| 19 May 2007 04:13 SOMALIA WATCH |
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First Somali TV on Air Since 1991 Story Filed: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 12:55 AM EST MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- For the first time since civil war broke out nearly a decade ago, Somalis can tune in to local television stations and watch programming in their own language. On Tuesday, the Somali Television Network became the second private station to broadcast local content programming. HornAfrique, the first, went on the air March 3. In this nation in the Horn of Africa that has been plagued by clan-based fighting since President Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, the advent of two private TV stations is another sign that despite continuing insecurity, things are improving in Somalia. ``We are being motivated by the desperate need of the people for a Somali-speaking television,'' said Ali Iman Sharmarkeh, head of HornAfrique Media. ``Our main target is the common people who don't speak any foreign language. We are bringing programs speaking about the Somali culture, tradition, religion and needs of Somalis.'' The estimated 10 million Somalis are Muslim, and they all speak Somali. Abdurahman Robleh Ulayereh, STN's managing director, said Monday his 22-channel station will offer Somalis more for their money than the six-channel HornAfrique -- and at a much lower cost. HornAfrique, a $1 million investment by 11 local and expatriate Somali businessmen, offers two Somali-speaking channels, an international sports program and three Arabic-language channels from Arab Sat, the Saudi-based satellite operation. It costs $150 to subscribe and obtain reception equipment, and there is a $10 monthly fee. The station now only serves Mogadishu, which has a population of about 1.5 million. But there are plans to expand the network. STN will charge subscribers $60 for an antenna and then give them six months of free programming, including one Somali channel, BBC World, The Discovery Channel, two Indian channels and others in French, English and Arabic. After that, there will be a $5 monthly fee. Ulayereh said 650 subscribers had already signed up. STN officials declined to discuss the amount of their investment and how many investors are involved in the project. Somalia's last pre-war television station, the government-run National Television Co., collapsed when fighting engulfed Mogadishu in January 1991. The HornAfrique Media group was launched last year and since January has been operating the country's first independent FM radio station. Sharmarkeh said the company was created after the group carried out a feasibility study that showed investing in the electronic media could be profitable in Somalia. He called TV ``more profitable than we ever expected,'' and said 200 subscribers had signed up during the first week of broadcasting. He said the network would also sell commercial space. There are also dozens of newspapers published in Mogadishu, but they tend to be allied to one or another of the clan leaders and are devoted mainly to politics. There have been no reliable economic statistics out of Somalia since the collapse of the government, and it is impossible to know what the average per capita annual income is now. But although most Somalis are poor farmers and herders, there are many successful traders and importers in urban areas who do a brisk business in exporting goats, camels and fish to the Gulf States. But one Mogadishu businessman predicted the private networks will have a difficult time financially because there is no culture of commercial television in Somalia. ``TV has always been a government activity aimed at promoting its policies ... or one of companies in developed countries who might make money through advertisement,'' said Abdulkarim Ali Hambeh. ``But in Somalia, none of the largest companies can understand the use of advertising.'' Copyright © 2000 Associated Press Information Services, all rights reserved. You may now print or save this document. [Back to the top] [ News] |
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