65 years pass since creation of television in Azerbaijan
February 14 is the day of the beginning of television broadcasting in Azerbaijan. Thus, on this day in 1956, the first television in the East was launched in Azerbaijan.
This year is significant for both television and radio broadcasting, since it coincides with the 65th anniversary of the launch of television broadcasting in Azerbaijan, the 95th anniversary of radio broadcasting and the 25th anniversary of the commissioning of the Baku TV Tower Complex.
Over the past 65 years, radio and television broadcasting stations have been established in all regions of Azerbaijan due to the creation of both technological infrastructure and human resources. Currently, the number of such stations is 127. Each station is equipped with the up-to-date material and technical base.
Today, 99.8% of the country’s population is provided with digital television broadcasting through 110 digital TV transmitters used in radio and television broadcasting stations.
At the same time, a radio broadcasting network is operating in most parts of the country. The Baku TV Tower complex, commissioned in 1996, is the country’s main broadcasting center. Hundreds of local and foreign TV programs are broadcast in various standards and formats through the complex, which is 310 meters high and has a unique design. The complex has achieved a number of historically significant technical advances. Thus, only a few months after the adoption of the international digital standard MPEG-2 to provide satellite TV broadcasting in the territory of the Baku TV Tower Complex, a terrestrial station transmitting signal to the Turksat satellite was put into operation in the territory of the Baku TV Tower Complex. Thus, for the first time in Europe, a digital satellite TV broadcasting was carried out in Azerbaijan. This event was met with great interest in Europe and received extensive coverage in world media. After the British company Multipoint, which installed the terrestrial station, issued a press release in the London press, many foreign companies, including a giant radio and television corporation, such as the BBC became interested in this experience. The world mass media did not hide its surprise that such advanced technology was first introduced in Azerbaijan.
Moreover, in 2004, the first terrestrial digital television broadcasting in the South Caucasus was also carried out through the Baku TV Tower Complex.
While in previous years the main goal was to build a television broadcasting network throughout the country, but now work has begun to create a reserve for this network. To this date, 40 reserve digital TV transmitters have been installed. The complete construction of the reserve network will be completed in the coming years.
In order to make it easier to receive TV signals, as well as save frequency resources, a single-frequency digital television broadcasting network was created in Baku in 2018. As a result, it was possible to receive signals at the same frequency in different areas. Work is underway to expand the single frequency network.
Work is also in progress to create a television and radio broadcasting network in the liberated from occupation territories.
At the first stage, on December 31, 2020, eleven television and two radio programs were broadcast through the Shusha radio and television station in the city of Shusha, as well as surrounding areas and cities.
Teleradio Production Association regularly takes measures to ensure uninterrupted and high-quality operation of the radio and television broadcasting network in Azerbaijan on the basis of new technologies.
