TV channels Kurdistan

Kurdish-language television serves two audiences at once: the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and a large diaspora scattered across Europe. The channels here carry both - public and party-linked broadcasters that built the region's media after 1991, and a younger generation of independent newsrooms.

Erbil and Sulaymaniyah: The Veterans

Kurdistan TV, on air since 1999 from Erbil, is the official channel of the Kurdistan Regional Government and one of the most-watched screens in the region, broadcasting in Sorani Kurdish. From Sulaymaniyah, Kurdsat TV has been on air since 2000 as one of Iraqi Kurdistan's oldest broadcasters, with news, political talk, culture and entertainment. Gali Kurdistan Sat is the region's satellite service from Erbil, carrying Kurdish life to viewers at home and across the European diaspora.

The Independents

NRT TV launched on 17 February 2011 as the first independent private channel in the Kurdistan Region. KNN Channel, the Kurdish News Network founded in 2008 under the Wusha Corporation media group, built its name on news and current affairs. Kurdistan 24 adds regional and international coverage. And Stêrk TV, established in Norway in 2009, is the diaspora-born member of the group - a multilingual news channel for Kurdish-speaking communities around the world.

Faith and Community

Religious broadcasting has two voices. Speda TV - «dawn» in Kurdish - is affiliated with the Kurdistan Islamic Union and pairs Quran-related programming with public-affairs shows. Payam TV, headquartered in Sulaymaniyah, was the first Islamic television channel in Southern Kurdistan. A different community gets its own screen in Ashur TV: an Assyrian satellite channel linked to the Assyrian Democratic Movement, promoting Assyrian culture, language and interests to a global audience.