The General Organization of Radio and TV (), also known in French as ''Organisation de la Radio et la Télévision Arabe Syrienne'' (in short ORTAS), is the

public broadcaster Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and reports to the Ministry of Information. Earlier names were Radio and Television (RTV Syria) and Syrian Radio & Television (SRT). For much of its existence, ORTAS was the

Assad regime Ba'athist Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), was the Syrian state between 1963 and 2024 under the one-party rule of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. From 1971 until its collapse in 2024, it was rule ...

's propaganda tool until it was taken over by opposition groups in December 2024 amidst the fall of Damascus. The legal basis is a legislative decree from 2010, which, however, was largely not implemented. Sūmar Wassūf became head of the commission in December 2018. Several television channels and

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

s are being run by this organization, including

Syria TV Syrian TV (), also known as Syrian Satellite Channel (), is a public broadcasting, public television channel, owned by the Syrian General Organization of Radio and TV (Syria), General Organization of Radio and TV and broadcast nationwide on Digi ...

and Damascus Radio. ORTAS is an active member of the

Arab States Broadcasting Union The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU; ) is an Arab joint-action institution related to the League of Arab States and the Pan-Arab Association of Public Service and Commercial Broadcasters. Founded in February 1969 in Khartoum, ASBU is a profe ...

(ASBU), associate member of the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU) and formerly a member of

International Radio and Television Organisation The International Radio and Television Organisation (official name in French: Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision or OIRT (before 1960 International Broadcasting Organization (IBO), official name in French: ''Organ ...

(OIRT).

Services

The General Authority for Radio and Television is the governmental body responsible for radio and television broadcasting in Syria. It is divided into two parts:

Radio

Radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is the transmission of electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) to receivers over a wide territory. Most broadcasts are audio (sound), sometimes with embedded metadata. Listeners need a broadcast radio receiver to pick up thes ...

began in the First Syrian Republic upon its independence on 17 April 1946 on

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

. As early as 1942, Radio Damas, a counterpart to Radio Levant in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon existed in the French

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World ...

mandate. Nationwide radio programs include: * دمشق, Iḏāʿa Dimašq –

Radio Damascus Radio Damascus (), is the national radio station of Syrian state broadcaster ORTAS. It broadcasts Arabic-language programs nationwide on medium wave and FM frequencies. Programs in Arabic, English, French, German, Hebrew, Russian, Spanish and Tur ...

(since 1947) * صوت الشباب, Ṣaut aš-Šabāb – "voice of youth" (since 2002) * سوريان, Sūryānā (since 2015) Former radio station: * صوت الشعب, Ṣaut aš-Šaʿb – "voice of the people" (1979–2017) Regional radio programs are (from north to south): *Radio Sanabel FM, in Al Hasakah *Radio Aleppo FM, in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

*Radio Amwaj FM, in Latakia *Radio

Tartus Tartus ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarṭūs''; known in the County of Tripoli as Tortosa and also transliterated from French language, French Tartous) is a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria (af ...

, in Tartus *Radio Zenobia, in

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

*Radio Al Karma, in

As-Suwayda Suwayda (), also spelled Sweida, is a mainly Druze city located in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South, Daraa Governorate ...

The international broadcaster Radio Damascus has existed since 1957. According to the frequency announcements in the program, both FM (VHF) and AM (medium wave) are broadcast.

Television

The

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

is based in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

since July 1960. The channel airs programmes in Arabic, English and French. Its first channel was broadcasting in black and white until 1978. A second channel was added in 1985 (discontinued in 2012 due to the civil war) and in 1996, the satellite service

began broadcasting. On September 5, 2012, Syrian Television channel broadcasts were broken off on

Arabsat The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (often abbreviated as Arabsat) is a communications satellite operator in the Arab World, headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Arabsat was created to deliver satellite-based, public and ...

and

Nilesat Egyptian Satellites Co SAE or Nilesat (; or , ) is a company and the name of a series of Egyptian communications satellites. It was established in 1996 by the government of Egypt with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associ ...

, including Syria TV. Syria TV and

Syrian Drama TV Syrian Drama TV () was a government-owned television station based in Damascus, Syria since 20 August 2009. Syrian Drama TV broadcast was stopped on Eutelsat Hot Bird 13 East on 22 October 2012. Its goal was to support Syrian drama after the g ...

broadcasts were stopped on

Hot Bird Hot Bird (also styled Hotbird) is a group of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13 °E over the equator ( orbital position) and with a transmitting footprint over Asia, Europe, North Africa, Americas and the Middle East. Only digital r ...

on October 22, 2012. The

digital television switchover The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older Analog television, analogue television broadcasting ...

(DVB-T) in Syria has been restarted since mid-2018, in the provinces of Damascus,

Daraa Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...

, As Suwayda,

Rif Dimashq Rif Dimashq Governorate (, lit. "Damascus Countryside Governorate" or "Damascus Suburb") is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the country. It borders the governorates of Quneitra, ...

, Tartus, Latakia,

Quneitra Quneitra (also Al Qunaytirah, Qunaitira, or Kuneitra; , ''al-Qunayṭrah'' or ''al-Qunayṭirah'' ) is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan ...

and Hama, however there is still no date for an analog switch off. ORTAS national and satellite television channels: *

(since 1995), also known as Syrian Satellite Channel, distributed through

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV, DTT, or DTTB) is a technology for terrestrial television, in which television stations broadcast television content in a digital signal, digital format. Digital terrestrial television is a major technologica ...

(DTT) *Syrian Local Channel (since 2022), distributed through (DTT) *

Noor Al-Sham Noor Al-Sham, also spelled Nour El-Sham (, literal translation "The Light of the Levant") is a state-run, religious satellite television station based in Damascus, Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia l ...

(religion; since 2011) – The channel intends "to convey a broad and genuine understanding of Islam and its legal rules", according to the

Syrian Arab News Agency The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) () is a Syrian State media, state-owned news agency, linked to Ministry of Information (Syria), the country's ministry of information. It was established in June 1965. SANA publishes more than 500 news storie ...

(SANA). *

(since 2009) *

Syrian Education TV Syrian Education TV (Arabic: القناة الفضائية التربوية السورية) was launched by the Syrian Ministry of Education on 14 October 2008 on Arabsat. It was later launched in June 2009 to broadcast from Damascus on Nilesat ...

(since 2008) *

Syrian News Channel Syrian News Channel (), also known as Alikhbaria Syria or Al-Ikhbariyah Syria, is a public television news channel, owned by the Syrian General Organization of Radio and TV based in Damascus, Syria, launched on 15 December 2010. The channel relau ...

, also known as Alikhbaria Syria or Al-Ikhbariyah Syria (since 2010), distributed through DTT * Drama 24, distributed through DTT * Sports TV, distributed through DTT * Sakaker Kids TV, distributed through DTT * Syriana TV Radio and TV * (since 2014) – a regional channel from

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

; Latakia Radio and Television Center was established in 1987 for the hosting of the

1987 Mediterranean Games The X Mediterranean Games (), commonly known as the 1987 Mediterranean Games, were the 10th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Latakia, Syria, from 11 to 25 September 1987. A total of 1,996 athletes from 18 countries participated, of wh ...

Former channels include

Syrian Medical TV Syrian Medical TV (Arabic القناة الطبية السورية الفضائية) was a television station based in Damascus, Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranea ...

and Talaqie TV which both closed in 2016; terrestrial channels Channel 2 and Channel 1 (now Syrian local channel) closed down in 2012. The ''Syria Insider Weekly'' program is broadcast in English, French and Spanish.

References

External links

*
www.rtv.gov.sy
(former homepage, archived in 2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:General Organization of Radio and TV 1960 establishments in Syria Mass media companies established in 1960 Mass media companies of Syria Mass media in Damascus State media Radio in Syria Television companies of Syria Government-owned companies of Syria Multilingual broadcasters Arabic-language radio stations Arabic-language television stations European Broadcasting Union members

Services

Radio

Television

See also

References

External links