Afghanistan National Television

Afghanistan National Television (Dari: تلویزیون ملی Telvizoon-e Milli Afganistan, Pashto: ملی تلویزیون Da Afganistan Milli Telvizoon) is the state-owned television channel in Afghanistan. It is part of the Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) public broadcaster.

RTA
ملی
CountryAfghanistan
Broadcast areaAfghanistan
Europe
North America
Asia
HeadquartersKabul
Programming
Picture format720p HDTV
Ownership
OwnerRadio Television Afghanistan
Sister channelsRTA Sport
History
Launched19 August 1978
Links
Webcastrta.live
Websiterta.af
Availability
Terrestrial
OqaabChannel 3

History

Afghan television was launched on 19 August 1978, Afghan Independence Day, in a ceremony headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki. Since the beginning its broadcasts were in colour.[1]

In 1983 three new stations were commissioned in Kandahar, Jalalabad and Herat, however they started its broadcasts some months later. On 2 January 1985 the broadcasts started in Jalalabad while a new station in Badakhshan Province finished its construction. On 3 February 1985 a new station opened in Ghazni,[2] while the same month the broadcasts started in Kandahar and Herat.[3]

During the Taliban regime, Afghanistan National Television ceased operations when television was banned, and on 8 July 1998 they ordered the destruction of all TV sets.[4][5] After the Taliban were overthrown, television in Afghanistan restarted on 18 November 2001.[6]

In 2019, RTA launched a sister channel to the main station called RTA Sport, which is dedicated to sports content.[7]

Exclusive 2008 speech
RTA's logo until 12 March 2010
RTA's logo until late 2021

RTA became famous worldwide when Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a live speech to the world minutes after dozens of insurgents attempted to assassinate him at an Afghan military parade. The assassination attempt was thwarted by the Afghan National Army.[8] The scene of the attempt was also broadcast live to RTA viewers in Afghanistan and picked up by the international media.[9]

International availability

Afghanistan National Television became available in Europe, Middle East, North Africa Africa Asia Pacific and North America on 5 January 2008. The channel's broadcasting hours were 06:00 to 00:00 (local Afghan time), corresponding to 01:30 to 19:30 UTC; later that year it started broadcasting 24 hours. As of 2018, it is no longer broadcast on the Hot Bird satellite in Europe.[10]

Currently the channel broadcasts on the TürkmenÄlem 52°E / MonacoSAT satellite to viewers in and around Afghanistan and in Europe, and western Asia. It also broadcasts on GSAT-19 for viewers in the Indian subcontinent.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Taraki opens Afghanistan's TV station". The Kabul Times. 20 August 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  2. Foreign Report, 1985
  3. S. M. Y. Elmi (1988). "Afghanistan: A Decade of Sovietisation". Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  4. Moonis Ahmar (2006). Chronology of conflict and cooperation in Afghanistan, 1978-2006. ISBN 9789698550035. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  5. Zaherruddin Abdullah (8 July 1998). "Newest Taliban Edict Bans TV". Associated Press. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  6. "Afghan capital's TV back on air". Screen Digest. 2001. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  7. "RTA Sport Live - Afghanistan TV Channels Online". 7 March 2020.
  8. "The Times & The Sunday Times".
  9. Faiez, M. Karim; Chu, Henry (28 April 2008). "Attempt on Karzai rattles Afghans" – via LA Times.
  10. "Change Log - KingOfSat".
  11. "RTA - LyngSat". www.lyngsat.com. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
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