TV channels Politic Tv

Political television is the most institutional genre of broadcasting: many of these channels exist to carry the unedited work of a legislature, in the tradition the American C-SPAN started and dozens of countries adopted. Here the parliaments of Europe, the Americas and Asia can be watched side by side, from Public Sénat and TV Camara to Sansad TV and UN Web TV.

Parliamentary Channels of Europe

Europe supplies the densest parliamentary block. Riigikogu TV carries the work of Estonia's parliament from the chamber in Toompea Castle, and ARTV - Canal Parlamento, modeled on C-SPAN, opens the doors of Portugal's São Bento Palace to any citizen. France's Public Sénat follows political and parliamentary news with programs and debates, and Italy's Senato WebTV streams Senate sessions and policy discussions. Oireachtas TV covers the Irish parliament around the clock, the Netherlands runs both Tweede Kamer TV for the House of Representatives and the broader NPO Politiek en Nieuws, Stortingets TV broadcasts the debates of Norway's parliament, Althingi TV carries the sessions of the Icelandic Althingi, and Vouli Tileorasi is the dedicated channel of the Greek parliament. From Canada, Canal de l'Assemblée nationale broadcasts the work of Quebec's National Assembly in French.

Legislative Television in the Americas and Asia

The Americas answer with their own legislative channels. Argentina's Senado TV broadcasts the Senate's debates, sessions and committee work from Buenos Aires, Diputados TV carries the Chamber of Deputies, and Chile's TV Senado does the same from Valparaíso. Brazil is the strongest Latin American presence: TV Camara broadcasts the Chamber of Deputies from Brasília, while Tv Assembléia Alagoas, Tv Assembléia Bahia and TV Alerj - the channel of Rio de Janeiro's Legislative Assembly - cover state legislatures. Guatemala contributes TV Congreso de Guatemala and the government-oriented Canal de Gobierno, and TV Congreso adds a further congressional service. In Asia, Sansad TV is the official channel of the Indian parliament, and Malaysia's RTM Parlimen - Dewan Rakyat and RTM Parlimen - Dewan Negara carry the live proceedings of both houses. Parliament TV completes the map from Wellington, carrying New Zealand's House of Representatives live, unedited and without commentary.

Government, Municipal and International Services

Government channels extend the political format beyond legislatures. UN Web TV, the public affairs arm of the United Nations, streams gavel-to-gavel coverage from UN headquarters in New York, including the Security Council media stakeouts. The American municipal group includes RTN Channel 11, the Raleigh Television Network for North Carolina's capital, Channel 2 Kansas City, LEX TV for Lexington's government proceedings and community news, and SFGovTV with the local government proceedings of San Francisco.

Party Channels and Political Media

A separate group is formed by channels with a clear political identity. Russia's LDPR TV is the channel of the Liberal Democratic Party, the party founded and led for three decades by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, now broadcasting its politics online; TV channel Red Line and Vmeste-RF add Russian political programming of their own. Spain's Libertad Digital TV is the video arm of one of the country's most-read digital newspapers, built for the internet from day one, and Bulgaria's Alfa TV broadcasts from Sofia with national news and current affairs. Qatar Television rounds out the group with news, entertainment and cultural content from Qatar.

Parliamentary channels broadcast in the language of their assembly and usually without any editorial filter, so watching one is the closest a viewer can get to a seat in the chamber itself - a panoramic view of how many legislatures now run their own television service.