Afghanistan: Illiterate, insecure but lots of TV

Afghanistan’s people may lack security, literacy and a decent standard of living but they have no shortage of television stations.

The airwaves are set to become even more crowded next month when 1 TV, with a mission “to uplift the nation,” becomes the latest of about 20 stations based in the capital Kabul.

An Afghanistani in a TV shop. Courtesy: Internet

The television industry has boomed in Afghanistan, a country of more than 26 million people, since the overthrow by US-led forces eight years ago of the Taliban regime, which banned TV as un-Islamic.

Even though a Western-backed government runs the country and a wide range of private media voices exist, television stations have faced pressure from Islamic clerics, backed by conservative elements in the government, who object to entertainment programmes they deem too liberal.

Television news presenters have been detained.

“The authorities don’t really know the role of the media here in Afghanistan,” says Ramin Mustafa, 26, 1 TV’s sales manager.

“We believe in freedom of speech,” adds the station’s production director, Siobhan Berry, 34, a Briton who worked in television elsewhere in Asia before joining 1 TV seven months ago to prepare for its launch on December 1.

“This station is professional, extremely professional,” Berry said. “We wanted to make a difference, wanted to give something to the Afghan people, which is superior quality programming.”

Mustafa, who sports a ponytail and gave up medical school to pursue an interest in the media, said 1 TV aims to live up to its name and within six months become the leading television station in Afghanistan. That is a lofty goal, said Saad Mohseni, a director of Moby Group which operates the country’s number one station, Tolo television.

The station broke ground in the post-Taliban era by appealing to the country’s youthful population with pop music, Indian soap operas and its wildy-popular “Afghan Star” show.

In a country where many women are still hidden behind burqas, Tolo gave women public exposure.

A recent national survey showed the station has a 56 percent market share — “enormous given the level of competition we face,” Mohseni said.

He also attributes Tolo’s success to its news and current affairs department.

“I think we have a lot of credibility. We’re not beholden to any political party,” said Mohseni, whose family five years ago set up Tolo with American funding after their return from Australia.

The Aiina channel, in contrast, is owned by Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former warlord who fought for various sides over the past three decades and whose militiamen were notorious for cruelty.

Dostum’s station promotes his battle exploits and shows pictures of him on horseback chasing the Taliban.

Another narrowly-focused channel, Tamadon, is owned by a leading Shiite cleric who gives himself a lot of airtime to preach, lobby for Islamic laws and criticize the West.

The new 1 TV promises more varied fare, from cartoons to locally produced dramas and game shows. There will also be dubbed serials from India, Turkey and the West, along with “unbiased” news, Berry said.

The channel is owned by Fahim Hashimy, an entrepreneur in his mid-twenties who has invested millions of dollars in the venture, Berry and Mustafa said.

AFP