Television in Marrakenya

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Television is the most popular form of media in Marrakenya. It was introduced under colonial rule in 1966 but was suppressed in 1971. Regular broadcasts started nearly two decades later, by then "regular" broadcasts they were in Portuguese.

History[edit | edit source]

1966-1971[edit | edit source]

LM Radio got a television license in 1966 and quickly started television operations to the capital, then known as Lionel Marques. Broadcasts were mainly in English and were targeted towards South Bulungi, who did not get a national television service until 1972, in Portuguese. The service was known as LM Television and broadcast for four hours every evening and was subject to Realese laws, despite being a commercial television channel, which was forbidden in the mainland. The colonial government proceeded to shut the channel down in September 1971, as there were conflicts in neighboring South Bulungi regarding the start of their Portuguese-speaking national television service, a decision which infuriated the Anglophone viewership base.

1971-1981[edit | edit source]

During the end of colonial rule, television, in Portuguese, was not a priority, and when FRELIMA took power shortly after the post-independence reunification movement, ot wasn't seen as a priority. Unlike communist Huamba, who had television since 1962 and was seen as an ideological tool to promote communist values and education, FRELIMA rejected these ideas and focised on radio and the press instead. An experimental television service started in 1985, but was a mere emulation of the Huamban educational television system, running as a closed-circuit service.

1981-1993[edit | edit source]

Parliament greenlighted television in April 1988 and quickly set up plans to reactivate the former television transmitter and expand services up north, using aid from the Realese public broadcasters. In December 1988, Televisão do Marraquénia started broadcasting.

By the end of 1990, TVM was operating through a nationwide network of seven television transmitters, yet links to the outside world were still scarce. In 1991, it joined the nascent Bulungian Broadcasting Union and started using their satellite network for relays of live sporting events - the following year, TVM itself adopted this technology and disparities between the television centers were reduced.

1993-2001[edit | edit source]

A precarious commercial broadcaster broke TVM's monopoly in 1993, operating from makeshift studios that used to belong to a factory under FRELIMA rule. However TVM benefitted from having national coverage, satellite links and easy access to advertisers in order to increase its money. Further local television stations started broadcasting as the years rolled out, usually in similar situations to RTK, and cable followed in Nabutu and Chanagane in 1998. Cable gave viewers access to SBBC and TBS channels as well as some other channels relayed from DSTV, which didn't launch oficially in Marrakenya until the following year. Suddenly, South Bulungian media began influencing Marrakenyan media.

The response given by TVM was a failed plan to launch a second channel, unfortunately RTR Bulungi stayed with the nationwide frequencies, even though the plan was to replace RTR Internacional (as it was the default relay in Lusophone Bulungi until its launch in 1998) with a second local channel, targeting a highbrow audience. Instead, plans were made to create a new, nationwide commercial television network based on Realese broadcasters and ETV. At the same time, the Veracrucian Record network bought a television channel belonging to the Miramar community center, which had been around for weeks.

2001-2010[edit | edit source]

Soico had been around for five years around the time STV, its television channel, commenced operations in late 2001. The channel was funded by Real's SIC who gave them access to their productions to screen on their channel. A contract with Globo was on the cards but was dropped and TVM stayed with it.

2010-now[edit | edit source]

Channels[edit | edit source]

  • Televisão do Marraquénia
  • STV
  • Miramar
  • TV Sucesso

Former[edit | edit source]