HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Television in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
started broadcasting in August 1978, flourishing until the 1990s, when
hostilities War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
in the capital
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
destroyed broadcasting infrastructure. Between 1996 and 2001, the
Taliban government The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...
outlawed television, though some stations in areas outside Taliban control continued to broadcast. After their removal, country-wide television broadcasting was resumed beginning with the government-run channel
Afghanistan National Television Afghanistan National Television ( prs, تلویزیون ملی '' Telvizoon-e Milli Afganistan'', ps, ملی تلویزیون ''Da Afganistan Milli Telvizoon'') is the state-owned television channel in Afghanistan. It is part of the Radio Televis ...
. It was reported that Afghanistan currently has over 200 local and international television channels, 96 in Kabul and 107 in other provinces of the country. In 2014, the country commenced a switch from
analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
to digital TV transmission.


History

The conceptual foundation of television in Afghanistan was first elucidated by
Dr. Hafiz Sahar Hafiz Sahar (1928–1982) was an academic scholar, educator, author, Fulbright Scholar, and Professor of Journalism in both Afghanistan and United States Universities. He was Editor-in-Chief of Eslah national newspaper of Afghanistan (1955–195 ...
, chief editor of ''Eslah'' national daily newspaper, in his 1967 investigative academic work at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...
. 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 Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
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 The is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international co ...
(JICA) kickstarted the construction work of the studio and transmitter buildings in 1976, with the work completed by August 1978. The state-owned
Radio Television Afghanistan National Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA; ps, ''Da Afġanistan Mīlī Radīo Telvizoon'', fa, ''Rādīo Telvizoon-e Mīlī-e Afġānestān'', branded as ملی (meaning ''national'')) is the public-broadcasting organization of Afghanista ...
(RTA, previously just
Radio Afghanistan 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'' ...
) launched the first TV channel in Afghanistan at first broadcasting for two hours daily. During the 1980s, many Soviet programs were airing such as the children's show ''
Nu Pogodi! ''Well, Just You Wait!'' (russian: Ну, погоди!, Nu, pogodi!, p=ˈnu pəɡɐˈdʲi) is a Soviet, later Russian, series of animated short films produced by Soyuzmultfilm. In the 2014 all-Russian poll, ''Well, Just You Wait!'' won by a ...
''. The studios of RTA were also often used by musicians to record
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
s. From 1992 onward television went into decline as a result of the war in Kabul, destroying infrastructure. During the
Taliban government The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...
between 1996 and 2001, television was strictly banned—especially after 8 July 1998—and stores selling TVs,
satellite dish A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radi ...
es,
VCRs A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recordin ...
, or other similar technology entertainment devices were closed. 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. A smaller territory that was controlled by the
Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
in the country's northeast province of
Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...
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 Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
for broadcasting, and the American movie ''
First Blood ''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's mentor ...
'' 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. When the
Karzai administration Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repu ...
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. Later, Tolo and
Shamshad TV Shamshad Media Network ( ps, شمشاد) is based in Afghanistan and Dubai. Shamshad Media Network is a private and an Independent network based in Afghanistan which began transmission in 2005. Shamshad Media Network was established to represen ...
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. In 2014, Afghanistan launched a pact with
Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...
for a
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 ...
, which was launched in 2014 as
Afghansat 1 Afghansat 1 (Pashto: افغان سټ یو, Persian: افغان‌ست 1), formerly named Eutelsat W2M, Eutelsat 48B, Eutelsat 28B is a telecommunications satellite operated by Afghanistan's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. ...
and transmits TV channels. As of 2019, Afghanistan has over 200 local and international television channels, 96 in Kabul and 107 in other provinces of the country. 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. In March 2022 the Taliban banned stations from broadcasting localized Pashto or Dari language broadcasts from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and
VOA Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
. 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, and general entertainment channel
Ayna TV Ayna Television (تلويزيون آينه, also romanized ''Aiena 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 ai ...
. In May 2022, female presenters on TV were told to cover their faces.


Television ownership and viewership

According to
The Asia Foundation The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to "improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia". The Asia Foundation (TAF) was established in 1954 to undertake cultural and educational activities on be ...
'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 Ariana Television Network (ATN) (Dari/Pashto: ) is a private television network based in Kabul, Afghanistan. The channel was launched by Afghan-American Ehsan Bayat (owner of Afghan Wireless Communication Company) in 2005 and started broadcastin ...
,
Shamshad TV Shamshad Media Network ( ps, شمشاد) is based in Afghanistan and Dubai. Shamshad Media Network is a private and an Independent network based in Afghanistan which began transmission in 2005. Shamshad Media Network was established to represen ...
, and
Lemar Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), known as Lemar, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially rising to fame after finishing third on the first series of British talent show ''Fame Academy'', he was later signed to Sony BMG ...
. Another study conducted by Gallup in 2015 found that Tolo was most popular with females, whereas the
Afghanistan National Television Afghanistan National Television ( prs, تلویزیون ملی '' Telvizoon-e Milli Afganistan'', ps, ملی تلویزیون ''Da Afganistan Milli Telvizoon'') is the state-owned television channel in Afghanistan. It is part of the Radio Televis ...
(RTA) was most popular with males. Weekly TV viewing was highest in the north of the country, lowest in the east.


Transmission

In Afghanistan, many people watch TV through traditional
analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...
signals using (mostly indoor)
antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...
s. It is the dominant method of watching TV in urban areas. Satellite transmission is much more common in rural areas than urban.
Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
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 Data transmission and data reception or, more broadly, data communication or digital communications is the transfer and reception of data in the form of a digital bitstream or a digitized analog signal transmitted over a point-to-point or ...
systems. Afghanistan has adopted the
DVB-T2 DVB-T2 is an abbreviation for "Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial"; it is the extension of the television standard DVB-T, issued by the consortium DVB, devised for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial tele ...
standard and the switch-over would begin in Kabul. On August 31, 2014, Afghanistan's digital terrestrial TV system called
Oqaab Oqaab ( fa, عقاب, meaning "eagle") is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Afghanistan, operated by the privately owned Afghanistan Broadcasting System (ABS). The service rolled out in April 2015 starting in Kabul and h ...
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 Serena Hotels is a hospitality company which operates up-scale hotels and resorts in East Africa, Southern Africa and South Asia. Serena comprises a collection of 36 luxury resorts, safari lodges, and hotels, which are located in East Africa ( ...
.


See also

*
Media in Afghanistan The mass media in Afghanistan includes printing, broadcasting, and digital. It is mainly in Dari and Pashto, the official languages of the nation. According to the Attorney General's Office of Afghanistan, "there are 1,879 active media outlets in ...
*
List of radio stations in Afghanistan Radio broadcasting has been the most popular form of mass media in Afghanistan since 1925, which is mostly in Dari and Pashto languages. Afghanistan currently has over 200 AM broadcasting, AM, FM broadcasting, FM and shortwave radio, shortwave rad ...


External links


Afghanistan FTA satellite channels directory - LyngsatWatch Afghanistan TV Channels


References

{{Television in Asia Mass media in Afghanistan
Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...