Television in Bangladesh

rdf:langString Television in Bangladesh

rdf:langString Television is one of the most popular forms of media and information in Bangladesh. It was one of the first countries in South Asia to introduce television on 25 December 1964, in the then East Pakistan under the state-owned television network Pakistan Television Corporation in its capital, Dhaka. After the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, the Dhaka television station of PTV was renamed to Bangladesh Television, which had a monopoly on the country's television industry until 1997, with the launch of ATN Bangla on satellite television. Since then, the number of privately owned television channels saw a tremendous rise in the Bangladeshi television market. As of 2019, 64% of households in Bangladesh had a television set, with cable television dominating the pay television market there. This is a tremendous increase compared to the data from 1975, when less than 0.2% of Bangladeshi households had a television set. Bangladesh Television currently serves as the sole television broadcaster provided on terrestrial television, as Ekushey Television, formerly provided on terrestrial from its launch in 2000, was shut down two years later, although it did resume broadcasting later but on satellite television. All television sets in Bangladesh shall be licensed for ownership. Bangladesh has a total of thirty-seven television channels currently on the air, thirty-two of which are privately owned. Several television channels were even taken off the air. Pirated television stations have also existed in Bangladesh.