AzTV
AzTV logo since 2019
Country Azerbaijan
Broadcast areaAzerbaijan
United States
UK
Programming
Language(s)Azerbaijani

other languages of Azerbaijan
Picture format16:9 1080i HDTV
Ownership
OwnerAzerbaijan Television and Radio Broadcasting Closed Joint-stock Company (Government of Azerbaijan)
Sister channelsİdman Azərbaycan TV, Mədəniyyət TV
AzTV 2 (1992–2005)
History
Launched14 February 1956; 68 years ago (1956-02-14)
Former namesBaku Television Studio (1956–1968)
AzTV 1 (1996–2005)
Links
Websitehttp://aztv.az/en
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial televisionVaries within location
Streaming media
AzTV.azWatch live

AzTV or Azerbaijan Television (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Televiziyası) is a state-controlled national television channel in Azerbaijan. It is the oldest television channel in the country, having first broadcast from Baku on 14 February 1956 in what was then the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union.[1]

Organisation

The channel has been owned since 2005 by the Azerbaijan Television and Radio Broadcasting Closed Joint-stock Company (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Televiziya və Radio Verilişləri Qapalı Səhmdar Cəmiyyəti),[2] of which the national government is the only shareholder.[3] This company also owns the channels İdman Azərbaycan TV (Sport Azerbaijan TV) and Mədəniyyət TV (Culture TV).

In 2007, an application by AzTV to join the European Broadcasting Union was rejected after the channel was found to be too closely associated with the ruling government.[4]

Programming

The channel starts its daily broadcast by airing National anthem of Azerbaijan. Programming on AzTV primarily consists of news, talk shows, documentaries, music shows, and feature films.

Technology

Their 1st shows (including music videos) that were recorded in 1956 are stored on film. In 1965, the studio switched to using videotape recording since it became affordable and the quality of their produced shows (including music videos) increased. AzTV maintains a huge archive of all their saved TV programming that was recorded from 1956–present. All of their shows are preserved on different film and videotape formats.

Broadcast area

As of March 2014, 99.96% of the population of Azerbaijan is able to receive AzTV via terrestrial, cable, or satellite broadcasting, giving it the largest coverage area of any Azerbaijani television channel.[5]

In addition to broadcasting domestically, AzTV broadcasts internationally on the internet and via free-to-air satellite to Europe, North America, and portions of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.[6]

References

  1. ^ "History of communication in Azerbaijan". Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Television Channels in Azerbaijan". Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan Republic. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  3. ^ Huseynov, Emil (2012). "Freedom of Expression in Azerbaijan: The Internet as the last island of freedom". Pluralism and Internet Governance (PDF). Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). p. 90. ISBN 978-92-9234-642-3. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  4. ^ "Eurovision Azerbaijan - Azerbaijan at the contest". Eurovisionaz.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Teleradio PU - Statistics". The Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  6. ^ "AzTV - LyngSat". LyngSat. Lyngemark Satellite. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AzTV.


Television in Azerbaijan
National media in the former Eastern Bloc
Categories