Radio and Television of Gandhara
 | |
| Type | Public service broadcaster |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | National International |
| Owner | Government of Gandhara |
Key people | Ramzi al-Qassem (Director-General) |
Launch date | 14 May 1959 |
Radio and Television of Gandhara (Arabic: الإذاعة و التلفزيون من غانذارا, abbreviated RTG), is Gandhara's radio and television public broadcasting company, owned by the Gandhari government. It is a member of the Outernatian Broadcasting Union.
The network is based in Rhea. Since its foundation, it has a statutory obligation to make news, entertainment and sports programmes, as well as documentaries for the public television channels and the public radio services.
History
Television was introduced in Gandhara in 1950, when TVG (Television Gandhara) was established in Rhea as a privately owned and commercially-operated monopoly. Farid Habib, one of Gandhara's major industrialists, was the founder of the first television station.
TVG was merged with Radio Rhea in 1955, forming National Gandhari Radio and Television (NGRT). Following the Gandhari Revolution, NGRT was nationalised and renamed Radio and Television of Gandhara. RTG was launched on 14 May 1959, and broadcasted a couple of hours per day in Arabic.
RTG operated the television channel Shabaka (literally meaning "Channel" in Arabic). The channel was renamed Shabaka Wahed (Channel One) in 1966, when the second television channel, Shabaka Ethnayn (Channel Two), was introduced. Full colour programming began in 1974, although the 1972 Summer Olympics had been broadcast in colour.
In 1979, RTG launched Baloch TV, the first local television channel, followed in 1981 by Zhyan TV for Kurdish speaking inhabitants of northern Gandhara. Today, RTG operates 30 local channels, one for each governorate of Gandhara.