Television in Turkmenistan

In 1996, the Economist Intelligence Unit noted Turkmenistan to receive three channels — Channel One Russia, Sakhra, and Rossiyskyi.[9] All were produced in Russia.[9] Altyn Asyr, Yashlyk, and Miras were the first three channels to operate out of Turkmenistan. Writing in 2005, Paul Brummell finds the troika to serve similar content encompassing documentaries about Turkmenistan, music-and-dance concerts, and dubbed foreign films (esp. Bollywood).[10] The top-right corner of each channel featured a silhouette of Saparmurat Niyazov's head.[10]

The setting up of a fourth channel was authorized by Niyazov in February 2004; it started broadcasting from 12 September of the same year.[11][12] Originally named TV-4, it broadcasts in six languages and is aimed at an international audience.[10] In December 2008, Niyazov's successor Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow signed a decree establishing "Turkmen Owazy" to "promote the art of music and culture of Turkmenistan". The channel started broadcasts in January 2009.[13][14][15][16]

In December 2011, Turkmenistan's first proprietary sports channel, "Sport", was established as part of a campaign to promote the importance of sports to the Turkmen people,[17] which also included Berdimuhamedow's rap song "Sportly Turkmenistan" that went viral worldwide. The channel was first aired on January 1, 2012.[18][19][20][21]

From late 2011, Turkmenistan started moving towards digital TV broadcasting.[22] In 2015, citizens were instructed to not use satellite dishes, apparently in order to preserve the aesthetics of the cityscape; critics deemed the policy as a tool of censoring non-state sources.[23]