television in Iraq

Iraq was home to the first television station in the Middle East, which began during the 1950s. As part of a plan to help Iraq modernize, English telecommunications company Pye Limited built and commissioned a television broadcast station in the capital city of Baghdad. Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the Iraqi state media collapsed. In June 2004, a Communications and Media Commission was set up to approve and grant license for all the country's media. By 2011, Iraq was the headquarters of 49 free-to-air satellite channels, one of the highest numbers in the region. Until 2003, satellite dishes were banned in Iraq, and there was a limited number of national terrestrial stations. After 2003, the sale of satellite dishes surged, and free-to-air channels entered the market. There are 17 terrestrial channels, of which one is funded by the US government through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (Alhurra-Iraq), and seven are owned by the state broadcaster Iraqi Media Network. In March 2011, Al Jazeera was granted rights to resume operations after being banned in 2004. Plans were established to set up a free-media zone based in Baghdad, the Baghdad Media City, by the end of 2014. History 1956-2003 Television first arrived in Iraq on 2 May 1956, at first only in the Baghdad area with a station named Baghdad Television (BTV) on channel 8, switching to channel 9 in November 1959 after an increasing of its power. On 18 November 1967 the second TV station opened in Kirkuk, on 2 March 1968 a new transmitter had been opened in Mosul and on 6 November 1968 in Basrah. On 30 July 1972 Baghdad Television opened its second TV station on channel 7, and in 1974 two new stations opened in Amarah (capital city of the Maysan Governorate) and Samawah (capital city of the Muthanna Governorate), the latter one opening in March. In July 1976 colour television was introduced using the French SECAM system. By 1976 the entire country could receive broadcasts from the central station in Baghdad after the installation of a microwave relay system. Baghdad Television was the primary TV station in Iraq while Saddam Hussein was in power. Until the 2003 invasion of Iraq, much of its programming was patriotic music videos, government news and propaganda. It ceased broadcasting during the 2003 invasion when the transmitter network became inoperable due to bombing raids.