Television is one of the most popular forms of media and information in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
It was one of the first countries in South Asia to introduce television on 25 December 1964, in the then
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
under the
state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
television network
Pakistan Television Corporation
Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore.
Background
Historical co ...
in its capital,
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
. After the
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...
in 1971, the Dhaka television station of PTV was renamed to
Bangladesh Television
Bangladesh Television ( bn, বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন), commonly known by its acronym BTV ( bn, বিটিভি), is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East ...
, which had a monopoly on the country's television industry until 1997, with the launch of
ATN Bangla
ATN Bangla ( bn, এটিএন বাংলা), 'ATN' being the acronym of the unused Asian Television Network, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Multimedia Production Company. It is based in the ...
on satellite television. Since then, the number of privately owned television channels saw a tremendous rise in the Bangladeshi television market.
As of 2019, 64% of households in Bangladesh had a television set, with cable television dominating the pay television market there. This is a tremendous increase compared to the data from 1975, when less than 0.2% of Bangladeshi households had a television set.
Bangladesh Television currently serves as the sole television broadcaster provided on terrestrial television,
as
Ekushey Television
Ekushey Television ( bn, একুশে টেলিভিশন; , in reference to 21 February), also known by its acronym ETV, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned satellite and cable television channel owned by S. Alam Group of ...
, formerly provided on terrestrial from its launch in 2000, was shut down two years later, although it did resume broadcasting later but on satellite television. All television sets in Bangladesh shall be licensed for ownership. Bangladesh has a total of thirty-seven television channels currently on the air, thirty-two of which are privately owned. Several television channels were even taken off the air.
Pirate television
A pirate television station is a broadcast television station that operates without a broadcast license. Like its counterpart pirate radio, the term pirate TV lacks a specific universal interpretation. It implies a form of broadcasting that is u ...
stations have also existed in Bangladesh.
History
Early ages
![Masuma Khatun 1970 election coverage on Pakistan Television](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Masuma_Khatun_1970_election_coverage_on_Pakistan_Television.jpg)
Television programming in the then East Pakistan was first commenced in 1964, when Pakistan Television established a television station in Dacca, the first after
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
, and broadcast from the
DIT Bhaban on a four hour basis. On 4 March 1971, PTV's Dacca television station was unofficially renamed to "Dhaka Television", and on 23 March, it began showing the flag of Bangladesh and playing the national anthem of Bangladesh and several pro-Bangladesh songs, as a part of the station to join the struggle for independence from Pakistan. After the independence of Bangladesh, the station was immediately renamed to Bangladesh Television, and became a government owned entity. In 1975, Bangladesh Television moved its studios and facilities in a newly built headquarters in
Rampura.
Bangladesh Television had established fourteen relay terrestrial television stations up to 2003, the first one being in
Natore
Natore district is a district of Rajshahi Division located in northern Bangladesh. It borders the metropolitan city of Rajshahi, and used to be part of Rajshahi district.
History
Natore was the District Headquarters of Rajshahi from 1769 to 182 ...
in 1974, which cover up to more than 90% of Bangladesh's territory
Bangladesh Television was the first television station in the region to commence full-time
color broadcasts in 1980, followed by
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1982.
As Bangladesh Television was the only television channel available in the country at the time, its viewership and popularity soared.
Rise of satellite television
Satellite television was introduced in Bangladesh in 1992, with over ten foreign channels having presence in the country at the time. The first Bengali-language satellite television channel based in Bangladesh,
ATN Bangla
ATN Bangla ( bn, এটিএন বাংলা), 'ATN' being the acronym of the unused Asian Television Network, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Multimedia Production Company. It is based in the ...
, was launched in 1997, followed by
Channel i
Channel i ( bn, চ্যানেল আই) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Impress Group. It was launched on 1 October 1999, as Bangladesh's first digital television channel. It is one of the ...
in 1999. Satellite television saw a tremendous increase in popularity among Bangladeshis at that period, and thus, Bangladesh Television began to stagnate.
![ETV Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/ETV_Building.jpg)
As a privately owned terrestrial television network in Bangladesh did not exist at the time, A.S. Mahmud, along with the
UK-based
Simon Dring
Simon John Dring (11 January 1945 – 16 July 2021) was a British foreign correspondent, television producer, and presenter. He worked for Reuters, ''The Daily Telegraph'' of London, and BBC Television, Radio News, and Current Affairs, covering, o ...
, had plans to establish
Ekushey Television
Ekushey Television ( bn, একুশে টেলিভিশন; , in reference to 21 February), also known by its acronym ETV, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned satellite and cable television channel owned by S. Alam Group of ...
in the late 1990s.
It was officially launched on 14 April 2000, and quickly gained widespread popularity around Bangladesh. However, the channel was forced to cease all transmissions in 2002, shortly after the
BNP government took over, leaving BTV the sole Bangladeshi television network to broadcast on terrestrial television today, even though Ekushey Television did resume broadcasting but on satellite television in 2007. During Ekushey Television's closure, Bangladesh saw a significant increase in privately owned television channels.
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Television) ...
was the first among them to be launched in 2003, followed by
RTV and
Boishakhi Television
Boishakhi Television, ( bn, বৈশাখী টেলিভিশন; , referring to the first month of the Bengali calendar) also known as Boishakhi TV, stylized as boishakhi tv, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned satellite and ...
in 2005, and
Channel 1 and
Banglavision
Banglavision ( bn, বাংলাভিশন) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Shamol Bangla Media Limited, commencing official broadcasts on 31 March 2006. Its name is a portmanteau of " ban ...
in 2006. However, several television channels were short-lived and were shut down by the government, such as ATV, TEN, Ruposhi Bangla (not to be confused with the unrelated Indian channel of the
same name), Sonar Bangla, and Falguni. In 2009,
Jamuna Television
Jamuna Television ( bn, যমুনা টেলিভিশন; ), commonly known as Jamuna TV, stylized as jamuna, tv, is a privately owned Bangladeshi satellite and cable news and current affairs television channel. It is owned by the Jamuna ...
began test transmissions, and was later shut down by the BTRC for broadcasting after its license had already been expired, though it would later return to the air in 2014.
![A DSNG car of a news station, Dhaka](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/A_DSNG_car_of_a_news_station%2C_Dhaka.jpg)
In 2007, Bangladesh's first exclusively news channel,
CSB News
CSB News, acronym of Chronus Satellite Broadcast was Bangladesh's first, albeit short-lived, 24-hour news & current affairs channel. It started broadcasting test transmissions from March 24, 2007 and started commercially broadcasting from April 9, ...
, went on the air, but was later shut down after airing footages of anti-government protests. The number of news channels in Bangladesh, however, tremendously rose, with the launch of
ATN News and
Independent Television, and test broadcasts of
Somoy in 2010, and later its official broadcasts in 2011. It was later decided by the Government of Bangladesh in 2009 to rule Bangladesh Television as the only television broadcaster in Bangladesh to legally broadcast on terrestrial television. On 27 April 2010,
Channel 1 was shut down by the BTRC due to illegal activity. On 30 July 2011,
Maasranga Television
Maasranga Television ( bn, মাছরাঙা টেলিভিশন; ) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by the Square Group. It commenced broadcasts on 30 July 2011, and is based in Banani, Dhak ...
, Bangladesh's first
high definition television channel, began operations. On 21 June 2012,
Ekattor, Bangladesh's first news channel broadcasting in full HD was launched.
On 6 May 2013,
Diganta Television
Diganta Television ( bn, দিগন্ত টেলিভিশন; ) was a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned satellite and cable news television channel founded in 2007. The channel was owned Diganta Media Corporation, which also o ...
and
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 ...
were obliged to cease all transmissions by the
BTRC. On 27 June 2013,
ULAB established the first
student
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...
television station in Bangladesh, ULAB TV. On 2 December 2014, Bangladesh's first music-oriented television channel,
Channel 16, was accused of illegally broadcasting via an
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i satellite and even after its license had already been expired, and left unrenewed, and demanded the channel to shut down.
The country's first children's television channel,
Duronto TV
Duronto TV ( bn, দুরন্ত টিভি; ) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable children's television channel, and the first of its kind in the country. It was initially licensed in 2013 as "Renaissance TV", but was late ...
, was launched on 5 October 2017. In May 2019,
BEXIMCO
Bangladesh Export Import Company Limited ( Bangla Transliteration: বাংলাদেশ এক্সপোর্ট ইমপোর্ট কোম্পানি লিমিটেড, romanised: ''Bānglādēsh ēkspōrṭ impōrṭ kōm ...
launched Akash DTH, Bangladesh's first
DTH satellite television provider. On 2 October 2019, all Bangladeshi television channels began broadcasting via the
Bangabandhu-1
The Bangabandhu Satellite-1 (''Bangabandhu-1'') is the first Bangladeshi geostationary communications and broadcasting satellite. It is named after the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was manufactured by Thales Aleni ...
satellite. During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, both BTV and
Sangsad Television
Sangsad Bangladesh Television ( bn, সংসদ বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন), often known as Sangsad Television ( bn, সংসদ টেলিভিশন; ), branded on-air as Sangsad Bangladesh ( bn, সংসদ বা ...
broadcast live educational lessons for primary and secondary level students. On 9 November 2020, Bangladesh's first sports-oriented television channel,
T Sports
T Sports, also referred to as Titas Sports, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language sports oriented television channel owned by East West Media Group, a subsidiary of Bashundhara Group. It is Bangladesh's first television channel dedicated to sports ...
, began broadcasting. On 30 July 2021,
Nexus Television, Bangladesh's first non-fiction infotainment television channel, began operations. Coinciding the Bangladeshi Victory Day on 16 December 2021, business-related Spice Television began test transmissions. The channel later officially began transmissions on 9 June 2022 as
Ekhon. On 30 June 2022,
Global Television began transmissions.
Digital television in Bangladesh
State-owned Bangladesh Television began test transmissions on digital terrestrial television in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna on 25 January 2011.
Bangladesh adopted the
DVB-T
DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Febr ...
system for digital television broadcasts in 2014. On 4 November 2021, as a part of the
Digital Bangladesh
Vision 2021 was the political manifesto of the Bangladesh Awami League party before winning the National Elections of 2008. It stands as a political vision of Bangladesh for the year 2021, the golden jubilee of the nation. The policy has been c ...
campaign, the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting urged all cable operators to provide
set-top box
A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of sign ...
es. All satellite television channels in Dhaka and Chittagong were announced to be migrated to digital satellite television by 30 November. It was also announced that by 31 December 2021, all divisional and metropolitan cities of Bangladesh, along with
Jessore
Jessore ( bn, যশোর, jôshor, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District situated in Khulna Division. It is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre (headquarter) of the eponymous district ...
,
Gazipur
Gazipur ( bn, গাজীপুর) is a city in central Bangladesh. It is located in the Gazipur District. It is a major industrial city north of Dhaka. It is a hub for the textile industry in Bangladesh. Its other name is Joydebpur.
Demogra ...
,
Narayanganj
Narayanganj ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ ''Naraeongônj'') is a city in central Bangladesh. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka, and has a population of about 2 million. It is the 6th larges ...
,
Tangail
Tangail ( bn, টাঙ্গাইল, ), is a major city within the Dhaka Division in central Bangladesh. It sits on the bank of the Louhajang River, north-west of Dhaka, the nation's capital. It is considered to be the main urban area of ...
, and
Pabna
Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about .
Etymology
* According to the histo ...
, will switch over to digital satellite television, but this decision was later delayed by the
High Court of Bangladesh.
The government later announced that the installation of set-top boxes to stream television channels will be made obligatory in all divisional and metropolitan areas by 1 June 2022. This decision was postponed again by the High Court for three more months on 31 May 2022.
List of television channels
![Bangladesh Television (BTV) logo at BTV head office 06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Bangladesh_Television_%28BTV%29_logo_at_BTV_head_office_06.jpg)
The Government of Bangladesh has permitted 45 local privately owned television channels to broadcast as of 2019, of which 34 channels are currently broadcasting. All of the private television channels in Bangladesh broadcast solely on satellite and cable television, and BTV Dhaka,
BTV Chittagong
Bangladesh Television Chattogram or Bangladesh Television Chittagong ( bn, বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন চট্টগ্রাম), branded on-air as BTV Chittagong or BTV Chattogram ( bn, বিটিভি চট্টগ ...
, and
Sangsad Television
Sangsad Bangladesh Television ( bn, সংসদ বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন), often known as Sangsad Television ( bn, সংসদ টেলিভিশন; ), branded on-air as Sangsad Bangladesh ( bn, সংসদ বা ...
are the only three television channels in the entire country that broadcast on terrestrial television. Bangladesh Television broadcasts nationwide terrestrially via its fourteen relay stations.
State-owned Bangladesh Television, the owner of BTV Dhaka and BTV Chittagong, is the oldest television broadcaster in Bangladesh, having to be founded in 1971. For a brief period of time, Ekushey Television was the first and only privately owned terrestrial channel in the country, and was also the first of its kind in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
,
until its closure in 2002. Bangladesh has four state-owned television channels, which are BTV Dhaka, BTV Chittagong,
BTV World
BTV World ( bn, বিটিভি ওয়ার্ল্ড) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by the state-owned Bangladesh Television. It began operations on 11 April 2004 via the AsiaSat 3 satell ...
, and Sangsad Television, the country's parliamentary television channel. The network announced to establish six more television stations in the future. In total, there are 38 television channels currently on-air in Bangladesh.
State television channels
*
BTV Dhaka - Bangladesh's oldest and the main television station of Bangladesh Television, went on air on 25 December 1964 under Pakistan Television. Renamed to Bangladesh Television after Bangladesh's independence. Mostly branded on air as 'BTV'.
*
BTV Chittagong
Bangladesh Television Chattogram or Bangladesh Television Chittagong ( bn, বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন চট্টগ্রাম), branded on-air as BTV Chittagong or BTV Chattogram ( bn, বিটিভি চট্টগ ...
- BTV's first regional television station, established on 19 December 1996, initially broadcasting for one and half hour. Over the years, its broadcast time had significantly increased, and began broadcasting on a full-day basis on 19 December 2021.
*
BTV World
BTV World ( bn, বিটিভি ওয়ার্ল্ড) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by the state-owned Bangladesh Television. It began operations on 11 April 2004 via the AsiaSat 3 satell ...
- Relays BTV Dhaka's transmissions worldwide via satellite television, launched in 2004.
*
Sangsad Television
Sangsad Bangladesh Television ( bn, সংসদ বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন), often known as Sangsad Television ( bn, সংসদ টেলিভিশন; ), branded on-air as Sangsad Bangladesh ( bn, সংসদ বা ...
- Bangladesh's parliamentary television channel, launched in 2011. It broadcasts live from the
Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban
Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban or National Parliament House, ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ ভবন ''Jatiyô Sôngsôd Bhôbôn'') is the house of the Parliament of Bangladesh, located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. ...
.
Private television channels
Bangladesh has a high number of mixed entertainment television channels, namely
ATN Bangla
ATN Bangla ( bn, এটিএন বাংলা), 'ATN' being the acronym of the unused Asian Television Network, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Multimedia Production Company. It is based in the ...
,
Channel i
Channel i ( bn, চ্যানেল আই) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Impress Group. It was launched on 1 October 1999, as Bangladesh's first digital television channel. It is one of the ...
,
Ekushey Television
Ekushey Television ( bn, একুশে টেলিভিশন; , in reference to 21 February), also known by its acronym ETV, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned satellite and cable television channel owned by S. Alam Group of ...
,
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Television) ...
,
RTV,
Boishakhi Television
Boishakhi Television, ( bn, বৈশাখী টেলিভিশন; , referring to the first month of the Bengali calendar) also known as Boishakhi TV, stylized as boishakhi tv, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned satellite and ...
,
Banglavision
Banglavision ( bn, বাংলাভিশন) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Shamol Bangla Media Limited, commencing official broadcasts on 31 March 2006. Its name is a portmanteau of " ban ...
,
My TV,
Mohona Television
Mohona Television ( bn, মোহনা টেলিভিশন; ), also known as Mohona TV, stylized as mohona tv, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned satellite and cable television channel. It is headquartered in Pallabi, Mirpur ...
,
Deepto TV
Deepto TV ( bn, দীপ্ত টিভি; ) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel, owned and operated by Kazi Media Limited, a subsidiary of Kazi Farms Group. It officially began broadcasts on 18 November 2 ...
,
Nagorik, and many more. It also has several news channels, which are
ATN News,
Ekattor,
Somoy TV
Somoy Television () is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable 24-hour Bengali television channel, headquartered at 89, Bir Uttam CR Dutta Road, Banglamotor, Dhaka. It has a broadcast NOC license from the government of the People's Rep ...
,
DBC News,
Independent Television,
Jamuna Television
Jamuna Television ( bn, যমুনা টেলিভিশন; ), commonly known as Jamuna TV, stylized as jamuna, tv, is a privately owned Bangladeshi satellite and cable news and current affairs television channel. It is owned by the Jamuna ...
,
News24, and
Channel 24. Bangladesh has one television channel dedicated to other specific genres, such as
Gaan Bangla
Gaan Bangla ( bn, গান বাংলা; ), also known by the GB acronym, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language music television channel owned by One More Zero Group. It was launched on 13 January 2013, and, at launch, was Bangladesh's second mu ...
for music programming,
Duronto TV
Duronto TV ( bn, দুরন্ত টিভি; ) is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable children's television channel, and the first of its kind in the country. It was initially licensed in 2013 as "Renaissance TV", but was late ...
for children's programming,
T Sports
T Sports, also referred to as Titas Sports, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language sports oriented television channel owned by East West Media Group, a subsidiary of Bashundhara Group. It is Bangladesh's first television channel dedicated to sports ...
for sports programming,
Nexus Television for non-fiction programming, and
Ekhon for business programming.
Several unlicensed television stations, namely Bengali Movie SK TV, Channel 5, Channel 7, DM TV, Movie Bangla TV, Bangla Music TV, SB TV, Ctg TV, Ananda Bangla TV, CTN TV, and Rang TV, have existed in Bangladesh.
Foreign television in Bangladesh
The first presence of foreign television in Bangladesh occurred in 1992, when Bangladesh Television began relaying
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
and
BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...
broadcasts. Later, satellite television was introduced in the country, with citizens gaining access to foreign television channels for the first time. Prior to that, wealthy families in Bangladesh illegally had access to foreign television via satellite or cable television smuggled from the country's border with India. Foreign television channels, typically the ones from India, such as
Star Plus
StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedies, ...
,
Star Jalsha
Star Jalsha is an Indian Bengali language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It broadcasts Bengali-language programming, such as Soap opera ...
, and
Zee Bangla
Zee Bangla is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel broadcasting in the Bengali language. It is owned by the Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It is the first Bengali-language satellite television channel in India, officially com ...
, broadcast in clean feed after being obliged to do so since October 2021. The broadcast of Bangladeshi advertisements in foreign television channels is prohibited according to the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act of 2006. As of December 2020, the Government of Bangladesh has approved 90 foreign channels to broadcast in the country.
However, there were numerous cases of Bangladesh banning foreign television channels. Several of them were accused of negative affects towards Bangladesh's social and religious values, so they were banned by the government in 2002, but their bans have been lifted over time. Later, on 29 July 2006, all satellite and cable television channels went off air in Bangladesh, but all besides thirteen Indian ones resumed broadcasting over time. In 2007, ten satellite television channels, including
FashionTV
FashionTV is an international fashion and lifestyle broadcasting television channel. Founded in France in 1997, by its Polish-born president Michel Adam Lisowski, FashionTV is a widely distributed satellite channels in the world with 31 satellit ...
, were banned in Bangladesh after being accused of airing obscene content. In February 2013, fearing the rise of the
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
language among children in Bangladesh, the government banned the Indian feeds of
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
and
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years ...
, along with Turner-owned
Pogo, from broadcasting in the country. They were also accused of doing so without authorization. After the
July 2016 Dhaka attack
On the night of 1 July 2016, at 21:20 local time, five militants took hostages and opened fire on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan Thana. The assailants entered the bakery with crude bombs, machetes, pistols, and took several dozen hostages ...
, UAE-based
Peace TV
Peace TV is a non-profit Emirati satellite television, satellite television network that broadcasts free-to-air programming. It is one of the world's largest religious satellite television networks. On 21 January 2006, Zakir Naik created the net ...
and
Peace TV Bangla
Peace TV Bangla is the Bengali-language channel of the UAE-based Peace TV. The founder and president of Peace TV Bangla is Zakir Naik, an Islamic preacher from Mumbai, India. It was launched on April 22, 2011, and is broadcasting worldwide.
Af ...
were banned by the Government of Bangladesh.
In 2017, Bangladesh's high court rejected a 2014 proposal to ban three Indian channels, which are the aforementioned Star Jalsha, Star Plus, and Zee Bangla. Due to them broadcasting local Bangladeshi commercials, worth 10 billion BDT, the government imposed a blackout on all channels owned by India-based
Zee Entertainment Enterprises
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (formerly Zee Telefilms) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Essel Group. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has interests in television, print, internet, film, businesses related to mobile contents, and operates 45 ...
in Bangladesh on 2 April 2019, although they would later resume broadcasts there a day later. After failing to resolve their dispute with Jadoo Vision Ltd. and for using various excuses to avoid paying their dues, cable operators have temporarily shut
Star India
Disney Star Private Limited is an Indian media conglomerate and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Disney Star network runs more than 70 TV channels in eight languages, reac ...
channels in November 2020.
On 2 October 2021, cable operators in Bangladesh imposed a blackout on several foreign television channels that did not provide
clean feeds, constituted in a 2006 policy. Cable operators have already been informed about foreign channels without clean feeds in August. However, on 5 October 2021, the foreign channels resumed broadcasting in Bangladesh via clean feeds. Later, eleven of them were temporarily blacked out again for sneakingly airing commercials during breaks. In March 2022, due to the ongoing
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, cable operators in Bangladesh blacked out Russian state-owned
RT without notice.
Television providers
Internet television
The BTRC only allows licensed internet service providers to broadcast television channels over the internet. In October 2016, the BTRC blocked internet protocol television and video on demand services in Bangladesh, which were gaining popularity among urban people, although the ban was lifted two years later in 2018. In 2019, BDCOM Online Ltd launched the first IPTV service in Bangladesh. The
RAB
Rab âːb( dlm, Arba, la, Arba, it, Arbe, german: Arbey) is an island in the northern Dalmatia region in Croatia, located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.
The island is long, has an area of and 9,328 inhabitants (2 ...
raided the headquarters of the IPTV channel Joyjatra Television on 30 July 2021 after the arrest of Helena Jahangir, the channel's owner, and found no valid documents, and demanded for the channel's shutdown. Prior to their shutdown in September 2021, around 59 IPTV channels have been broadcasting illegally in Bangladesh without valid licenses.
Later, in November 2021, fourteen IPTV channels gained approval from the government to broadcast.
List of IPTV channels
References
{{Bangladesh topics
Television in Bangladesh