First publicly airing in 24 August 1962, on the opening day of, and established as part of the preparations for, the 1962 Asian Games, it is the oldest television network in the country.

Apart from Soetarto, there were also his representatives, namely RM Soenarjo and 7 committee members, and they worked together with the Ministry of Information to prepare television broadcasts in Indonesia.

[8][9] On 23 October 1961 at 09.30,[6] President Sukarno who was in Vienna, Austria sent a telex to Maladi to immediately prepare a television project with the following targets: On August 17, 1962, TVRI began conducting trial broadcasts of the 17th Indonesian Independence Day event from the grounds of the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, in black and white format and supported by a backup transmitter with a power of 100W.

TVRI broadcast its first test transmission on the Independence Day celebrations from the Merdeka Palace on 17 August 1962.

[14] With TVRI's presence, Indonesia became the sixth country in eastern Asia to introduce television, behind Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, China and South Korea.

[citation needed] During the Asian Games, Matsushita awarded a contract from the Indonesian Ministry of People's Industry for the installation of television sets, worth $3 million.

In the succeeding years, TVRI aired as a network carrying programming from Jakarta supplemented by opt-out broadcasts from the regional stations.

[citation needed] In 1974, eight years after President Suharto took office, TVRI became a part of the Department of Information, with the status as a directorate.

TVRI in the late 1970s and 1980s became a well-defined mass media component of the Department of Information, in early years it generating income from advertising slots.

It was decided in February 1981 that television commercials were to be banned by April, with TVRI scheduled to lost 20 billion rupiahs ($64 million) a year.

A fire broke out at TVRI's facilities in Jakarta on the early hours of 31 December 1985, accumulating US$2 million in losses.

The launch was attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tifatul Sembiring.

During the leadership of Helmy Yahya and Apni Jaya Putra, TVRI began to remodel its programming on a large scale.

On 29 March 2019, at the concert special Menggapai Dunia (Reaching the World), TVRI adopted its new logo as a part of the rebranding efforts.

In August 2019, TVRI together with two national private networks (Metro TV and Trans7) and Ministry of Communication and Information Technology officially launched digital television broadcasts for border regions in Nunukan Regency, North Kalimantan.

32 of 2002 on Broadcasting, which defined as a "legal entity established by the state, independent, neutral, not commercial, and has the function to provide services for the public benefit".

13 of 2005, is "to provide the healthy information, education and entertainment services, (maintain) social control and unity, and preserve the nation's culture for the whole public benefit by organizing television broadcast that reaches all parts of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia".

In fact, as of today the broadcasting fee is yet to be implemented, and for "other legal efforts" TVRI is asked to generate "non-tax state revenue" by various funding sources besides annual state budget; such as website ads, training service, professional certification, assets rent, program production, multiplexing service, and programming royalty.

Besides TVRI Klik, the channels and regional stations streaming service can also be found on the network's official website, YouTube, and other social media where available.

In 2008, former TVRI President Director, Sumita Tobing was arrested due to alleged corruption in the procurement of 50 cameras worth 5.2 billion rupiah.

[38][39] On 6 June 2013, TVRI aired a delayed broadcast of the Muktamar Khilafah (Caliphate Conference) organized by Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta.

According to news sources in almost all mass media on 16 January 2020, Helmy Yahya was officially dismissed from his position by the board permanently and unilaterally, citing the "expensive" purchase of broadcast rights for the Premier League from Djarum-owned premium multi-platform network, Mola TV, a problem during Siapa Berani quiz show, and various other problems.

[51] The appointment caused controversy thanks to his endorsement of incumbent president Joko Widodo in the 2019 election, but he stated that he "would be independent and impartial".

[53] On 5 October 2020, the Board of Supervisors Arief Hidayat Thamrin was ultimately dismissed by first commission of People's Representative Council.