology for capturing sound with a microphone, amplifying it with vacuum tubes (known as valves in the UK ), and then using the amplified signal to drive an electromechanical recording head. Western Electric's innovations resulted in a broader and smoother frequency response, which produced a dramatically fuller, clearer and more natural-sounding recording. Soft or distant sounds that were previously impossible to record could now be captured. Volume was now limited only by the groove spacing on the record and the amplification of the playback device. Victor and Columbia licensed the new electrical system from Western Electric and recorded the first electrical discs during the spring of 1925. The first electrically recorded Victor Red Seal record was Chopin's "Impromptus" and Schubert's "Litanei" performed by pianist Alfred Cortot at Victor's studios in Camden, New Jersey.

A 1926 Wanamaker's ad in The New York Times offers records "by the latest Victor process of electrical recording". It was recognized as a breakthrough; in 1930, a Times music critic stated: "... the time has come for serious musical criticism to take account of performances of great music reproduced by means of the records. To claim that the records have succeeded in exact and complete reproduction of all details of symphonic or operatic performances ... would be extravagant ... [but] the article of today is so far in advance of the old machines as hardly to admit classification under the same name. Electrical recording and reproduction have combined to retain vitality and color in recitals by proxy."

The Orthophonic Victrola had an interior folded exponential horn, a sophisticated design informed by impedance-matching and transmission-line theory, and designed to provide a relatively flat frequency response. Victor's first public demonstration of the Orthophonic Victrola on 6 October 1925, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was front-page news in The New York Times, which reported: "The audience broke into applause ... John Philip Sousa [said]: '[Gentlemen], that is a band. This is the first time I have ever heard music with any soul to it produced by a mechanical talking machine' ... The new instrument is a feat of mathematics and physics. It is not the result of innumerable experiments, but was worked out on paper in advance of being built in the laboratory ... The new machine has a range of from 100 to 5,000 [cycles per second], or five and a half octaves ... The 'phonograph tone' is eliminated by the new recording and reproducing process."

Sales of records plummeted precipitously during the early years of the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the entire record industry in America nearly foundered. In 1932, RCA Victor introduced a basic, inexpensive turntable called the Duo Jr., which was designed to be connected to their radio receivers. According to Edward Wallerstein (the general manager of the RCA Victor Division), this device was "instrumental in revitalizing the industry".

78 rpm materials
The production of shellac records continued throughout the 78 rpm era, which lasted until 1948 in industrialized nations.

During the Second World War, the United States Armed Forces produced thousands of 12-inch vinyl 78 rpm V-Discs for use by the troops overseas. After the war, the use of vinyl became more practical as new record players with lightweight crystal pickups and precision-ground styli made of sapphire or an exotic osmium alloy proliferated. In late 1945, RCA Victor began offering "De Luxe" transparent red vinylite pressings of some Red Seal classical 78s, at a de luxe price. Later, Decca Records introduced vinyl Deccalite 78s, while other record companies used various vinyl formulations trademarked as Metrolite, Merco Plastic, and Sav-o-flex, but these were mainly used to produce "unbreakable" children's records and special thin vinyl DJ pressings for shipment to radio stations.

78 rpm recording time
The playing time of a phonograph record is directly proportional to the available groove length divided by the turntable speed. Total groove length in turn depends on how closely the grooves are spaced, in addition to the record diameter. At the beginning of the 20th century, the early discs played for two minutes, the same as cylinder records. The 12-inch disc, introduced by Victor in 1903, increased the playing time to three and a half minutes. Because the standard 10-inch 78 rpm record could hold about three minutes of sound per side, most popular recordings were limited to that duration. For example, when King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, including Louis Armstrong on his first recordings, recorded 13 sides at Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana, in 1923, one side was 2:09 and four sides were 2:52–2:59.

In January 1938, Milt Gabler started recording for Commodore Records, and to allow for longer continuous performances, he recorded some 12-inch discs. Eddie Condon explained: "Gabler realized that a jam session needs room for development." The first two 12-inch recordings did not take advantage of their capability: "Carnegie Drag" was 3m 15s; "Carnegie Jump", 2m 41s. But at the second session, on 30 April, the two 12-inch recordings were longer: "Embraceable You" was 4m 05s; "Serenade to a Shylock", 4m 32s. Another way to overcome the time limitation was to issue a selection extending to both sides of a single record. Vaudeville stars Gallagher and Shean recorded "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean", written by themselves or, allegedly, by Bryan Foy, as two sides of a 10-inch 78 in 1922 for Victor. Longer musical pieces were released as a set of records. In 1903 His Master's Voice in England made the first complete recording of an opera, Verdi's Ernani, on 40 single-sided discs.

In 1940, Commodore released Eddie Condon and his Band's recording of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" in four parts, issued on both sides of two 12-inch 78s. The limited duration of recordings persisted from their advent until the introduction of the LP record in 1948. In popular music, the time limit of $3 1/2$ minutes on a 10-inch 78 rpm record meant that singers seldom recorded long pieces. One exception is Frank Sinatra's recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Soliloquy", from Carousel, made on 28 May 1946. Because it ran 7m 57s, longer than both sides of a standard 78 rpm 10-inch record, it was released on Columbia's Masterwork label (the classical division) as two sides of a 12-inch record.

In the 78 era, classical-music and spoken-word items generally were released on the longer 12-inch 78s, about 4–5 minutes per side. For example, on 10 June 1924, four months after the 12 February premier of Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin recorded an abridged version of the seventeen-minute work with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. It was released on two sides of Victor 55225 and ran for 8m 59s.

Record albums
"Record albums" were originally booklets containing collections of multiple disc records of related material, the name being related to photograph albums or scrap albums. German record company Odeon pioneered the album in 1909 when it released the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky on four double-sided discs in a specially designed package. It was not until the LP era that an entire album of material could be included on a single record.

78 rpm releases in the microgroove era
In 1968, when the hit movie Thoroughly Modern Millie was inspiring revivals of Jazz Age music, Reprise planned to release a series of 78-rpm singles from their artists on their label at the time, called the Reprise Speed Series. Only one disc actually saw release, Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today", a track from his self-titled debut album (with "The Beehive State" on the flipside). Reprise did not proceed further with the series due to a lack of sales for the single, and a lack of general interest in the concept.

In 1978, guitarist and vocalist Leon Redbone released a promotional 78-rpm single featuring two songs ("Alabama Jubilee" and "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone") from his Champagne Charlie album.

In the same vein of Tin Pan Alley revivals, R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders issued a number of 78-rpm singles on their Blue Goose record label. The most familiar of these releases is probably R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders' Party Record (1980, issued as a "Red Goose" record on a 12-inch single), with the double-entendre "My Girl's Pussy" on the "A" side and the X-rated "Christopher Columbus" on the "B" side.

In the 1990s Rhino Records issued a series of boxed sets of 78-rpm reissues of early rock and roll hits, intended for owners of vintage jukeboxes. The records were made of vinyl, however, and some of the earlier vintage 78-rpm jukeboxes and record players (the ones that were pre-war) were designed with heavy tone arms to play the hard slate-impregnated shellac records of their time. These vinyl Rhino 78s were softer and would be destroyed by old juke boxes and old record players, but play well on newer 78-capable turntables with modern lightweight tone arms and jewel needles.

As a special release for Record Store Day 2011, Capitol re-released The Beach Boys single "Good Vibrations" in the form of a 10-inch 78-rpm record (b/w "Heroes and Villains"). More recently, The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band has released their tribute to blues guitarist Charley Patton Peyton on Patton on both 12-inch LP and 10-inch 78s.

New sizes and materials after WWII

CBS Laboratories had long been at work for Columbia Records to develop a phonograph record that would hold at least 20 minutes per side.

Research began in 1939, was suspended during World War II, and then resumed in 1945. Columbia Records unveiled the LP at a press conference in the Waldorf-Astoria on 21 June 1948, in two formats: 10 in in diameter, matching that of 78 rpm singles, and 12 in in diameter.

Unwilling to accept and license Columbia's system, in February 1949, RCA Victor released the first 45 rpm single, 7 inches in diameter with a large center hole. The 45 rpm player included a changing mechanism that allowed multiple disks to be stacked, much as a conventional changer handled 78s. Also like 78s, the short playing time of a single 45 rpm side meant that long works, such as symphonies and operas, had to be released on multiple 45s instead of a single LP, but RCA Victor claimed that the new high-speed changer rendered side breaks so brief as to be inconsequential. Early 45 rpm records were made from either vinyl or polystyrene. They had a playing time of eight minutes.

At first the two systems were marketed in competition, in what was called "The War of the Speeds".

Shellac era

At least one attempt to lengthen playing time was made in the early 1920s. World Records produced records that played at a constant linear velocity, controlled by Noel Pemberton Billing's patented add-on speed governor.

In the 1920s, 78.26 rpm was standardized when stroboscopic discs and turntable edge markings were introduced to standardize the speeds of recording lathes. At that speed, a strobe disc with 92 lines would "stand still" in 60 Hz light. In regions of the world that use 50 Hz current, the standard was 77.92 rpm (and a disk with 77 lines).

The older 78 rpm format continued to be mass-produced alongside the newer formats using new materials in decreasing numbers until the summer of 1958 in the U.S., and in a few countries, such as the Philippines and India (both countries issued recordings by the Beatles on 78s), into the late 1960s. For example, Columbia Records' last reissue of Frank Sinatra songs on 78 rpm records was an album called Young at Heart, issued in November 1954.

Microgroove and vinyl era

Columbia and RCA Victor each pursued their R&D secretly.

The Seeburg Corporation introduced the Seeburg Background Music System in 1959, using a $33 1⁄3$ rpm 9-inch record with 2-inch center hole. Each record held 40 minutes of music per side, recorded at 420 grooves per inch.

The commercial rivalry between RCA Victor and Columbia Records led to RCA Victor's introduction of what it had intended to be a competing vinyl format, the 7-inch (175 mm) 45 rpm disc, with a much larger center hole. For a two-year period from 1948 to 1950, record companies and consumers faced uncertainty over which of these formats would ultimately prevail in what was known as the "War of the Speeds" (see also Format war). In 1949 Capitol and Decca adopted the new LP format and RCA Victor gave in and issued its first LP in January 1950. The 45 rpm size was gaining in popularity, too, and Columbia issued its first 45s in February 1951. By 1954, 200 million 45s had been sold.

Eventually the 12-inch (300 mm) $16 2⁄3$ rpm LP prevailed as the dominant format for musical albums, and 10-inch LPs were no longer issued. The last Columbia Records reissue of any Frank Sinatra songs on a 10-inch LP record was an album called Hall of Fame, CL 2600, issued on 26 October 1956, containing six songs, one each by Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Johnnie Ray, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, and Frankie Laine.

The 45 rpm discs also came in a variety known as extended play (EP), which achieved up to 10–15 minutes play at the expense of attenuating (and possibly compressing) the sound to reduce the width required by the groove. EP discs were cheaper to produce and were used in cases where unit sales were likely to be more limited or to reissue LP albums on the smaller format for those people who had only 45 rpm players. LP albums could be purchased one EP at a time, with four items per EP, or in a boxed set with three EPs or twelve items. The large center hole on 45s allows easier handling by jukebox mechanisms. EPs were generally discontinued by the late 1950s in the U.S. as three- and four-speed record players replaced the individual 45 players. One indication of the decline of the 45 rpm EP is that the last Columbia Records reissue of Frank Sinatra songs on 45 rpm EP records, called Frank Sinatra (Columbia B-2641) was issued on 7 December 1959.

From the mid-1950s through the 1960s, in the U.S. the common home record player or "stereo" (after the introduction of stereo recording) would typically have had these features: a three- or four-speed player (78, 45, $33 1⁄3$, and sometimes $33 1⁄3$ rpm); with changer, a tall spindle that would hold several records and automatically drop a new record on top of the previous one when it had finished playing, a combination cartridge with both 78 and microgroove styli and a way to flip between the two; and some kind of adapter for playing the 45s with their larger center hole. The adapter could be a small solid circle that fit onto the bottom of the spindle (meaning only one 45 could be played at a time) or a larger adapter that fit over the entire spindle, permitting a stack of 45s to be played.

RCA Victor 45s were also adapted to the smaller spindle of an LP player with a plastic snap-in insert known as a "45 rpm adapter". These inserts were commissioned by RCA president David Sarnoff and were invented by Thomas Hutchison.

Capacitance Electronic Discs were videodiscs invented by RCA, based on mechanically tracked ultra-microgrooves (9541 grooves/inch) on a 12-inch conductive vinyl disc.

High fidelity
The term "high fidelity" was coined in the 1920s by some manufacturers of radio receivers and phonographs to differentiate their better-sounding products claimed as providing "perfect" sound reproduction. The term began to be used by some audio engineers and consumers through the 1930s and 1940s. After 1949 a variety of improvements in recording and playback technologies, especially stereo recordings, which became widely available in 1958, gave a boost to the "hi-fi" classification of products, leading to sales of individual components for the home such as amplifiers, loudspeakers, phonographs, and tape players. High Fidelity and Audio were two magazines that hi-fi consumers and engineers could read for reviews of playback equipment and recordings.

Stereophonic sound

A stereophonic phonograph provides two channels of audio, one left and one right. This is achieved by adding another vertical dimension of movement to the needle in addition to the horizontal one. As a result, the needle now moves not only left and right, but also up and down. But since those two dimensions do not have the same sensitivity to vibration, the difference needs to be evened out by having each channel take half its information from each direction by turning the channels 45 degrees from horizontal.

As a result of the 45-degree turn and some vector addition, it can be demonstrated that out of the new horizontal and vertical directions, one would represent the sum of the two channels, and the other representing the difference. Record makers decide to pick the directions such that the traditional horizontal direction codes for the sum. As a result, an ordinary mono disk is decoded correctly as "no difference between channels", and an ordinary mono player would simply play the sum of a stereophonic record without too much loss of information.

In 1957 the first commercial stereo two-channel records were issued first by Audio Fidelity followed by a translucent blue vinyl on Bel Canto Records, the first of which was a multi-colored-vinyl sampler featuring A Stereo Tour of Los Angeles narrated by Jack Wagner on one side, and a collection of tracks from various Bel Canto albums on the back.

Noise reduction systems
A similar scheme aiming at the high-end audiophile market, and achieving a noise reduction of about 20 to 25 dB(A), was the Telefunken/Nakamichi High-Com II noise reduction system being adapted to vinyl in 1979. A decoder was commercially available but only one demo record is known to have been produced in this format.

The availability of encoded disks in any of these formats stopped in the mid-1980s.

Yet another noise reduction system for vinyl records was the UC compander system developed by Zentrum Wissenschaft und Technik (ZWT) of Rundfunk- und Fernmelde-Technik (RFT). The system deliberately reduced disk noise by 10 to 12 dB(A) only to remain virtually free of recognizable acoustical artifacts even when records were played back without an UC expander. In fact, the system was undocumented yet introduced into the market by several East-German record labels since 1983. Over 500 UC-encoded titles were produced without an expander becoming available to the public. The only UC expander was built into a turntable manufactured by Phonotechnik Pirna/Zittau.

Types of records
The usual diameters of the holes on an EP record are 0.286 in.

Sizes of records in the United States and the UK are generally measured in inches, e.g. 7-inch records, which are generally 45 rpm records. LPs were 10-inch records at first, but soon the 12-inch size became by far the most common. Generally, 78s were 10-inch, but 12-inch and 7-inch and even smaller were made—the so-called "little wonders".

Standard formats

 * Notes:
 * Columbia pressed many 7-inch $16 2⁄3$ rpm vinyl singles in 1949, but they were dropped in early 1950 due to the popularity of the RCA Victor 45.
 * Original hole diameters were 0.286″ ±0.001″ for $15 15/16$ and 78.26 rpm records, and 1.504″ ±0.002″ for 45 rpm records.

Less common formats
Flexi discs were thin flexible records that were distributed with magazines and as promotional gifts from the 1960s to the 1980s.

In March 1949, as RCA Victor released the 45, Columbia released several hundred 7-inch, $3/32$ rpm, small-spindle-hole singles. This format was soon dropped as it became clear that the RCA Victor 45 was the single of choice and the Columbia 12-inch LP would be the album of choice. The first release of the 45 came in seven colors: black 47-xxxx popular series, yellow 47-xxxx juvenile series, green (teal) 48-xxxx country series, deep red 49-xxxx classical series, bright red (cerise) 50-xxxx blues/spiritual series, light blue 51-xxxx international series, dark blue 52-xxxx light classics. Most colors were soon dropped in favor of black because of production problems. However, yellow and deep red were continued until about 1952. The first 45 rpm record created for sale was "PeeWee the Piccolo" RCA Victor 47-0147 pressed in yellow translucent vinyl at the Sherman Avenue plant, Indianapolis on 7 December 1948, by R. O. Price, plant manager.

In the 1970s, the government of Bhutan produced now-collectible postage stamps on playable vinyl mini-discs.

Recent developments
In 2018, an Austrian startup, Rebeat Innovation GmBH, received US$4.8 million in funding to develop high definition vinyl records that purport to contain longer play times, louder volumes and higher fidelity than conventional vinyl LPs. Rebeat Innovation, headed by CEO Günter Loibl, has called the format 'HD Vinyl'. The HD process works by converting audio to a digital 3D topography map that is then inscribed onto the vinyl stamper via lasers, resulting in less loss of information. Many critics have expressed skepticism regarding the cost and quality of HD records.

In May 2019, at the Making Vinyl conference in Berlin, Loibl unveiled the software "Perfect Groove" for creating 3D topographic audio data files. The software provides a map for laser-engraving for HD Vinyl stampers. The audio engineering software was created with mastering engineers Scott Hull and Darcy Proper, a four-time Grammy winner. The demonstration offered the first simulations of what HD Vinyl records are likely to sound like, ahead of actual HD vinyl physical record production. Loibl discussed the software "Perfect Groove" at a presentation titled "Vinyl 4.0 The next generation of making records" before offering demonstrations to attendees.

Structure
[[File:Comparison disk storage.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Comparison of several forms of disk storage showing tracks (tracks not to scale); green denotes start and red denotes end. Increasingly from the early 20th century, and almost exclusively since the 1920s, both sides of the record have been used to carry the grooves. Occasional records have been issued since then with a recording on only one side. In the 1980s Columbia records briefly issued a series of less expensive one-sided 45 rpm singles.
 * Some CD-R(W) and DVD-R(W)/DVD+R(W) recorders operate in ZCLV, CAA or CAV modes.]]

Since its inception in 1948, vinyl record standards for the United States follow the guidelines of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Vinyl quality
The composition of vinyl used to press records (a blend of polyvinyl chloride and polyvinyl acetate) has varied considerably over the years. Virgin vinyl is preferred, but during the 1970s energy crisis, as a cost-cutting move, much of the industry began reducing the thickness and quality of vinyl used in mass-market manufacturing. Sound quality suffered, with increased ticks, pops, and other surface noises. RCA Records marketed their lightweight LP as Dynaflex, which, at the time, was considered inferior by many record collectors.

It became commonplace to use recycled vinyl. New or "virgin" heavy/heavyweight (180–220 g) vinyl is commonly used for modern audiophile vinyl releases in all genres. Many collectors prefer to have heavyweight vinyl albums, which have been reported to have better sound than normal vinyl because of their higher tolerance against deformation caused by normal play.

Following the vinyl revival of the 21st century, select manufacturers adopted bioplastic-based records due to concerns over the environmental impact of widespread PVC use.

Shellac
One problem with shellac was that the size of the disks tended to be larger because it was limited to 80–100 groove walls per inch before the risk of groove collapse became too high, whereas vinyl could have up to 260 groove walls per inch.

Vinyl
Although vinyl records are strong and do not break easily, they scratch due to its soft material sometimes resulting in ruining the record. Vinyl readily acquires a static charge, attracting dust that is difficult to remove completely. Dust and scratches cause audio clicks and pops. In extreme cases, they can cause the needle to skip over a series of grooves, or worse yet, cause the needle to skip backward, creating a "locked groove" that repeats over and over. This is the origin of the phrase "like a broken record" or "like a scratched record", which is often used to describe a person or thing that continually repeats itself.

A further limitation of the gramophone record is that fidelity steadily declines as playback progresses; there is more vinyl per second available for fine reproduction of high frequencies at the large-diameter beginning of the groove than exist at the smaller diameters close to the end of the side. At the start of a groove on an LP there are 510 mm of vinyl per second traveling past the stylus while the ending of the groove gives 200–210 mm of vinyl per second—less than half the linear resolution.

There is controversy about the relative quality of CD sound and LP sound when the latter is heard under the best conditions (see Comparison of analog and digital recording). One technical advantage with vinyl compared to the optical CD is that if correctly handled and stored, the vinyl record can be playable for decades and possibly centuries, which is longer than some versions of the optical CD. For vinyl records to be playable for years to come, they need to be handled with care and stored properly. Guidelines for proper vinyl storage include not stacking records on top of each other, avoiding heat or direct sunlight and placing them in a temperature-controlled area that help prevent vinyl records from warping and scratching. Collectors store their records in a variety of boxes, cubes, shelves and racks.

Sound fidelity
At the time of the introduction of the compact disc (CD) in 1982, the stereo LP pressed in vinyl continued to suffer from a variety of limitations:

The stereo image was not made up of fully discrete left and right channels; each channel's signal coming out of the cartridge contained a small amount of the signal from the other channel, with more crosstalk at higher frequencies. High-quality disc cutting equipment was capable of making a master disc with 30–40 dB of stereo separation at 1,000 Hz, but the playback cartridges had lesser performance of about 20 to 30 dB of separation at 1000 Hz, with separation decreasing as frequency increased, such that at 12 kHz the separation was about 10–15 dB. A common modern view is that stereo isolation must be higher than this to achieve a proper stereo soundstage. However, in the 1950s the BBC determined in a series of tests that only 20–25 dB is required for the impression of full stereo separation.

Thin, closely spaced spiral grooves that allow for increased playing time on a $33 1/3$ rpm microgroove LP lead to a tinny pre-echo warning of upcoming loud sounds. The cutting stylus unavoidably transfers some of the subsequent groove wall's impulse signal into the previous groove wall. It is discernible by some listeners throughout certain recordings, but a quiet passage followed by a loud sound allows anyone to hear a faint pre-echo of the loud sound occurring 1.8 seconds ahead of time.

LP versus CD
Audiophiles have differed over the relative merits of the LP versus the CD since the digital disc was introduced. In large part, the claim for vinyl superiority is due to the necessity for digital recordings to presume upper and lower bounds, sampling the tones and soundwaves within those limits and using the resulting information to store and recall the audio. Effectively, the digital recording is an idealized representation of a physical soundwave, while an analog recording captures the physical vibrations across their full frequency. Because most modern vinyl records are made from playbacks of files recorded digitally, there is no out-of-bounds audio to transfer to the disc. Vinyl's drawbacks, however, include surface noise, less resolution due to a lower dynamic range, and greater sensitivity to handling. Modern anti-aliasing filters and oversampling systems used in digital recordings have eliminated perceived problems observed with early CD players.

There is a theory that vinyl records can audibly represent higher frequencies than compact discs, though most of this is noise and not relevant to human hearing. According to Red Book specifications, the compact disc has a frequency response of 20 Hz up to 22,050 Hz, and most CD players measure flat within a fraction of a decibel from at least 0 Hz to 20 kHz at full output. Due to the distance required between grooves, it is not possible for an LP to reproduce as low frequencies as a CD. Additionally, turntable rumble and acoustic feedback obscures the low-end limit of vinyl but the upper end can be, with some cartridges, reasonably flat within a few decibels to 30 kHz, with gentle roll-off. Carrier signals of Quad LPs popular in the 1970s were at 30 kHz to be out of the range of human hearing. The average human auditory system is sensitive to frequencies from 20 Hz to a maximum of around 20,000 Hz. The upper and lower frequency limits of human hearing vary per person. High frequency sensitivity decreases as a person ages, a process called presbycusis.

Preservation
As the playing of gramophone records causes gradual degradation of the recording, they are best preserved by transferring them onto other media and playing the records as rarely as possible. They need to be stored on edge, and do best under environmental conditions that most humans would find comfortable. Nonetheless, in order to ensure the longevity and optimal performance of your vinyl records, there are a few accessories and cleaning supplies that are widely used. Slipmats provide a soft and cushioned surface between the record and the turntable platter, minimizing friction and preventing potential scratches or damage to the vinyl surface

Where old disc recordings are considered to be of artistic or historic interest, from before the era of tape or where no tape master exists, archivists play back the disc on suitable equipment and record the result, typically onto a digital format, which can be copied and manipulated to remove analog flaws without any further damage to the source recording. For example, Nimbus Records uses a specially built horn record player to transfer 78s. Anyone can do this using a standard record player with a suitable pickup, a phono-preamp (pre-amplifier) and a typical personal computer. However, for accurate transfer, professional archivists carefully choose the correct stylus shape and diameter, tracking weight, equalisation curve and other playback parameters and use high-quality analogue-to-digital converters.

As an alternative to playback with a stylus, a recording can be read optically, processed with software that calculates the velocity that the stylus would be moving in the mapped grooves and converted to a digital recording format. This does no further damage to the disc and generally produces a better sound than normal playback. This technique also has the potential to allow for reconstruction of broken or otherwise damaged discs.

Popularity and current status

Groove recordings, first designed in the final quarter of the 19th century, held a predominant position for nearly a century—withstanding competition from reel-to-reel tape, the 8-track cartridge, and the compact cassette. The widespread popularity of Sony's Walkman was a factor that contributed to the vinyl's lessening usage in the 1980s.

In 1988, the compact disc surpassed the gramophone record in unit sales. Vinyl records experienced a sudden decline in popularity between 1988 and 1991, when the major label distributors restricted their return policies, which retailers had been relying on to maintain and swap out stocks of relatively unpopular titles. First the distributors began charging retailers more for new products if they returned unsold vinyl, and then they stopped providing any credit at all for returns. Retailers, fearing they would be stuck with anything they ordered, only ordered proven, popular titles that they knew would sell, and devoted more shelf space to CDs and cassettes. Record companies also removed many vinyl titles from production and distribution, further undermining the availability of the format and leading to the closure of pressing plants. This rapid decline in the availability of records accelerated the format's decline in popularity, and is seen by some as a deliberate ploy to make consumers switch to CDs, which unlike today, were more profitable for the record companies.

The more modern CD format held numerous advantages over the record such as its portability, digital audio and its elimination of background hiss and surface noise, instant switching and searching of tracks, longer playing time, lack of continuous degradation (analog formats wear out as they get played), programmability (e.g. shuffle, repeat), and ability to be played on and copied to a personal computer. In spite of their flaws, records continued to have enthusiastic supporters, partly due to a preference of its "warmer" sound and its larger sleeve artwork. Records continued to be format of choice by disc jockeys in dance clubs during the 1990s and 2000s due to its better mixing capabilities.

Revival era
A niche resurgence of vinyl records began in the late 2000s, mainly among rock fans. The Entertainment Retailers Association in the United Kingdom found in 2011 that consumers were willing to pay on average £16.30 (€19.37, US$25.81) for a single vinyl record, as opposed to £7.82 (€9.30, US$12.38) for a CD and £6.80 (€8.09, US$10.76) for a digital download. The resurgence accelerated throughout the 2010s and in 2015 reached $416 million revenue in the US, their highest level since 1988. As of 2017 it comprised 14% of all physical album sales. According to the RIAA's midyear report in 2020, phonograph record revenues surpassed those of CDs for the first time since the 1980s.

In 2021, Taylor Swift sold 102,000 copies of her ninth studio album Evermore on vinyl. The sales of the record beat the largest sales in one week on vinyl since Nielsen started tracking vinyl sales in 1991. The sales record was previously held by Jack White who sold 40,000 copies of his second solo release, Lazaretto, on vinyl in 2014.

Approximately 180 million LP records are produced annually at global pressing plants, as of 2021.

VinylVideo
VinylVideo is a format to store a low resolution black and white video on a vinyl record alongside encoded audio.

Capacitance Electronic Disc
Another example is the Capacitance Electronic Disc, a color video format, slightly better than VHS.

title: Phonograph record


text:
Cybill

Cybill is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre, which aired for four seasons and 87 episodes on CBS from January 2, 1995, to July 13, 1998. Starring Cybill Shepherd, the show revolves around the life of Cybill Sheridan, a twice-divorced single mother of two and struggling actress in her 40s who has never gotten her big break in show business. Alicia Witt and Dedee Pfeiffer co-starred as Sheridan's daughters, with Alan Rosenberg and Tom Wopat playing their respective fathers, while Christine Baranski appeared as Cybill's hard-drinking friend Maryann.

The sitcom was produced by Carsey-Werner Productions and YBYL Productions, with Shepherd, Lorre, Howard M. Gould, Jay Daniel, Caryn Mandabach, Marcy Carsey, and Tom Werner serving as the show's original executive producers. Broadcast to critical praise, Cybill was nominated for 12 Emmy Awards throughout its run and awarded the 1996 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Shepherd won a third Golden Globe Award for her performance, while Baranski received an Emmy, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an American Comedy Award. Cybill has been in syndication on the comedy-centric digital subchannel Laff since April 2016, along with other Carsey-Werner Productions series shown on the network.

Plot
Cybill takes place in Los Angeles and focuses on the character of a somewhat faded actress, Cybill Sheridan (played by Cybill Shepherd), who, because of her age, had been relegated to playing character roles, bit parts, and TV commercials. Also featured are her daughters: headstrong Zoey (Witt) and uptight Rachel (Pfeiffer), two ex-husbands: Ira (Rosenberg) and Jeff (Wopat), and her hard-drinking best friend Maryann (Baranski).

Due to the show's premise, many episodes featured a show-within-a-show format, usually in the cold opens, showing Cybill Sheridan playing a variety of other characters in her various film and TV acting roles.

In her autobiography, Cybill Disobedience, Shepherd stated that the Cybill character was based on herself—or at least what her life as an actress could have been without the successes of The Last Picture Show and Moonlighting. Many of the show's details and situations were mined from her own family, marriages, and experiences.

Regular and semi-regular

 * Cybill Shepherd as Cybill Sheridan – Cybill is a middle aged actress who has had a varied, though mediocre career (which, even in her salad days, seems to have consisted primarily of television commercials, soap operas, and B-movies). She now finds that, due to her age, roles are becoming harder to find and that the quality of roles she is offered is diminishing. Her fortunes seem to vary over the course of the series. Sometimes, she has consistent work and appears to be relatively wealthy, other times, she scrambles to find and keep jobs, and seems to be struggling financially; this inconsistency could be attributed to the nature of her career, as even the most successful actors tend to have their professional ups and downs, both financially and creatively. Cybill is a rather eccentric feminist who practices New Age philosophy, as well as a native Southerner from Memphis, Tennessee. Her loud, public, and honest rantings about female sexuality, her perkiness, bouts of outrage, and hysteria, and her exhibitions of "down-home" Southern behavior often embarrass her two daughters, Zoey and Rachel. Cybill has a civil relationship with her ex-husbands Jeff and Ira, even tolerating their tendency to cling to her. She does sometimes spar, however, with Jeff over his past infidelities, and is quick to remind Ira of how controlling he was when they were married. Cybill's best friend is the wealthy, alcoholic divorcee Maryann Thorpe, whom she supports emotionally and assists in her bitter war with her ex-husband. Cybill has a caustic sense of humor and an acid tongue. Although eccentric and flawed, Cybill's strength and wisdom shines through in her support of her family and friends. (87 episodes)
 * Christine Baranski as Maryann Thorpe – Cybill's best friend is a former receptionist who is now fabulously wealthy due to her divorce settlement with her unfaithful ex-husband, celebrity plastic surgeon Richard Thorpe (an infrequently and never fully seen character, to whom she always refers with a sneer as "Dr. Dick"). Maryann is a bored, bitter alcoholic who often seems unstable and emotionally dependent on Cybill. When she is not stalking her ex-husband and playing elaborate and destructive pranks on him, she spends lavishly, drinks, and pursues younger men. She has a few healthy relationships with men of her own age over the course of the series, including Cybill's ex-husband Ira, but these do not last. She has a son, Justin, who infrequently visits. A passionate environmentalist with excessive liberal beliefs, Justin is at odds with her frivolous and extravagant lifestyle. Maryann's most consistent and healthy relationship is with Cybill. They seem to be endlessly sharing martinis in an upmarket Hollywood restaurant and are accomplices in each other's bad behavior. Maryann seems to spend most of her time at Cybill's house and involving herself in Cybill's family life to alleviate her own boredom. Her caustic tongue vies with Cybill's, but her remarks are more inappropriate, bitter, and cynical. She is, however, a constant support for Cybill at crucial moments. Her first name was Theresa, which her mother called her but she dropped when she moved to Los Angeles. (87 episodes)
 * Alicia Witt as Zoey Woodbine – Cybill's younger daughter, she is a high-school teenager, and is brilliant, rebellious, and more sarcastic than her mother. She is a piano virtuoso (as is Witt) and hopes to attend the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. A self-imposed outcast, she is a vocal advocate of celibacy. She is in an on-again-off-again relationship with Maryann's estranged son. (87 episodes)
 * Alan Rosenberg as Ira Woodbine – Cybill's second husband, Ira is the polar opposite of Cybill's first husband, Jeff. Unassuming and rather neurotic, he is a brilliant writer, though prone to "writer's block". His marriage to Cybill ended because he was unable to stop trying to control her life; even in divorce, he cannot help meddling in her life. For several episodes of the second season he was involved with Maryann. (85 episodes)
 * Dedee Pfeiffer as Rachel Robbins Manning – Cybill's elder daughter, she is uptight and pretentious, and is married to Kevin Manning. She is prone to outbursts of hysteria similar to her mother's, especially during her pregnancies of the first and fourth season. Rachel and Kevin's first child is a boy named William; the second is a girl, Amanda. (Initially a regular but the role became more semi-regular in later seasons) (42 episodes)
 * Tom Wopat as Jeff Robbins – Cybill's first husband, Jeff is a Hollywood stuntman with a roving eye. Though his many indiscretions were the cause of the divorce, Cybill and Jeff still have a good relationship, bound together by their daughter and grandson (and the fact that Jeff lived over Cybill's garage in the early seasons of the show). Jeff is somewhat dim, making him a prime target for Zoey's dry wit, but possesses a good heart. (Initially a regular in first couple of seasons, semi-regular in later seasons) (22 episodes)

Recurring and special guests

 * Tim Maculan as a waiter and friend of Cybill's. Despite his prominence, the character was never given a name. Appeared in over 50 episodes (the fifth-most appearing cast member with more episodes than some of the semi-regular cast).
 * Peter Krause as Kevin Manning, Rachel's equally uptight husband, an untenured assistant professor from Boston. (Recurring from Season 2 onwards) (23 episodes)
 * Jay Paulson as Sean, Zoe's first boyfriend in Season 2 & 3. (Recurring) (12 episodes)
 * Ray Baker as the second Dr. Richard Thorpe, Maryann's veterinarian boyfriend who is also the namesake of her ex-husband. (Recurring in Seasons 3 & 4) (11 episodes)
 * Jane Kaczmarek as Holly, Ira's girlfriend - and later fiancee - in Season 3. (5 episodes)
 * Linda Wallem appeared in 5 episodes as various characters including Julie, Cybill's co-host on a morning show in 3 episodes. Wallem was also a producer and writer on the show.
 * Mary Page Keller as Julia Bishop, Zoey's piano teacher and Ira's girlfriend. (4 episodes)
 * Kim Murphy as Nina, Zoey's friend and one-time roommate. (4 episodes)
 * Morgan Fairchild as Andrea Thorpe, Cybill's rival and later wife of Maryann's often mentioned but never seen husband, Dr. Dick. She and Cybill have mutual enmity which has resulted in personal humiliations, professional loss, and injury on both sides. (4 episodes)
 * Audra Lindley as Virginia Sheridan, Cybill's mother. (3 episodes and another episode dedicated in her honour)
 * Florence Stanley as Ruth Woodbine, Ira's mother and Zoey's grandmother, who had a friendly relationship with Cybill and once posed as Maryann's mother. (3 episodes)
 * Eileen Heckart as Marge, Maryann's mother. (3 episodes)
 * Dick O'Neill as Roy, Maryann's father. (3 episodes)

Additionally, many prominent actors appeared playing themselves, often humorous or self-deprecating caricatures of their real personas. These included Jonathan Frakes, Joan Van Ark, Dick Van Patten, Burt Reynolds, and Cybill Shepherd's real-life ex-partner, director Peter Bogdanovich.

Cancellation
The series got respectable (though never spectacular) ratings throughout most of its run, but was abruptly canceled by CBS at the end of the 1997–98 season after a noticeable ratings decline. The show was actually pulled from the CBS schedule after the April 8, 1998 episode had aired; the remaining new episodes that had already been produced were aired over the summer. Shepherd much later alleged that the cancellation occurred because the network was uncomfortable with Cybill's feminist leanings and frank depiction of female sexuality.

The cancellation was not expected by the show's staff, as the series ends with a cliffhanger and the words "To Be Continued..." on the screen. At the time of its cancellation, the show's ratings were higher than Nash Bridges (1996-2001) and Chicago Hope (1994-2000); those shows continued to air on CBS. In 2018, Shepherd claimed that Les Moonves hit on her during a dinner date, but she refused him. As a result, he soon interfered with the series' concepts and later canceled it.

Awards and nominations
Cybill was nominated for twelve Emmy Awards throughout its entire run, winning three. Nominated for her performance in each season, Baranski was the only cast member to win an Emmy. Baranski also received an American Comedy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Viewers for Quality Television Award for her portrayal, while Shepherd was awarded the 1996 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. The same year, the sitcom also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, its only win for both the crew and the cast.

Region 1
On September 16, 2008, First Look Studios released Cybill: The Collector's Edition, Vol. 1, a 2-disc best of DVD.

Region 2
Anchor Bay Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in the UK.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Cybill


text:
Luis Vigoreaux

Luis Vigoreaux Rivera (April 12, 1928 – January 17, 1983) was a Puerto Rican radio and television show host, announcer, comedian and producer. Vigoreaux was considered a pioneer in the television business in Puerto Rico, and enjoyed success with several radio and television shows throughout his career.

Vigoreaux was brutally murdered on January 17, 1983. His wife, Lydia Echevarría, was convicted in 1986 of planning the murder, along with hitmen Papo Newman and David López-Watts.

Early years
Vigoreaux was born on April 12, 1928, in the Chupacallos ward of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. He was one of the eight children of Eulalia and Enrique Vigoreaux, a sugarcane worker at Fajardo Sugar Company. His father died when he was young, forcing Eulalia to take charge of the family. When Vigoreaux was 14 years old, they moved to San Juan, specifically Río Piedras. Vigoreaux studied at the Vila Mayo High School.

As a teenager, Vigoreaux found work in a radio station named WIAC (AM), which was managed by Tomás Muñiz (father of Tommy Muñiz). There, Vigoreaux worked on a show called Alma Estudiantil. With the beginning of World War II, most of the professional hosts were enlisted for war, which led to Vigoreaux having the opportunity to work at the station.

During that period, Vigoreaux worked in various areas of entertainment and show business. He served as host, presenter, commentator, among other jobs. He also became the spokesperson for Sello Rojo rice in Puerto Rico, which he did for 30 years.

First years in comedy
Vigoreaux joined Ramón Rivero "Diplo" and José Luis Torregrosa for the radio comedy El Tremendo Hotel. This radio slot enjoyed a large audience for years, and Vigoreaux continued to work as a comedian.

Between 1954 and 1955, he joined fellow comedian José Miguel Agrelot in a theater show that took them to many Latin American communities in the United States. The theater show eventually led to a radio program named Torito and Company, after Torito, the character that Agrelot played. Vigoreaux himself played the character of Don Toribio.

Arrival of television
With the arrival of television to Puerto Rico in 1954, Vigoreaux began his transition hosting a show called El Show Libby's, sponsored by the company of its namesake. He then hosted the show El tren de la alegría.

Vigoreaux later moved to WAPA-TV, motivated by the possibility of working with actor Mario Pabón. They wrote the story for a soap opera, but the project fell through. However, Vigoreaux moved on when he and his second wife, Lydia Echevarria, began hosting the show named La Hora Cero. The show presented many local and international singers, including Celia Cruz, José Feliciano and Marco Antonio Muñiz.

Success in television
The Vigoreaux family became one of the most famous families in Puerto Rico. Some even referred to the Vigoreaux-Echevarria couple as the Lucy and Desi of Puerto Rico, in reference to the marriage of American comedians Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

In 1970, Vigoreaux developed a game show named Sube Nene, Sube. Hosted by Vigoreaux it became one of the most seen shows in Puerto Rican television history. Due to this success, WAPA-TV asked Vigoreaux to produce and host a few more game shows. Vigoreaux responded by creating Pa'rriba, Papi, Pa'rriba, which was a variation of Sube Nene, Sube, and Dale que Dale en Domingo.

With the production and hosting of all those shows at the same time, the Vigoreaux family opened a studio, which they named Estudio CVC. They were also responsible for the transmission of the MDA television marathon in Puerto Rico.

Brief change to Channel 11 and return to WAPA
Vigoreaux later jumped to Channel 11, then named the Perez-Perry Network. He bought the Teatro Nuevo San Juan, from where he started transmitting his new show. But this show was not as successful, and soon Vigoreaux found himself off the air.

In 1980, Vigoreaux went back to WAPA-TV and all his shows were rescheduled. He also became the show host of that station's lunch hour variety show, El Show Del Mediodia, and began playing the role of Pedro Navaja in a play La Verdadera Historia de Pedro Navaja. He would act in that play many times, as well as in a play named Angeles Caidos.

In addition, he returned to the radio with a program named Buenos Dias, Puerto Rico, on radio station WBMJ-AM, Radio Rock, and worked, for a short period of time, as a television reporter for Noticentro 4.

Murder and aftermath
On the morning of January 18, 1983, Vigoreaux didn't show up to work at the radio station or at WAPA-TV, causing his co-workers to worry. When his Mercedes-Benz was found with a burned body inside, it was taken to the medical examiner's office, where it was confirmed it was Vigoreaux.

His death launched a wave of rumors and speculations, and led to one of the biggest trials in Puerto Rico's history. His wife, Lydia Echevarría, was accused formally of his murder, along with Papo Newman and David López-Watts. Allegedly, Echevarría had become jealous of a relationship Vigoreaux had started with actress Nydia Castillo, and had paid Newman and López-Watts to either beat him or murder him. Vigoreaux's body was found gagged, stabbed, and burned inside the car's trunk.

Echevarría has maintained her innocence, but she was convicted to a life sentence in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. Newman and López-Watts received similar sentences. However, Echevarría and López-Watts only served roughly 12 years in jail. Papo Newman received immunity from the Department of Justice of Puerto Rico to testify in court what happened the night of the murder. Newman did not serve time in prison as an agreement. In January 2000, Governor Pedro Rosselló granted Echevarría a pardon, which was largely criticized by the people.

At the time of his death, Vigoreaux was about to begin another game show, A Millon, which eventually became one of the most popular shows in Puerto Rican television history, under the hosting of Hector Marcano and produced by Vigoreaux's son, Luisito Vigoreaux.

Personal life
Vigoreaux was married twice. He married Rosaura Lorenzana, with whom he had three sons, Luisito, Jorge Enrique and Roberto Vigoreaux. Jorge died in 1962 of leukemia. Luisito has followed his father's footsteps as an actor, comedian, producer, and host. Roberto also worked as an actor, host, producer, and singer. He also served as a member of both the House and the Senate of Puerto Rico.

In 1958, Vigoreaux met actress Lydia Echevarría, while still married to his first wife. After divorcing, they married on February 10, 1960. He and Echevarria had two daughters, Vanessa and Glendalys Vigoreaux. Glendalys committed suicide on July 15, 2008.

title: Luis Vigoreaux


text:
Podgorica

Podgorica (, ; lit. 'under the hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Historically, it was Podgorica's position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and at the meeting-point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley that encouraged settlement. The surrounding landscape is predominantly mountainous terrain.

After World War II, Podgorica was first designated as the capital of Montenegro in 1946. At that time, it was renamed Titograd in honor of Josip Broz Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia. It served as the capital of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until Montenegro's declaration of independence in 2006, after which it was reaffirmed as the capital of an independent Montenegro. The city's original name, Podgorica, was restored in 1992 following the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

The economy of Podgorica is based on a mix of industries, including manufacturing, trade, and services. The city has seen a rise in the IT sector, with numerous startups and tech companies emerging. Podgorica serves as a central hub for Montenegro's transportation network, with an extensive road and rail system and the nearby Podgorica Airport. Tourism is also a growing sector, with the city being a gateway to Montenegro's natural and cultural attractions.

Podgorica is home to the University of Montenegro, the largest and most significant educational institution in the country. The city's cultural institutions include the Montenegrin National Theatre, the Natural History Museum of Montenegro, and several galleries and libraries. About one-third of the city's area is composed of parks, gardens, and natural landscapes, including the nearby Gorica Hill.

Prominent landmarks in Podgorica include the Millennium Bridge, the Clock Tower, and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. The city also features historical sites such as the ancient Roman settlement of Doclea and the old Ottoman town of Stara Varoš.

Etymology
Podgorica is written in Cyrillic as Подгорица, ;, ;  Podgorica literally means "under the hill". Gorica, a diminutive of the word Gora (Cyrillic: Гора) which is another word for Mountain or Hill, means "little/small hill", is the name of one of the cypress-covered hillocks that overlooks the city center. Some three kilometres (3 km) north-west of Podgorica lie the ruins of the Roman-era town of Doclea, from which the Roman Emperor Diocletian's mother hailed. In later centuries, Romans "corrected" the name to Dioclea, guessing wrongly that an i had been lost in vulgar speech. Duklja is the later South Slavic version of same word. At its foundation (some time before the 11th century), the town was called Birziminium. In the Middle Ages, it was known as Ribnica. The name Podgorica was used from 1326. From 1946 to 1992, the city was named Titograd in honour of Josip Broz Tito, the President of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1953 to 1980. In 1992 the city changed its name to "Podgorica", which it remains today.

Early history
Podgorica is at the crossroads of several historically important routes, near the rivers Zeta, Morača, Cijevna, Ribnica, Sitnica and Mareza in the valley of Lake Skadar and near the Adriatic Sea, in fertile lowlands with favourable climate. The earliest human settlements were in prehistory: the oldest physical remains are from the late Stone Age.

In the Iron Age, the area between the Zeta and Bjelopavlići valleys was populated by two Illyrian tribes, the Labeates and the Docleatae. The population of the town of Doclea was 8,000–10,000, in which all core urban issues were resolved. The high population density (in an area of about 10 km radius) was made possible by the geographical position, favorable climate, and economic conditions and by the defensive positions that were of great importance at that time.

The name Podgorica was first mentioned in 1326 in a court document of the Kotor archives. The city was economically strong: trade routes between the Republic of Ragusa and Serbia, well developed at that time, were maintained via the road that led to Podgorica through Trebinje and Nikšić. As a busy crossroads, Podgorica was a vibrant regional center of trade and communication. This boosted its development, economic power, military strength, and strategic importance.

Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire captured Podgorica in 1474. Podgorica became a kaza of the Sanjak of Scutari (which was historically led by Albanian Pashas). In 1479, The Ottomans built a large fortress in Podgorica, and the existing settlement, with its highly developed merchant connections, became the main Ottoman defensive and attacking bastion in the region. At the beginning of 1474 the Ottoman sultan intended to rebuild Podgorica and Baleč and settle them with 5,000 Muslim families (most of them of Albanian or Slavic origin), in order to stop cooperation between the Principality of Zeta and Albania Veneta.

Podgorica fell again, but this time to the Ottomans in 1484, and the character of the town changed extensively. The Ottomans fortified the city, building towers, gates, and defensive ramparts that give Podgorica the appearance of an Ottoman military city.

Most of today's Montenegro and Podgorica fell under the rule of the Albanian Bushati Family of Shkodra between 1760 and 1831, which ruled independently from the Imperial authority of the Ottoman Sultan.

In 1864, Podgorica became a kaza of the Scutari Vilayet called Böğürtlen ("blackberry", also known as Burguriçe).

On 7 October 1874, in a violent reaction over the murder of a local named Juso Mučin Krnić, Ottoman forces killed at least 15 people in Podgorica. The massacre was widely reported outside of Montenegro and ultimately contributed to the buildup to the Montenegrin-Ottoman War.

The end of the Montenegrin-Ottoman War in 1878 resulted in the Congress of Berlin recognizing vast territories, including that of Podgorica, as part of the newly recognized Principality of Montenegro. At that time there were about 1,500 houses in Podgorica, with more than 8,000 people living there – of Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Muslim faiths flourishing together.

The Petrović and Karađorđević monarchies
After the Berlin Congress in 1878, Podgorica was annexed to the Principality of Montenegro, marking the end of four centuries of Ottoman rule, and the beginning of a new era for Podgorica and Montenegro. The first forms of capital concentration were seen in 1902 when roads were built to all neighboring towns, and tobacco became Podgorica's first significant commercial product. In 1904, a savings bank named Zetska formed the first significant financial institution; this would soon grow into Podgorička Bank.

World War I marked the end of dynamic development for Podgorica, which by then was the largest city in the newly proclaimed Kingdom of Montenegro. On 10 August 1914, nine military personnel and 13 civilians were killed in Podgorica from an aerial bombardment by Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops. The city was bombed three more times in 1915. Along with the rest of the Kingdom, Podgorica was occupied by Austria-Hungary from 1916 to 1918.

After the liberation by the Allies in 1918, the controversial Podgorica Assembly marked the end of Montenegrin statehood, as Montenegro was merged with the Kingdom of Serbia and incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The population of urban Podgorica during this interwar period was approximately 14,000.

During the interwar period (1918–1941), Podgorica had public bathrooms as most residents did not have their own. However, the Imperial hotel built in 1925 had two bathrooms, which was unprecedented at the time. It was one of at least six hotels built in the city during the interwar period.

World War II
After the Yugoslav coup d'état on 27 March 1941, demonstrations supporting the coup took place in Podgorica. As a result of the coup, Yugoslavia turned against its previous alliance with the Axis powers and was subsequently invaded. Podgorica was bombed over 80 times throughout the course of the war. The city was first bombed by the Luftwaffe on 6 April 1941. On 5 May 1944, Podgorica was bombed by the USAAF in an attack against Axis forces, although the bombardment that day killed approximately 400 civilians. The city was liberated on 19 December 1944. According to the Museum of Genocide Victims, a total of 1,691 people were killed in Podgorica over the course of the war.

Socialist Yugoslavia
On 12 July 1946, Josip Broz Tito made one of his early visits to Podgorica from the Radovče hotel, where he spoke to a crowd. It was the first of fifteen total visits made by Tito to the city after World War II.

"Podgorica is destroyed. We will build her altogether because it's our responsibility, because that's what's required of us by the sacrifices which Podgorica gave! We will do it, that's what I promise you in the name of the Federal government." -Josip Broz Tito on 12 July 1946.

On 25 July 1948, the vice president of the People's Parliament of Montenegro, Andrija Mugoša, along with secretary Gavron Cemović, signed a law changing the name of Podgorica into "Titovgrad". The law was "retroactively" activated such that the name change applied to any records starting from 13 July 1946, when it became the capital of Montenegro within the newly formed Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. However, in a contradiction, the "Službeni list" or legal code of Yugoslavia recorded the name "Titograd" without the letter "v". Ultimately, "Titograd" was used over "Titovgrad".

In addition to the new name, Titograd saw the establishment of new factories. The Radoje Dakić factory, built-in 1946 for the production of heavy machinery, became one of the largest employers in Titograd. In 1964, Radoje Dakić guaranteed hired workers an apartment in the city. In the late 1960s, the cities of Titograd, Zadar, and Mostar competed to be selected as the location of Yugoslavia's expanding aluminum industry. In a highly politicized selection process, Titograd was ultimately chosen and the Kombinat was constructed in 1969. In 1974, the public Veljko Vlahović University was founded in Titograd. On 15 April 1979, the city suffered damage by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake.

Titograd was the site of massive protests during Yugoslavia's anti-bureaucratic revolution. On 10 January 1989, over 10,000 people protested in the city. By the turn of the decade, Titograd was recognized as the city with the most greenery in Yugoslavia, along with Banja Luka.

Contemporary history
As Yugoslavia began to break up, Titograd was renamed to Podgorica after a referendum on 2 April 1992. On 25 May 1992, Podgorica was the site of a Serbian Radical Party rally of approximately 10,000 supporters, during which a Montenegrin Bosniak man named Adem Šabotić attempted to assassinate Vojislav Šešelj via hand bomb after his supporters chanted references to killing Muslims. Šešelj, his bodyguards, and a few bystanders were injured after the bomb detonated but no one was killed.

Otherwise, the Yugoslav wars largely bypassed Podgorica, but the entire country was greatly affected with severe economic stagnation and hyperinflation lasting throughout the 1990s due to international sanctions. In 1999, Podgorica was subject to airstrikes during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

On 13 July 2005, the newly constructed Millennium Bridge opened for traffic. Following the results of the independence referendum in May 2006, Podgorica saw significant development as the capital of an independent state, including the reconstruction and renaming of the former Ivan Milutinović Square to Independence Square.

On 13 October 2008, at least 10,000 people protested against Kosovo's declaration of independence. On 19 December 2008, the Moscow Bridge opened for pedestrians.

On 7 August 2013, the 60-year old Hotel Crna Gora was demolished to make way for the new Hilton in its place, which opened in 2016. Construction of the Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection finished after 20 years on 7 October 2013.

In October 2015, protests took place in Podgorica ahead of Montenegro's accession into NATO. After a demonstration of at least 5,000 to 8,000 people, the police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators from the parliament. Protests in the city continued through the 2016 Montenegrin parliamentary election. On 22 February 2018, a Yugoslav Army veteran killed himself at the US embassy in Podgorica.

Administration
The city administration consists of a mayor, city assembly, and a number of secretariats and administrative bodies which together act as a city local government. The city assembly has 61 members, elected directly for four-year terms. The mayor used to be directly elected for a five-year term, but since the new law was introduced in Montenegrin municipalities mayors will be elected by the city assembly and will have to maintain its support during the term. Separate elections are held for the local sub-division of Golubovci since it is part of their administrative autonomy inside Podgorica municipality. Constant questions are raised by various politicians over gaining separate municipality status for Golubovci. In 2018, Tuzi became its own municipality after a vote on the Montenegrin Parliament.

On local elections held on 25 May 2014, the Democratic Party of Socialists won 29 seats in the municipal assembly, one short of 30 needed to form a majority. Democratic Front won 17 seats, SNP won 8 seats, while coalition made of Positive Montenegro and SDP won 5 seats. After lengthy negotiations, SDP dissolved coalition with Pozitivna and made an arrangement on forming a majority with DPS, similar to one they have in national government. While SDP is a longtime partner of DPS at the national level, it has been in opposition to Podgorica municipal assembly in 2010–2014 period. Since October 2014, the position of the mayor is held by DPS official, Slavoljub Stijepović, replacing Podgorica mayor od 14 years, Miomir Mugoša. Since October 2018, the position of the Mayor is held by DPS Vice president dr Ivan Vuković, replacing Slavoljub Stijepović. On 13 April 2023, Olivera Injac from PES was sworn in as mayor, thus becoming the first non-DPS mayor since 1998.

Local subdivisions
The municipality of Podgorica consists of Podgorica City Proper and two subdivisions (called city municipality, градске општине, gradske opštine), which are Zeta City Municipality (Golubovci) and Tuzi City Municipality (Tuzi).

The entire municipality of Podgorica is further divided into 66 local communities (мјесне заједнице, mjesne zajednice), bodies in which the citizens participate in decisions on matters of relevance to the local community.

Geography
Podgorica is located in central Montenegro. The area is crossed with rivers and the city itself is only 15 km north of Lake Skadar. The Morača and Ribnica rivers flow through the city, while the Zeta, Cijevna, Sitnica and Mareza flow nearby. Morača is the largest river in the city, being 70 m wide near downtown, and having carved a 20 m deep canyon for the length of its course through the city. Except for the Morača and Zeta, other rivers have an appearance of small creeks. The richness in bodies of water is a major feature of the city.

In contrast to most of Montenegro, Podgorica lies in a mainly flat area at the northern end of the Zeta plain, at an elevation of 40 m. The only exceptions are hills which overlook the city. The most significant is 130.3 m high Gorica Hill, city's namesake, which rises above the city centre. The other hills include Malo brdo ("little hill", 205.4 m), Velje brdo ("big hill", 283 m), Ljubović (101 m) and Dajbapska gora (172 m). Podgorica city proper has an area of 108 km2, while actual urbanized area is much smaller.

Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Podgorica is transitional between a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) and a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa), since the driest summer month gets slightly less than 40 mm of precipitation, with summer highs around 34 C and winter highs around 11 C. Although the city is only some 35 km north of the Adriatic Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean, Mount Rumija acts as a natural barrier, separating Skadar Lake basin and Podgorica area from the sea, thus limiting temperate maritime influence on the local climate.

The mean annual rainfall is 1659 mm, making Podgorica by far the wettest capital in Europe, Ljubljana being second with 1362 mm. The temperature exceeds 25 °C on about 135 days each year. The number of rainy days is about 120, and those with a strong wind around 60. An occasional strong northerly wind influences the climate in the winter, with a wind chill effect lowering the perceived temperature by a few degrees.

The all-time maximum snowfall record was beaten on 11 February 2012, when 58 cm of snowfall were measured. Before that, the biggest snowfall in Podgorica was in 1954, when 52 cm of snowfall was recorded. Maximum temperature was recorded on 24 August 2007, at 44.8 °C, while all time minimum was -9.7 °C, on 4 February 1956.

Demographics
Although medium-sized by European standards, Podgorica is by far the largest city in Montenegro: almost a quarter of Montenegrin citizens live there. According to the 2023 census, there are 186,827 people in Podgorica Capital City, which is analogous to the metropolitan area, while 173,024 people live within the city proper.

Out of the total population of Podgorica 48.73% are male and 51.27% are female. The average age of the population is 35.7.

Ethnic groups
The town's population in 2011 census was 60.25% Montenegrins, 23.98% Serbs, 3.99% Bosniaks or ethnic Muslims, and 4.67% are other ethnic minorities. A total of 4.83% of the population have not declared their ethnicity.

Languages
Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian are mutually intelligible as standard varieties of the Serbo-Croatian language. Montenegrin language speaks 44.43% and it's the most spoken language in the city. The second most spoken is Serbian (42.28%). Other languages (Albanian, Romani, Bosnian, Croatian) speak 5.1% of population. A total of 4.52% of the population have not declared their language.

Religion
Podgorica is home to three main religious groups: Orthodox Christians, Sunni Muslims and Catholic Christians.

The Orthodox Christian population mostly originates from the local Montenegrin and Serb population, which accepted Orthodox Christianity in Middle Ages after a major split during The Great Schism. They represent the major religious group. There are various Eastern Orthodox churches in the city including St. George Church which originates from the 13th century, and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ which is the largest church in the city to have been recently erected.

The Muslim population mostly originates from local Bosniaks as well as Albanians. There are several mosques in Podgorica.

The Catholic population mainly consists of the local Albanian minority. The main religious site for the Catholic population located in the Konik neighbourhood is the Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus constructed in 1966, in Brutalist style which makes this object unique.

Economy
Podgorica is not only the administrative center of Montenegro but also its main economic engine. Most of Montenegro's industrial, financial, and commercial base is in Podgorica.

Before World War I, most of Podgorica's economy was in trade and small-scale manufacturing, which was an economic model established during the long rule of the Ottoman Empire. After World War II, Podgorica became Montenegro's capital and a focus of the rapid urbanization and industrialization of the SFRY era. Industries such as aluminium and tobacco processing, textiles, engineering, vehicle production, and wine production were established in and around the city. In 1981, Podgorica's GDP per capita was 87% of the Yugoslav average.

In the early 1990s, the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav wars, and the UN-imposed sanctions left Podgorica's industries without traditional markets, suppliers, and available funds. This, combined with typical transition pressures, led to a decline of the industrial base, where many industries collapsed leaving thousands of citizens unemployed. However, some of the industries, including Plantaže, managed to survive the turmoil of the 1990s, and are still major contributors to Montenegrin export and industrial output to this day.

As Montenegro began its push for independence from Serbia in the late 1990s, Podgorica greatly benefited from the increased concentration of government and service sectors. In addition to almost the entire country's government, Podgorica is home to the Montenegro Stock Exchange and other major Montenegrin financial institutions, along with telecommunications carriers, media outlets, Montenegrin flag carrier airline, and other significant institutions and companies.

The large presence of government and service sectors spared the economy of Podgorica from prolonged stagnation in the late 2000s recession, which hit Montenegro hard. Although in mid-2014, some 30% of Montenegro's citizens lived in Podgorica, the municipality accounted for 44% of the country's employed. Out of the entire mass of paid net salaries in Montenegro in that year, some 47% was paid in Podgorica. The average monthly net salary in December 2021 was €537 in Podgorica municipality.

Tourism
Further cultural and historic monuments in and around Podgorica are Sahat kula (Clock tower) Adži-paše Osmanagića, the ruins of the Ribnica fortress, remnants of the city of Doclea, Stara Varoš, and Vezirov most (Vizier's bridge). Podgorica has excellent transit connections with other centres.

At nine kilometres from the city is the International Airport, with railway and bus stations close to one another.

Media
Podgorica is the media hub of Montenegro. It is home to the headquarters of the state-owned public television broadcaster RTCG. It has also its local TV and radio station Gradska. Commercial broadcasters in Podgorica include TV Vijesti, Prva TV, Nova M and Adria TV. All Montenegro's daily newspapers (oldest Montenegrin daily newspaper Pobjeda, Vijesti, Dnevne Novine and Dan) are published in Podgorica.

Public transport
Public transport in Podgorica consists of 11 urban and 16 suburban bus lines. The city-owned AD Gradski saobraćaj public transport company used to be the sole bus operator until the 1990s, when private carriers were introduced. The company went bankrupt in 2001, and buses were since operated solely by private carriers. As of 2023 Public transport in Podgorica is done only by buses, 12 city and 16 suburban lines.

Public transport faces competition from very popular dispatched taxi services. De-regulation. Usually, taxi companies provide a high level of service, with relatively new and uniform car fleets and GPS-tracked vehicles.

Roads
Podgorica's location in central Montenegro makes it a natural hub for rail and road transport. Roads in Montenegro (especially those connecting Podgorica to northern Montenegro and Serbia) are usually inferior to modern European roads. Both major Montenegrin motorway projects, Bar-Boljare motorway and Nudo–Božaj motorway, will pass near Podgorica. The first phase of motorway A-1 (Bar-Boljare) was opened on July 13, 2022. The Sozina tunnel (4.2 km) shortened the journey from Podgorica to Bar (Montenegro's main seaport) to under 30 minutes. A new road bypass had been constructed in 2011, to remove transport routes from north to south of the country, out of the city center. A south-western bypass had also been constructed with the same goal of moving heavy transport out of the city core. Podgorica is also characteristic of its extensive network of multi-lane boulevards which make inner-city transport quick and effective. Traffic over the Morača River also goes fluently since river banks are very well connected with 6 vehicular and 3 pedestrian bridges.

The main transit connections of Podgorica are:
 * north (E65, E80), towards Belgrade and on to Central Europe
 * west (E762), towards Nikšić, Bosnia and on to Western Europe
 * south (E65, E80) towards the Adriatic coast
 * east (E762), towards Albania

Rail
Podgorica is a hub of the X-shaped Montenegrin rail network. The Belgrade–Bar line converges with the line to Nikšić and line to Shkodër at the Podgorica Rail Station. The station itself is located 1.5 km to the southeast of the main city square. Podgorica's main railway link (for both passenger and freight traffic) is Belgrade–Bar. The link to Nikšić was recently under reconstruction (electrification); afterwards, passenger service started in October 2012. The rail link to Shkodër is used as freight-only.

Air
Podgorica Airport is located in Zeta Plain, 11 km south of Podgorica City centre, and is Montenegro's main international airport. The airport is locally known as Golubovci Airport (Аеродром Голубовци / Aerodrom Golubovci), as it is located within the administrative boundaries of the town of Golubovci. The IATA code of the airport is still TGD because Podgorica was named Titograd, during which time the airport opened. It is the main hub for Air Montenegro and Di Air.

Education
Most of Montenegro's higher education establishments are in Podgorica including the University of Montenegro, the country's most significant university. The university has the following faculties:

 * Faculty of Political Sciences
 * Faculty of Law
 * Faculty of Economics
 * Faculty of Electrical Engineering
 * Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology
 * Faculty for Information Technology
 * Faculty of Civil Engineering

 * Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
 * Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
 * Faculty of Medicine
 * Faculty of Pharmacy
 * Faculty of Architecture
 * Faculty of Biotechnology

The university's scientific research institutes are also in the Podgorica: Institute of Foreign Languages, Institute of Biotechnology and the Institute of History

The Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU) is in Podgorica, as well as the parallel scholars' academy DANU.

There are a number of private institutions for higher education including the Mediterranean University which was founded in 2006 as the first private university in Montenegro and the University of Donja Gorica. The municipality of Podgorica has 34 elementary schools and 10 secondary schools, including one gymnasium. The first secondary school established in Podgorica is Gymnasium "Slobodan Škerović" which first opened in 1907. The rebuilt economic high school offers new features and higher quality education. The "Radosav Ljumović National Library" is considered the most comprehensive in Montenegro.

Culture

Podgorica is home to many Montenegrin cultural institutions and events. It hosts the Montenegrin National Theatre and a number of museums and galleries. The Montenegrin National Theatre is the most significant theatre not only in Podgorica but in all of Montenegro. Podgorica is also host to the City Theatre (Gradsko pozorište), which includes the Children's Theatre and the Puppet Theatre. Although not as rich in museums and galleries as the historic royal capital Cetinje, there are several noteworthy museums:
 * The Podgorica City Museum (Muzej grada Podgorice) preserves Podgorica's rich heritage. Founded in 1950, it has four categories: archaeological, ethnographic, historical, and cultural-historical. It houses artifacts that date back to the Roman and Illyrian eras.
 * The Archaeological Research Centre (Centar za arheološka istraživanja) was founded in 1961. Its mission is to gather, classify, restore and display archaeological sites.
 * The Marko Miljanov Museum (Muzej Marka Miljanova) in Medun shows life in 19th century Montenegro.
 * The Natural History Museum (Prirodnjački muzej) displays specimens of Montenegrin flora and fauna. This museum has no exhibition space of its own, despite many proposals and initiatives to build one.

There is a notable art gallery in the Dvorac Petrovića (Petrović Castle) complex in Podgorica's largest public park. The palace hosted the Gallery of the Non-Aligned Countries "Josip Broz Tito" between 1984 and 1995. King Nicholas's castle, Perjanički Dom (House of the Honour Guard), castle chapel and surrounding buildings were converted to an art gallery in 1984. Since 1995, it has been part of the Modern Arts Centre (Centar savremenih umjetnosti) and houses approximately 1,500 works of art. The historic Cinema of Culture (Kino Kultura), which was founded in 1949, was closed in November 2008 due to continuous financial losses it generated. It was the only cinema in the city for 6 decades. The building of the former cinema will be converted to host the Podgorica City Theatre. Shortly after its closure, a Ster-Kinekor (later acquired by Cineplexx) 6-screen multiplex cinema opened at BIG Podgorica shopping mall.

A significant cultural institution of over fifty years' standing is the Budo Tomović Cultural-Informational Centre (KIC Budo Tomović). It is a public institution that organizes various artistic events, including Podgorica Cultural Summer (Podgoričko Kulturno Ljeto), FIAT – International Alternative Theatre Festival (Festival Internacionalnog Alternativnog Teatra), DEUS – December Arts Scene (Decembarska Umjetnička Scena).

Sport
The most popular sports by far are football and basketball. Basketball became especially popular with the success in the late 20th and early 21st centuries of KK Budućnost, both in Regional and European competitions.

Football in Podgorica has a long tradition associated with Budućnost. World-famous players Predrag Mijatović and Dejan Savićević were born in Podgorica and made their debut in that team. The club FK Zeta from the Podgorica suburb of Golubovci has also reached the former first league of Serbia and Montenegro. These clubs, along with Sutjeska from Nikšić, usually compete with each other for leading position in the First League of Montenegro. Other clubs from Podgorica and its surroundings play in the Montenegrin First League e.g. OFK Titograd & Kom. One of the most popular clubs from the suburbs is FK Ribnica from Konik, FK Zabjelo from Zabjelo and FK Podgorica from Donja Gorica.

The volleyball team OK Budućnost and the women's handball team ŽRK Budućnost T-Mobile have had significant success in European competition. Budućnost Podgorica is the most important sports club in Podgorica. Its name means Future.

Chess is another popular sport and some famous global chess players, like Slavko Dedić, are born in Podgorica.

Sporting events like the annual Podgorica Marathon, Coinis no limits Triathlon, and the Morača River jumps attract international competitors. Podgorica was the host of 2009 FINA Men's Water Polo World League.

Venues
Podgorica has a number of sporting venues; some are under reconstruction and expansion. The main ones are:
 * Podgorica City Stadium. It has a capacity of 11,264 and it is the home of FK Budućnost Podgorica and the Montenegro national football team. It is the only venue in Montenegro that complies with FIFA standards for international football matches.
 * Morača Sports Center, a multi-functional indoor sports facility. It has a capacity of 6,000 seats. It hosted one group of EuroBasket 2005, while other games were played in Belgrade, Vršac, and Novi Sad.
 * Bemax Arena, indoor and outdoor sports facility. It has a capacity of 2,400 seats.

Almost every football club in Podgorica has its own stadium, although these are often only fields with small stands or no stands at all. Other notable venues are the Stadion malih sportova under Gorica hill and the sport shooting range under Ljubović hill. There are many other sports facilities around the city, most notably indoor soccer fields.

Cityscape
Podgorica's mixture of architectural styles reflects the turbulent history of the city and country: as one régime replaced another, the corresponding style was introduced.

As part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878, Podgorica has some examples of Ottoman architecture. The oldest parts of the city, Stara Varoš (Old town) and Drač is typical of this, with two mosques, a Turkish Clock Tower and narrow, winding streets.

When the city was incorporated to Montenegro, the urban core shifted to the other bank of the Ribnica River, where the town developed in a more European style: wider streets with an orthogonal layout. This part of the city is today traditionally regarded as the city center and is called Nova Varoš (New town).

During World War II, Podgorica was almost razed to the ground, being bombed over 80 times. After liberation, rebuilding began as in other cities of the communist-ruled SFRY. Mass residential blocks were erected, with basic design typical of Eastern bloc countries. All that part of the city on the right bank of the Morača River was built this way.

The main contemporary traffic arteries were laid out during this period, which extended the orthogonal street layout of the city center, to the south and west. Residential and infrastructural developments in the SFRY era have mostly shaped the layout of today's Podgorica and accommodated the unprecedented population growth that followed World War II.

A major advance in Podgorica architecture began in the late 1990s and, since then, the face of the city has changed rapidly. Residential and business construction are proceeding rapidly, incorporating contemporary glass-and-steel architectural trends. In an effort to create a recognizable and modern state capital, city officials are routing significant investments in the city's public spaces. Thus, the city has gained entirely new squares and some monuments. New landmarks include the Hristovog Vaskrsenja orthodox temple and the Millennium Bridge, the main feature of the Podgorica skyline.

Notable people

 * Aleksa Asanovic (born 1945), music educator

Twin towns – sister cities
Podgorica is twinned with:

 * 🇹🇷 Ankara, Turkey
 * 🇮🇹 Bari, Italy
 * 🇬🇷 Naousa, Greece
 * 🇲🇰 Skopje, North Macedonia
 * 🇧🇦 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Partner cities

 * 🇦🇲 Yerevan, Armenia

title: Podgorica