Diganta Television ( bn, দিগন্ত টেলিভিশন; ) was a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
and cable news television channel founded in 2007.
The channel was owned Diganta Media Corporation, which also owns the daily newspaper ''
Daily Naya Diganta
The ''Daily Naya Diganta'' ( bn, দৈনিক নয়া দিগন্ত ''Doinik Noya Digonto'') is a Bengali daily newspaper published in Bangladesh since 2004.
History
It is part of Diganta Media Corporation which was owned by Mir Q ...
''. Diganta Television officially began broadcasting on 28 August 2008, and was shutdown along with
Islamic TV
Islamic TV ( bn, ইসলামিক টিভি) was Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable religious television channel. The owner of the channel was Said Iskandar, the younger brother of the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Its ...
on 6 May 2013, both of which were assumed to be supporting the
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...
political party, and as a result faced boycotts during the
2013 Shahbag protests
On 5 February 2013, protests began in Shahbag, Bangladesh, following demands for the execution of Abdul Quader Mollah, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment and convicted on five of six counts of war crimes by the International Crime ...
.
Shutdown
The
forcibly ceased the broadcast of Diganta Television, along with
Islamic TV
Islamic TV ( bn, ইসলামিক টিভি) was Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable religious television channel. The owner of the channel was Said Iskandar, the younger brother of the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Its ...
, on 6 May 2013, at about 4:30am. The channel's chief reporter M. Kamruzzaman said that around 25 plain-clothed policemen and an official from the broadcast commission had entered their studios without warning at dawn.
According to
Information Minister
An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given to ...
Hasanul Haq Inu
Hasanul Haq Inu (born 12 November 1946) is a Bangladeshi politician and the former Minister of Information of Bangladesh. He leads a faction of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and was involved in a Marxist insurgency in the 1970s.
Early life and ...
, it was taken off the air because its reporting on raid on
Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh
Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh ( bn, হেফাজতে ইসলাম বাংলাদেশ) is an Islamic Advocacy group of madrassah teachers and students. In 2013, it submitted to the government of Bangladesh a 13-point charter, which inc ...
contained "irresponsible exaggerations and misinformation to inflame public opinion, a violation of the conditions of its license."
Critics have alleged this an instance of the
Sheikh Hasina government of using the Islamist issue to silence dissidents.
Programming
Diganta Television mostly aired news programming for sixteen hours per day. Other than that, other types of programming were aired on the channel.
List of programming
* ''Business News''
* ''Carrier Line''
* ''Chitra Bichitra''
* ''Diganta Onusandhan''
* ''Duronto Khobor''
* ''Ekanto Songlap''
* ''Get Safe''
* ''i-Tech''
* ''Jibon Japon''
* ''Lime Light''
* ''Mele Dhori Ichcheguli''
* ''News of the Day''
* ''Pothe Prantore''
* ''Probashe Bangladesh''
* ''Ranna Banna''
* ''School Angina''
* ''Science & Quran''
* ''Score Card''
* ''Shastho Diganta''
* ''Shorol Poth''
* ''Suborno Shokal''
See also
*
List of television stations in Bangladesh
Around 45 privately owned television channels were permitted by the Government of Bangladesh as of 2019, of which thirty four are currently on air. Five television channels, namely CSB News, Channel 1, Diganta Television, Islamic TV, and Chann ...
References
External links
Diganta Television Launched
{{Television in Bangladesh
Television channels in Bangladesh
Mass media in Dhaka
Television channels and stations established in 2008
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2013
Defunct television channels in Bangladesh