İctimai Television (İTV; , ) is a

public television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

channel in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. After its legal creation in 2004, the station began broadcasting on 29 August 2005, making it the first independent public broadcaster in

. The channel is based in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Organisation

İTV is primarily funded through advertising and government payments. The law of January 2004 creating the channel called for funding to come from a television licence fee beginning in January 2010, but this portion of the law has currently yet to be implemented as of . The channel is operated by the Public Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (), which consists of a nine member council whose members are approved by the

President of Azerbaijan The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. The Constitution of Azerbaijan, Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of Executive (government), executive power, co ...

and a director general elected by the council and also approved by the President. The company also operates the İctimai Radio public radio station, which commenced broadcasting on 10 January 2006. This arrangement, together with continued state financing, has been subject to criticism by

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s because the channel may be too closely connected to the government to be fully independent and unbiased.

Programming

İTV became a member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

on 5 July 2007, allowing it to take part in events such as the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, which it entered for the first time in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. Following Azerbaijan's win in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, İTV hosted the competition of

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

in Baku. The broadcaster was also supposed to host the Third Eurovision Dance Contest in Baku in 2009, but this event was postponed and eventually cancelled due to the lack of participants. The channel was created with a vision to reflect the national and spiritual values, national customs and traditions, culture and art. It operates in accordance with the laws of Azerbaijan.

Logo history

İTV Logo.svg, 2007–2013 İctimai TV logo (2013-2018).jpg, 2013–2018 İctimai TV (2019-h.h.).png, 2019–2020 File:Ictimai-radio-logo.png, İctimai Radio (2019–2021) File:90FM Ictimai logo 1.png, İctimai Radio (2021–present)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ictimai Television Television stations in Azerbaijan Television networks in Azerbaijan Television production companies of Azerbaijan Azerbaijani-language television stations Publicly funded broadcasters European Broadcasting Union members Television channels and stations established in 2005 2005 establishments in Azerbaijan State media