 | This article needs to be updated.(April 2022) |
Television broadcasts in Afghanistan started in the year 1978 (Hijri Shamsi 1357). [1] As of 2017, there are around 76 local channels operating in the country; [2] the state television channel is Afghanistan National Television. As with other mass media in Afghanistan, television is regulated by the Ministry of Information and Culture.
The conceptual foundation of television in Afghanistan was first elucidated by Dr. Hafiz Sahar, chief editor of Eslah national daily newspaper, in his 1967 investigative academic work at New York University. [3] [4] He made compelling argument and advocated, based on other developing countries experiences, the need for television as an educational tool as well as practical solutions to initial technical problems of bringing television in Afghanistan, such as “Kabul itself is dominated by two high hills that make excellent natural broadcasting towers, thus, simplifying coverage problems”.
Technical and financial aid provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) kickstarted the construction work of the studio and transmitter buildings in 1976, [5] with the work completed by August 1978. The state-owned Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA, previously just Radio Afghanistan) launched the first TV channel in Afghanistan at first broadcasting for two hours daily starting in August 1978. [1] During the 1980s, many Soviet programs were airing such as the children's show Nu Pogodi! . The studios of RTA were also often used by musicians to record music videos.
From 1992 onward television went into decline when hostilities in the capital Kabul destroyed broadcasting infrastructure. During the Taliban government between 1996 and 2001, television was strictly banned—especially after 8 July 1998—and stores selling TVs, satellite dishes, VCRs, or other similar technology entertainment devices were closed. [6] Anyone owning or watching TV was arrested and punished. The national television broadcaster was closed down, whilst private broadcasters' buildings and studios were smashed by the regime's police. [7] A smaller territory that was controlled by the Northern Alliance in the country's northeast province of Badakhshan had a television channel financed by the Northern Alliance that broadcast, with a weak signal, news and movies to approximately 5,000 people in the city of Fayzabad. The station had a large library of movies and documentaries on VHS and Betamax for broadcasting, and the American movie First Blood was reportedly the most favored by watchers. Nonetheless, the station still had some levels of censorship, banning films containing women in swimsuits, singing or dancing (under the pressure of fundamentalists from the Northern Alliance); however gory and violent scenes were kept intact. The Betamax player that played most of the movies the station had was broken. [8] During this period, wealthy citizens who still had television sets and satellite dishes decided to hide their sets in cupboards. [9]
When the Karzai administration came to power in December 2001, Afghanistan's earliest television channel was relaunched. The transmission site at the summit of Asamayi was seriously damaged after the U.S. invasion, so the relaunched TV in Kabul was only transmitting from a 200 watt set. The JICA, who originally helped develop television in the 1970s, was consulted once again for redeveloping the transmitters. [10] Later, Tolo and Shamshad TV became one of the first commercial TV stations in the country and laid the foundation for an accessible media outlet by offering a large library of shows. [11] Indian and Turkish dramas were quite popular in Afghanistan at the time. [12] With India's help, Afghanistan made its first home-made commercial TV series "Palwasha" in 2007. [13]
In 2014, Afghanistan launched a pact with Eutelsat for a satellite, which was launched in 2014 as Afghansat 1 and transmits TV channels. [14] In 2014, the country commenced a switch from analog to digital TV transmission. [15]
As of 2019, Afghanistan has over 200 local and international television channels, 96 in Kabul and 107 in other provinces of the country. [16]
Since the Taliban ascend to power in August 2021, some media restrictions have been applied that have affected TV in Afghanistan. It was reported in November 2021 that they banned women from appearing in TV dramas. [17] In March 2022 the Taliban banned stations from broadcasting localized Pashto or Dari language broadcasts from the BBC and VOA. [18] Although no channels have been ordered to shut, a few stations decided to shut due to uncertainty or sudden lack of funding, including 3Sport which was the only channel dedicated to sports, [19] and general entertainment channel Ayna TV. [20] They have also banned foreign programming, so TV shows like American SpongeBob SquarePants which was popular among Afghan children was taken off programming. [21] In May 2022, female presenters on TV were told to cover their faces. [22]
As of November 2023, after two years of uncertainty, some tvs come back in air: i.e. Mashal TV. However more than half of the 547 registered media outlets in 2021 have since vanished. Among the 150 TV channels, fewer than 70 continue to operate, and out of the 307 radio stations, only 170 remain on air. The number of news agencies has decreased from 31 to 18 during this period. [23]
According to a market research survey conducted by the Afghan Wireless Communication Company in 2023, with over 7,100 randomly selected participants from various regions of Afghanistan, Ariana Television Network (and its news channel Ariana News (www.ariananews.af)) is the most-watched television channel in Afghanistan followed by TOLO TV (and its news channel TOLOnews), Shamshad TV, and Lemar TV. [24]
In Afghanistan, many people watch TV through traditional analog terrestrial signals using (mostly indoor) antennas. It is the dominant method of watching TV in urban areas. Satellite transmission is much more common in rural areas than urban. Cable rates are low for both urban and rural.
In January 2013 Afghanistan's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology held a meeting with TV broadcasters on plans to switch from analog to digital transmission systems. Afghanistan has adopted the DVB-T2 standard and the switch-over would begin in Kabul. [25]
On August 31, 2014, Afghanistan's digital terrestrial TV system called Oqaab was officially inaugurated by the second vice president of Afghanistan, H. E. Mohammad Karim Khalili, and Minister of Communications and Information Technology, H. E. Amirzai Sangin, in a ceremony at Kabul's Serena Hotel. [15]
Communications in Afghanistan is under the control of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). It has rapidly expanded after the Karzai administration was formed in late 2001, and has embarked on wireless companies, internet, radio stations and television channels.
Shaima Rezayee was a TV presenter on the Afghan music television channel, Tolo TV. Rezayee was a rising star in the post-Taliban ruled Afghanistan, specially very popular among the youth. She was also the first female western-style music presenter to appear on television in Afghanistan's conservative history.
The Pashto media includes Pashto literature, Pashto-language newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, as well as Pashto films and Pashto internet. Pashto media involves the Pashtuns of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Pashtun diaspora around the world.
TOLO is a commercial television station operated by MOBY Group in Afghanistan. Launched in 2004, it became one of the first commercial stations in the country and laid the foundation for an accessible media outlet by offring a large library of shows. It is one of the most popular television channels in Afghanistan and broadcasts shows in both Dari-Persian and Pashto
Afghan TV is a commercial television station in Afghanistan, based in its capital, Kabul. Launched on May 21, 2004, it is owned by Ahmed Shah Afghanzai, an Afghan entrepreneur. It originally broadcast for 18 hours daily, but has been broadcasting for full days since July 2004. The CEO of the channel is Mohammad Hamayoon Sepehr.
Ayna Television was the first commercial television station broadcasting from Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan, starting in 2004 until 2022. The name Ayna means "mirror" in Uzbek. It aired entertainment and news programs as well as serving as an improvement tool for Abdul Rashid Dostum and his party, Junbish-i-Milli Islami Afghanistan, and at one point was reportedly owned by him. Ayna was set up in order to satisfy the entertainment needs of people in northern Afghanistan where Uzbek is widely spoken, but after a few years also started programmes in Dari Persian and Pashto languages.
Saad Mohseni is an Afghan Australian businessman and entrepreneur. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of MOBY Group, launched in Afghanistan in 2002 and now active across South and Central Asia and the Middle East. He has brought top tier news and media content to emerging and frontier markets over the past two decades. Prior to establishing MOBY Group, he headed the equities and corporate finance division of an Australian investment banking firm.
Noorin TV, sometimes shortened as NTV, is a private non-governmental satellite television network that broadcasts from Kabul in Afghanistan. The service was launched in 2007.
The television industry in China includes high-tech program production, transmission and coverage. China Central Television is China's largest state-run national television broadcaster. By 1987, two-thirds of people in China had access to television. As of August 22, 2023, over 3,300 local, regional, and national TV channels are available in the country.
National Radio Television Afghanistan is the public-broadcasting organization of Afghanistan, based in Kabul. This governmental organ has a national television station and a radio station as well as news media. As of August 16, 2023, Yousef Ahmadi serves as the acting Director General of RTA. His predecessor was Atiqullah Azizi, who held the position since September 2021.
The mass media in Afghanistan is monitored by the Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC), and includes broadcasting, digital and printing. It is mainly in Dari and Pashto, the official languages of the nation. It was reported in 2019 that Afghanistan had over 107 TV stations and 284 radio stations, including 100s of print media and over 1,800 online media outlets. After the return of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in 2021, there was a concern that the mass media will significantly decrease in the country. The number of digital media outlets is steadily increasing with the help of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and other such online platforms. IEA's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid suggested that the media should be in line with Sharia and national interests.
Afghanistan National Television is the state-owned television channel in Afghanistan. It is part of the Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) public broadcaster.
Moby Media Group is the largest media company in Afghanistan. Moby Group is privately owned, with headquarters in Kabul and 15 bureaus throughout Afghanistan. The company also has an office in Dubai, where regional business is conducted.
Tolo News, stylized TOLOnews, is an Afghan news channel and website broadcasting from Kabul. Owned by the Moby Media Group, it was launched in August 2010 as Afghanistan's first twenty-four hour news channel.
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Zan TV is an Afghan television channel that almost exclusively employs women, and offers programming that especially addresses issues relevant to women in Afghanistan. Founded by Hamid Samar, a media entrepreneur, in Kabul in 2017, Zan TV was the first station of its kind in Afghanistan.
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Amu TV is an independent satellite television channel owned and operated by Eye Media Group. The channel was launched on May 3, 2023, with the primary mission to inform, entertain, and educate Afghan society, providing a platform for independent and objective reporting amidst the challenging media landscape in Afghanistan. With content in Farsi and Pashto languages, Amu TV aims to counter the restrictive media environment imposed by the Taliban, promoting press freedom, and supporting the rights of women and journalists.
