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Television in Syria

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Television in Syria was introduced in 1960, with the establishment of Channel 1 when Syria and Egypt (which adopted television that same year) were part of the United Arab Republic. Syrian channels are mostly owned and controlled by the Syrian General Organization of Radio and TV (ORTAS) which is connected to the Ministry of Information. It has 4,800 staff; both government employees and freelancers.

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History

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Prior to 1976, all television broadcasts were aired in black and white. In 1985 a second channel was established and in 1995 Syrian television rented a channel on Arabsat and it started broadcasting eight hours daily via satellite in 1996.

Since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the state has been engaging in a "media war" to combat the criticisms broadcast from other popular media outlets viewed in the Arab World and internationally, such as Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera. In Ba'athist Syria television coverage championed the government against Syrian opposition islamist rebel forces such as Al-Nusra Front, Free Syrian Army and the Islamic Front. According to BBC Arabic, it also tended to omit or downplay reports of civilian casualties in its coverage of confrontations with what the Assadist government labeled as terrorist groups.[1] The Arab League officially asked the satellite operators Arabsat and Nilesat to stop broadcasting Syrian media in June 2012.[2][3] On April 27, 2013, Al Jazeera Media Network announced that it was suspending indefinitely its activities throughout Syria because of alleged intimidation and threats against its staff.[4]

The collapse of Ba'athist and Assad family rule in late 2024 brought challenges to the media landscape in Syria as it is unclear whether the new Islamist-led Syrian government would relax censorship and allow more press freedom.[5]

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List of channels

Satellite channels

Formerly

Terrestrial channels

  • Drama 24
  • Sakaker Kids TV
  • Sports TV
  • Syria TV
  • Syrian Local Channel (since 2022)
  • Syrian News Channel, also known as Alikhbaria Syria or Al-Ikhbariyah Syria (since 2010)

Formerly

Regional channels

  • Kurdish-language channels:
  • Nosor TV (defunct)
  • Syria Baladna (defunct)
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See also

References

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