Television in Iraq - 2003-present

2003-present

Many TV stations have appeared since the fall of Saddam including:

• Al Iraqiya, the government-financed television station
• Al Sharqiya, Iraq's first privately owned satellite TV station
• Al Sumaria, an independent Iraqi satellite TV network
• Nawa TV, an Iraqi TV station broadcasting in Arabic and Kurdish
• Al-Baghdadia TV, Arab nationalist channel which opposed the occupation, the insurgency and dictatorship. The owner's family were heavily abused during Saddam Hussain's reign
• Al Forat, the SIIC TV station
• Ashur TV
• Biladi
• Baghdad TV
• Al-Ifaq TV, channel of Nuri al-Maliki
• Al-Rasheed TV
• Ahlulbayt TV
• Al Masar
• Al Fayha
• Ishtar TV, an Assyrian & Chaldean TV station
• CNNNN Iraq

Under the direction of Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III as the Administrator, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) began issuing radio and television licenses in June 2003 to meet the great demand for broadcasting licenses. The licenses were issued by the CPA Senior Adviser for Telecommunications. To plan for the expected great demand, this CPA office worked with Iraqi radio-frequency spectrum engineers and managers to develop a national FM-radio and TV channel allotment plan for all of the major Iraqi cities and towns. The national plan was developed using technical criteria and the Region 1 (Europe, Africa and the Middle East)allotment plan that was developed years before by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations treaty organization. The Iraqi allotment plan consisted of hundreds of FM radio and TV stations allotted to the cities and towns. The channels in the allotment plan were then open to anyone to apply for a license for a particular channel.

The CPA developed a few basic rules and regulations in June and July 2003 to provide a limited regulatory control of the broadcasters. For example, broadcasts inciting riots were prohibited. The overall CPA objective was to issue many licenses to provide for a plethora of diverse voices, information, music, and news to satisfy the desires and tastes of the Iraqi citizens. The CPA also recognized that broadcasting was a combination of business, advertising, journalism, engineering, and entertainment, and a robust and thriving broadcasting industry could provide a large number of excellent and highly desirable professional jobs that would reduce national unemployment. The CPA also recognized that commercial broadcasting could provide wealth-building opportunities to successful broadcasters.

The Iraqi Media Network (IMN0, a sort of a public broadcastign network similar to the Public Broadcasting System in the United States, was issued radio and TV licenses by the CPA.

The CPA continued its work as the national broadcasting licensing and regulatory authority until June 2004 when the Iraq Communications and Media Commission (CMC)was established as the national regulatory agency that would issue licenses and regulate broadcasting and telecommunications.

The overall result is that there are hundreds of radio and television stations operating in Iraq providing a great diversity of choices to the Iraqi people.