Expansion of TV Media in Bangladesh
History of Television in Bangladesh is not that much ancient. But After Liberation war, especially late ninety of twentieth century it expanded around the country with a very good prospect. Earlier there was only TV media BTV, which is state owned terrestrial channel, but now there are a number of satellite channels set up in the country. It put a great faith to the citizen of the country specially the educated people. It becomes well entertain as well as information source to people. Because of technical advancement satellite I mean cable TV expanded around the country not only in urban area but also in rural area. At present almost 65% area of Bangladesh is connected by satellite. That’s why entrance of cable TV becomes easier. Earlier people have only option i.e. BTV so they were bound to watch it, to get true fact they had no other option to become infotainment. But technical development brings a change in the whole society. Beside, local channels there are a number of foreign channels also very much popular among the people. Some cases, those foreign channels try to dominate the society as well as culture, especially Indian satellite channels. All are significant initiative to expand TV media in Bangladesh. Before enter in the main topic it’s necessary to clear the term TV.
TV Media:
Television is now capable of bringing the world into everybody's drawing room within a fraction of a second. TV technology was invented towards the end of 1920s and Arthur C Clerk played a significant role in promoting its further development. He said in 1945 that by placing three satellites over three oceans it would be possible to bring any part of the world on to the TV screen.
Television is a common telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving picture and sound over a distance. The term "television" may also be used to refer specifically to a television set, programming or television transmission.
Starting from the late 1940s, the television set has become a common household reception device found world-wide and It is now ubiquitous in most residential homes, particularly in the first world, as a source of entertainment and news. Since the 1970s, video recordings and later, digital playback systems such as DVDs have extended its uses. (Source: www.en.wikipedia.org).
Practical television systems include equipment for selecting different image sources, mixing images from several sources at once, insertion of pre-recorded video signals, synchronizing signals from many sources, and direct image generation by computer for such purposes as station identification.
Transmission was originally over the air from land-based transmitters. The quality of reception varies greatly, and this led to the proliferation of large antennas on house roofs for best signal in the 1960s. In most cities today, cable systems deliver television over metal or optical cables, but for a fee. It can be delivered by radio from synchronous satellites, which were large for analog and smaller dishes for digital broadcast, which were large for analog and smaller dishes for digital broadcast, also for a fee, often less than cable systems, small dishes outside houses. (Source: www.en.wikipedia.org).
TV Media in Bangladesh:
Regular transmission of TV programs began immediately after the Second World War. TV appeared in this subcontinent two decades later. The first TV transmission in Bangladesh (Earlier East Pakistan) began experimentally on 25 December 1964 with the help of a 300-watt transmitter from the DIT (now RAZUK) building in Dhaka. The daily broadcast for three hours in the evening used to cover a radius of 16 km. Ten years later on 6 March 1975, the TV centre moved to its own spacious house at Rampura. In view of its importance as a vehicle for helping reconstruction of the war-torn country, the autonomous Television Corporation was nationalized in 1972 and made a government department named as Bangladesh Television (BTV). The limited range of its transmission gradually improved with the installation of 12 satellite transmitters around the country and spread of electrification at the viewer level. Now over 95% of the country is covered by transmission. Its Chittagong station has already started originating programs while the other stations relay Dhaka programs. The relay stations are located at Sylhet, Mymensingh, Brahmanbaria, Rangpur, Natore, Thakurgaon, Jhenaidah, Khulna, Satkhira, Patuakhali and Noakhali. The Dhaka station has a 20-kw transmitter while the other stations except Satkhira are equipped with 10 kW transmitters. Satkhira has a 2-kw transmitter.
In 1980, Bangladesh Television started transmission in color and a new milestone was reached in 1999 when a Tk 690 million modernization program was completed. At present, 1,520 officers and staff work in eight departments 204 in program, 32 in news, 132 in camera, 116 in design, 540 in administration, 95 in accounts and 23 in sales. As part of its program for expansion of transmission, BTV is establishing other four satellite stations at Rajshahi, Rajbari, Rangamati and Ukhia.
There is no accurate account of the number of TV receiver sets in use in the country. The licensed sets number about 600,000 but unofficially, the number is estimated to be about two million. This shows that an average of 65 persons of the country's 130 million people have one TV set. Most sets are owned by the urban families leaving a vast majority of the rural people out of coverage.
The government took a number of steps to globalize BTV’s transmissions. A project funded by the Spanish government was undertaken to make BTV's programs available to the overseas viewers. With the help of the ground stations at Betbunia and Talibabad, BTV can report any event happening anywhere in the world. Under arrangements with Asia vision, SAARC and other international organizations, BTV regularly exchanges coverage on news and program. The government lately approved three private sector channels to operate transmission for viewers of both home and abroad. More such channels are expected to come in the near future. BTV transmits private sector package program to bring in variety in its fare.
Expansion of Satellite Channels in Bangladesh:
Satellite TV Channel introduced in Bangladesh in the 1990s. On 29 September 1992, the US news network CNN started relaying its transmission here for a few hours everyday using the BTV channel. The same year, BBC started the same under similar arrangements. Permission to use dish antennas for receiving satellite transmissions directly by general users opened up new opportunities for the Bangladeshi viewers to see programs from the outside world. Between 1992 and 95, more than 10 international TV channels entered Bangladesh homes. Today, this number stands at more than 50.
The satellite television channels are now among the most popular means of entertainment for the people. New channels introduced in 1992 in Bangladesh in addition to CNN and BBC were basically those of the Star Television Network, Zee TV network, Indian TV and Pakistan TV. Some early starters bought dish antennas for very high prices and installed them on their roofs. Very soon, the innovative entrepreneurs, foreseeing a lucrative business, started operating private cable networks, which mushroomed throughout the country. The number of channels subscribed increased substantially in the major cities.
According to a survey conducted in 1998 by Dhaka daily, BBC, Channel-V, CNN, DD-7, DD-Metro, Discovery, Zee India TV, ESPN, Prime Sports, Sony, Star TV Network (Star Movies, Star Plus, and Star Sports), Zee TV and Zee Cinema are among the most watched and most popular channels. CNN, TNT, MTV and Cartoon Network were found to have a high viewing rate. Among the relatively new entrants, Star World, National Geographic, HBO, AXN Action TV, and Alpha TV also made good impression among the Bangladeshi viewers.
The invasion of satellite channels into the living rooms of Bangladeshi viewers undoubtedly put government-owned BTV into a hard test. However, for some special programs like weekly drama or the popular magazine titled ‘Ityadi’ people still tune BTV.
Private owned Terrestrial channel:
Ekushey Television (ETV) was the first private terrestrial channel in Bangladesh. It started its official transmission on April 14, 2004. During its short transmission period, it gained immense popularity among the viewers through its distinctive news, documentaries, talk shows, dramas, etc.
It was closed down in 2002 on August 29, by the government citing that its license was illegal. Since then, the authorities of ETV have fought cases in the High Court and are trying very hard to restart its transmission.
On the 1st of December, 2006 ETV restarted its test transmission after being absent for four years and three months. It officially restarts broadcasting from April 14, 2007.
Expansion Private owned Bangla Satellite Channels:
ATN Bangla is the first digital satellite channel of the country, which started broadcast in South Asia on15 July 1997. Broadcasts to Europe began in 2001.
The channel is now also transmitted in the Middle-east, Europe, and North America. The channel offers a wide variety of programming including news, movies, dramas, talk shows, and more.
Channel I is a privately owned Television network in Bangladesh.. It currently broadcasts satellite transmissions using Pan Am Sat, which covers most of Asia and parts of Australia and Europe. It’s owned by Impress Tele film and started its operation from October 1, 1999.
Channel One is another Bengali language satellite television channel from Bangladesh. It started broadcasting from Dhaka on 24 January 2006.
NTV is another Bengali satellite television channel of the country. It started operation in 2003. It is one of the most popular Bengali TV channels in the country.
RTV is a satellite television channel broadcast from Bangladesh. It started operation on 26 December 2005. It mainly broadcasts programs in Bengali language.
Some Relevant Information:
Number of Television Stations:
15
Number of Television Sets:
770,000
Television Sets per 1,000:
5.9
Number of Radio Stations:
26
Number of Radio Receivers:
6,150,000
Radio Receivers per 1,000:
46.9
Number of Individuals with Computers:
200,000
Computers per 1,000:
1.5
Number of Individuals with Internet Access:
100,000
Internet Access per 1,000:
0.8
Pathetic story of TV Media in Bangladesh:
26 February 2007: NTV, along with its sister station RTV, was forced off the air temporarily due to a massive fire at the station building. Three people died and over 100 were injured in the blaze. The fire caused NTV to broadcast reruns of programming.
Barriers of Satellite Channels to expand foreign Countries:
Expatriate Bangladeshis in many countries cannot get access to all satellite channels of Bangladesh because of government policies; cable operators ‘interests, and technical hurdles. Viewers need several dish antennas to downlink programs of all channels.
This is costly, as the channels don’t use the same satellite. If all Bangladeshi TV channels use a single satellite to uplink programs, people across the world can watch Bangladeshi channels.
References:
Electronic Media History of Bangladesh
Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB)
Press and Information Department (PID)
Internet
All TV Channels
Media Guide
By,
Ahmed Raqib
Staff Reporter
Channel One
