Television in Afghanistan

The conceptual foundation of television in Afghanistan was first elucidated by Dr. Hafiz Sahar, chief editor of Eslah national daily newspaper, in his 1967 investigative academic work at New York University.

[3][4] He made compelling argument and advocated, based on other developing countries experiences, the need for television as an educational tool as well as practical solutions to initial technical problems of bringing television in Afghanistan, such as “Kabul itself is dominated by two high hills that make excellent natural broadcasting towers, thus, simplifying coverage problems”.

During the Taliban government between 1996 and 2001, television was strictly banned—especially after 8 July 1998—and stores selling TVs, satellite dishes, VCRs, or other similar technology entertainment devices were closed.

Nonetheless, the station still had some levels of censorship, banning films containing women in swimsuits, singing or dancing (under the pressure of fundamentalists from the Northern Alliance); however gory and violent scenes were kept intact.

The transmission site at the summit of Asamayi was seriously damaged after the U.S. invasion, so the relaunched TV in Kabul was only transmitting from a 200 watt set.

[16] Since the Taliban ascend to power in August 2021, some media restrictions have been applied that have affected TV in Afghanistan.

[24] In Afghanistan, many people watch TV through traditional analog terrestrial signals using (mostly indoor) antennas.

In January 2013 Afghanistan's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology held a meeting with TV broadcasters on plans to switch from analog to digital transmission systems.

[25] On August 31, 2014, Afghanistan's digital terrestrial TV system called Oqaab was officially inaugurated by the second vice president of Afghanistan, H. E. Mohammad Karim Khalili, and Minister of Communications and Information Technology, H. E. Amirzai Sangin, in a ceremony at Kabul's Serena Hotel.