 | 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]
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. [9] 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. [10]
In 2014, Afghanistan launched a pact with Eutelsat for a satellite, which was launched in 2014 as Afghansat 1 and transmits TV channels. [11] In 2014, the country commenced a switch from analog to digital TV transmission. [12]
As of 2019, Afghanistan has over 200 local and international television channels, 96 in Kabul and 107 in other provinces of the country. [13]
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. [14] In March 2022 the Taliban banned stations from broadcasting localized Pashto or Dari language broadcasts from the BBC and VOA. [15] 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, [16] and general entertainment channel Ayna TV. [17] In May 2022, female presenters on TV were told to cover their faces. [18]
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. [19]
According to The Asia Foundation's report "A Survey of the Afghan People in 2016", ownership of television is concentrated in urban areas, where electricity is more dependable and corresponds to increased household income. The central region (Kabul) exhibits the highest TV ownership, with 53.3% of households having one TV set, followed closely by the East and South West regions. Nearly two-thirds of Afghans (64.5%) report watching TV programs. Tolo was reported to be the most watched network, followed by Ariana Television Network, Shamshad TV, and Lemar. [20]
Another study conducted by Gallup in 2015 found that Tolo was most popular with females, whereas the Afghanistan National Television (RTA) was most popular with males. Weekly TV viewing was highest in the north of the country, lowest in the east. [21]
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. [21]
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. [22]
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. [12]
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.
Radio Afghanistan, also known as Radio Kabul or Voice of Sharia, is the public radio station of Afghanistan, owned by Radio Television Afghanistan. The frequencies are 1107 kHz (AM) and 105.2 MHz (FM) for the Kabul area. The name Radio Kabul has been given to many different incarnations of the state-run radio station since the first radio transmitters were installed in Kabul in the 1920s.
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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 offering 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.
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Lemar is a television station based in Kabul, Afghanistan, which was founded in 2006. It is owned by MOBY Group. The channel broadcasts news, shows, and entertainment programs in the Pashto language. Its sister channels are TOLO TV and TOLOnews.
Shamshad Media Network is based in Afghanistan and Dubai. Shamshad Media Network is a private and an independent network based in Afghanistan, which began transmission in 2005.
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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.
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