Television in Turkmenistan

In Turkmenistan, television has been operating for over 50 years and is subject to vigorous state censorship. Notorious for a totalitarian control on media, Turkmenistan has consistently occupied one among the last three spots of the annual Press Freedom Index since its inception in 2006.^[1][2]

There are 8 television channels — Altyn Asyr, Yashlyk (Yaşlyk), Miras, The Turkmenistan TV Channel, Türkmen Owazy, Ashgabat TV, Arkadag TV and Turkmenistan Sport.^[3][4][5] All of them used to be under the aegis of Ministry of Culture and Broadcasting of Turkmenistan, before being subsumed under the jurisdiction of the State Committee of Turkmenistan on TV, Radio and Film on 17 October 2011.^[6][3] The channels broadcast from Yamal 201, before shifting to their indigenous satellite TürkmenÄlem 52oE.^[7][8]

The first television broadcast in Turkmenistan was held on 7 November 1959 when the Ashgabat television center conducted its first test broadcasts, mostly movies. The center would only start airing a regular service upon completion of its facilities.^[9]

The Turkmen government took over the extant television network from the former Turkmen SSR. The state company was renamed TMT (after the initials in Turkmen for Turkmenistan National Television). Russophone viewers frequently nicknamed the company as "your dead TV" (твой мертвый телевизор).^[10]

In 1996, the Economist Intelligence Unit noted Turkmenistan to receive three channels — Channel One Russia, Sakhra, and Rossiyskyi.^[11] All were produced in Russia.^[11] Altyn Asyr, Yashlyk, and Miras were the first three channels to operate out of Turkmenistan. The three channels were renamed in 2001.^[10] 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).^[12] The top-right corner of each channel featured a silhouette of Saparmurat Niyazov's head.^[12]

The setting-up of a fourth channel was authorized by Niyazov in February 2004; it started broadcasting from 12 September of the same year.^[13][14] Originally named TV-4, it broadcasts in six languages and is aimed at an international audience.^[12] On 12 August 2004, Niyazov banned makeup on television, under the grounds that presenters' natural skin colors matched "the color of wheat". Proportionally, at the time, there were more female presenters using whitening powder.^[15]

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.^{[16][17][18][19]}

In December 2011, Turkmenistan's first proprietary sports channel, "Sport", was established as part of a state-run campaign to promote the importance of sports to the Turkmen people,^[20] which also included Berdimuhamedow's rap song "Sportly Turkmenistan" that went viral worldwide. The channel was first aired on January 1, 2012.^{[21][22][23][24]}

From late 2011, Turkmenistan started moving towards digital TV broadcasting.^[25] 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.^[26]

The Ashgabat City Telephone Network removed Russia 1 and Zvezda in May 2022.^[27]

On 31 March 2023, the eighth channel, Arkadag, was announced, aiming at the newly-built city of the same name.^[28]

A cooperation agreement with the Russian Большая Азия (Big Asia) TV channel was signed in late March 2024. Turkmen state television supplied the channel with primarily cultural programming.^[29]

A limited number of foreign news channels (among them Euronews, France 24 and BBC News) are available on cable. A 2024 AFP report to Turkmenistan reveals that cable television operators are widely used as means of escape from the "boring" nature of state TV. Audience is minimal due to low proficiency of the English language. The Turkmen state controls information and receives income from subscriptions.^[30] Starting in 2014, the state started IPTV alternatives. Subscriptions in 2018 cost 10 manats (US$2.80 at official rate, comparable to US $0.50 at the black market rate). Russian and Turkish networks are also available.^[10]