TV channels Iraq

Iraqi television as it exists today took shape after 2003: a state media family, a wave of private satellite stations, community channels for Kurds, Turkmen and Assyrians, religious services, and Arabic-language broadcasters beaming in from abroad.

The State Broadcaster's Family

Al Iraqiya is the state-owned public broadcaster, part of the Iraqi Media Network set up after 2003, and it still programmes in Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen and Neo-Aramaic for the country's communities. Its sports arm, Al Iraqiya Sport, carries the national leagues and sports coverage, while Al Rasheed TV adds a dedicated news service to the state family's output.

The Private Satellite Wave

Private satellite television in Iraq began with Al Sharqiya TV, the country's first privately owned satellite channel, launched in 2004 by media owner Saad al-Bazzaz with bases in Baghdad and Dubai; its sister service Al Sharqiya News keeps the rolling-news side. Al Baghdadia, an Iraqi-owned independent channel broadcasting from Cairo, built its reputation on open phone-in talk shows, and Alforat TV, Aletejah TV, Al-Rafidain, Iraq 24 TV HD and Iraqi General HD fill out a busy field of news and general programming.

Community Television

Iraq's communities have their own screens. From Erbil, KurdMax TV entertains the Kurdish-speaking world with music, shows and series, while Zagros TV, Payam TV and Speda TV serve Kurdish audiences with news and general programming. Turkmeneli TV, broadcasting from Kirkuk since 2004 in Turkish and Arabic, is the voice of the Iraqi Turkmen community, and Ishtar TV, established in 2005 in Ankawa, speaks to Assyrian viewers mostly in Syriac, with Arabic and Kurdish through the day. Kirkuk TV keeps a local newsroom presence in its city.

Faith and Voices from Abroad

Karbala TV, founded in 2008 in Karbala, is the television of the Imam Husayn Shrine and part of the Imam Hussein Media Group, with religious and cultural programming. Also present are Arabic-language services headquartered beyond Iraq: Alalam TV is the Arabic news channel of Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, with a Baghdad bureau among its foreign offices; Alhurra TV is the US government-funded Arabic network operated by Middle East Broadcasting Networks since 2004; and Alhiwar TV is an Arabic media service broadcasting from London.