Afghan TV is a commercial
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
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 ...
, based in its 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 ...
. 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.
Programs
Afghan TV has many
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
programs, including
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
,
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and
educational
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...
. It also has
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 ...
n,
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
,
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
n and
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
. It also broadcasts
news
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...
, although this is also broadcast 24 hours a day on its
sister channel
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
,
Afghan News.
2006 fining
In early 2006, the station was fined 50,000 AFN (
Afghani) (approximately
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1,000) by the
Afghan Supreme Court
prs, دادگاه عالی
, image = Logo of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.jpg
, imagesize = 150
, alt =
, caption = Logo of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan
, image2 ...
, after it had broadcast what the court called inappropriate images, including adult content.
The case was televised by Afghan TV and was covered extensively by other media outlets, however, the powerful clergy in the country succeeded in not only instating the fine on Afghan TV, but also severely restricting the ability of other television networks to broadcast entertainment.
Hotbird launch
On 15 June 2011, Afghan TV was launched in on the
Hotbird 13°E satellite, meaning that the whole of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
now can receive Afghan TV. Viewers in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
can now receive Afghan TV on two satellites: Hotbird 13°E and
Turksat 3A Turksat may refer to:
* Türksat (company)
Türksat Satellite Communications Cable TV and Operations Incorporated ( tr, Türksat Uydu Haberleşme Kablo TV ve İşletme A.Ş.) is the sole communications satellite operator in Turkey. It was esta ...
42°E.
On 27 June 2011, the name 'Afghan TV' (on Hotbird) was suddenly renamed to
boxelet.com. It is unknown why this happened, even though the channel itself is Afghan TV and not Afghan News. Websites like KingOfSat state the channel as ''Afghan News TV'' and moved ''Afghan TV'' in the so-called channel cemetery.
On 1 July 2011, the channel started broadcasting in higher quality video on Hotbird, just like in Afghanistan.
Closure
On 23 December 2011, Afghan TV suddenly left Hotbird and ceased broadcasting on the satellite. They didn't put a notice on their website too. Viewers in west, north and central Europe are now unable to receive the channel. If you're in south or east Europe, you can still watch it via
Express AM22. Also, central Europe viewers can get Express AM22 by a large and powerful satellite.
See also
*
Television in Afghanistan
External links
Website (archived 2021)
Television in Afghanistan
Mass media in Kabul
2004 establishments in Afghanistan
{{Asia-tv-stub