Ekushey Television

Ekushey Television (Bengali: একুশে টেলিভিশন; lit. 'twenty-one', in reference to 21 February)[1] is a private satellite television channel in Bangladesh. It is headquartered in Kawran Bazar, Dhaka, and is the first private television channel to broadcast national and international news in Bangladesh.[2] It originally began broadcasts on April 14, 2000, but was shut down in 2002 by the BNP-led government after being accused for telecasting biased news reports. The channel returned to air on March 29, 2007.[3] The chairman of Ekushey Television is Mohammed Saiful Alam of S. Alam Group of Industries.

Ekushey Television (Pvt) Ltd.
একুশে টেলিভিশন
TypeBroadcast television network
CountryBangladesh
Broadcast areaWorldwide
HeadquartersKawran Bazar, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Programming
Picture format16:9 HDTV
(downscaled to 4:3 SDTV for standard television sets)
History
LaunchedApril 14, 2000 (2000-04-14) (original)
March 29, 2007 (2007-03-29) (relaunch)
FounderFarhad Abal Mahmud
Closed29 August 2002 (2002-08-29) (original)
Links
Websiteekushey-tv.com

History
The headquarters of Ekushey Television, Kawran Bazar, Dhaka.

Plans for a privately owned terrestrial television channel in Bangladesh began in early 1997 when Farhad Mahmud, son of A.S. Mahmud, chatted with Simon Dring at a local hotel. The name 'Ekushey' was chosen because, according to Dring, it is an allusion of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952 and the upcoming 21st century. In March of that year, Ekushey Television gained a fifteen-year terrestrial license. Initially, the channel was scheduled to commence its operations on December 16, 1999, which was victory day.[4]

Eventually, Ekushey Television was launched on April 14, 2000, as the country's first private terrestrial television channel. It covered half the country's population and turned out to be the most watched channel that offered quality programs.[5] The channel ran on five transmitters in the VHF band, using Bangladesh Television's network.

On August 29, 2002, the channel's Britain-based managing director Simon Dring and three other executives had their work permits cancelled and forced to cease all broadcasts.[6][7] However, on April 14, 2005, Ekushey Television was allowed to resume broadcasting, and satellite test transmissions began on December the following year. It officially resumed broadcasting on March 29, 2007, and started full day transmissions on June 1.[8]

In 2011, Ekushey became the first Bangladeshi channel to live stream all its content online to viewers around the globe, through its official website. The channel was considered the most popular TV channel in Bangladesh due to its news and other innovative programs.[9][10]

On January 5, 2015, Ekushey Television abruptly halted transmissions after airing a speech by the senior vice chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Tarique Rahman. Later, the channel restored broadcasting in some areas, and resumed nationwide broadcasts overtime.[11]

In the morning of November 26, 2018, a fire broke out in the first few floors at the headquarters of Ekushey Television, with the estimated cost of damage being ৳260,000.[12] One of the founders of the channel, Simon Dring, had died on July 16, 2021.[13]

Programming

Types of broadcasting programs
  • Talk show
  • Drama
  • News
  • Children News
  • Live Concert
  • Special talk show with specialized Topic (Health, Children etc.)
  • Educational documentaries
  • Children shows
  • Exploring culture, landscapes, and history driven shows

Business programming

Ekushey Television also broadcasts a dedicated band for business news everyday from 10 am to 2:30 pm during the trading hours in the Dhaka Stock Exchange with real-time updates, live discussions and breaking news, the first channel in the country to do so.

The channel has developed a reputation for providing current stock market news and incisive discussions on business related issues and is a clear leader in the business news space, setting editorial and production standards for the Bangladesh TV news market.

Current
  • Media Gossip
  • Phono Live Studio Concert
  • Golpo Solpo Gaan
  • Shimanter Sultan[14]
  • Hatim[15]
  • Tobuo Badhan
  • Atopar Ami
  • Ekushey Shongbad
  • Ekusher Raat
  • Ekusher Sondha
  • Ekusher Dupur
  • Ekusher Sokal
  • Ekusher Chokh

Former

Controversies

On January 26, 2015, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed a case against the former chairman of the channel, Abdus Salam, along with two others for allegedly laundering ৳2,670,000 (31,429 USD). Another case was filed against Salam on March 2, 2016, after an allegation that he made fraudulent documents of the satellite charge of Ekushey Television to swindle out ৳340,000,000.[18]

See also

References
  1. Biswas, Sailendra (2000). "Samsad Bengali-English dictionary. 3rd ed". Calcutta: Sahitya Samsad. p. 969.
  2. Rahman, Anis (1 January 1970). "A Political Economy of the Emerging Television News Industry in Bangladesh | Anis Rahman - Academia.edu". Sfu.academia.edu. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  3. "Bangladesh's ETV resumes telecast as ban ends". Reuters. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  4. Chowdhury, Afsan (1999). "Move over BTV". Himal Magazine.
  5. Deepita, Novera (2006). "From BTV to ETV and beyond: The television revolution". The Daily Star.
  6. Hossain, Moazzem (1 October 2002). "Bangladesh tells TV chief to leave". BBC News. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  7. Lawson-Tancred, Alastair (2 October 2002). "'Hero' journalist expelled from Bangladesh". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  8. "ETV goes on air again after over 4 years". The Daily Star. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  9. "Bad instance by Ekushey TV owner". Weekly Blitz. 1 April 2009. Archived from the original on 30 December 2009.
  10. Choudhury, Salah Uddin Shoaib (30 April 2010). "Shutting down private TV channels". Weekly Blitz. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010.
  11. "ETV off air after airing Tarique's speech". The Daily Star. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  12. Rabbi, Arifur Rahman (26 November 2018). "Fire breaks out at ETV building in Dhaka". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  13. "Friend of Bangladesh Simon Dring no more". Dhaka Tribune. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  14. "আজ থেকে শুরু হচ্ছে সুলতান সুলেমানের চতুর্থ পর্ব" [Sultan Suleiman's fourth episode will air today]. Jagonews24.com (in Bengali). 1 January 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  15. "একুশে টেলিভিশনে হাতিম" [Hatim in Ekushey Television]. Ekushey Television (in Bengali). 5 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  16. ব্যস্ত শহরে - নাটকঃ বন্ধন [Besto Shohore - Bondhon] By Ornob (YouTube) (in Bengali). Rakhal BD. 17 May 2014.
  17. "New Drama serial " Tuntuni Villa" on Ekushey TV". The Daily Star. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  18. "Money laundering: ACC sues 3 including ex-ETV boss". The Daily Star. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
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