Arts, heritage and media
Somali National Television (SNTV): from 1983 to today
Somali National Television (SNTV) is the federal government's TV station. Regular Somali television began on 17 August 1983, funded by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, for two hours a day in Somali and Arabic. It went dark in the civil war and was relaunched on 4 April 2011. It now broadcasts 24 hours a day by land and satellite.
1983: the first Somali television
Regular television began in Somalia on 17 August 1983. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates paid for it. It broadcast in Somali and Arabic for two hours a day, and three hours on Fridays and holidays (Somali National Television, Wikipedia; World Radio TV Handbook, TV Factbook 1984). The Ministry of Information and National Guidance planned two transmitters, of 100 and 500 watts.
The channel was first called Telefishanka J.D. Soomaaliya, the television of the Somali Democratic Republic. Reception was limited to Mogadishu and its surroundings, on VHF channel 6. One early programme was the journalist Axmed Siciid's Todobaadkii Hore iyo Aduunka ("The past week and around the world") (Wikipedia).
The war years
Broadcasting stopped during the civil war. On 27 April 2002 the facilities were handed by Artan Ali Warsame to the information ministry of the transitional administration (Wikipedia).
2011 relaunch
The Transitional Federal Government's information ministry began test broadcasts on 18 March 2011 and officially relaunched the station on 4 April 2011, after a gap of about 20 years. It used the Thaicom satellite, like the private channels Universal TV, Somali Channel and Horn Cable TV (Wikipedia). SNTV still counts 1983 as its founding year and marked its 39th anniversary in 2022 (FTL Somalia).
SNTV today
- Reach: 24 hours a day, inside Somalia and abroad, by terrestrial and satellite signal. It is regulated by the federal Ministry of Information (Wikipedia).
- Training: in 2021 the Finnish journalists' NGO Vikes helped train staff for new children's programmes (Vikes).
- SNTV Daljir: a second channel, SNTV2, started in 2021. On 23 November 2022 it was replaced by SNTV Daljir, which Hiiraan Online described as a channel to counter al-Shabaab's messaging (Hiiraan Online, November 2022).
- New studios: opened on 9 February 2025, built with Italian cooperation (ANSA, 9 February 2025).
- Satellite teleport: reception improved after a media satellite teleport opened on 18 July 2025 (FTL Somalia).
Somaliland
According to reports carried by Garowe Online, Somaliland's information minister banned SNTV from being broadcast into homes in Somaliland from June 2019 (Wikipedia). Somaliland has its own state channel, Somaliland National TV (Somaliland Ministry of Information).
Read more
Sources
- Somali National Television, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- World Radio TV Handbook, TV Factbook 1984 · worldradiohistory.com
- FTL Somalia · ftlsomalia.com
- Vikes · vikes.fi
- Hiiraan Online, November 2022 · hiiraan.com
- ANSA, 9 February 2025 · ansa.it
- FTL Somalia · ftlsomalia.com
- Somaliland Ministry of Information · mingc.govsomaliland.org
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