According to Communications Minister Hamid Grine, speaking at a press conference in Boumerdes on May 14th, accreditation will soon be given to 10 national private broadcasters.
In the coming weeks the Algerian broadcasting watchdog ARAV (Autorité de Régulation de l’Audiovisuel), will discuss which private channels will benefit from this measure which has been often discussed but constantly rejected.
In accordance with the national specifications for private television, any channel wishing to be approved will have to respond to an application call. If they receive a favourable opinion from ARAV, their file will be forwarded to the Ministry of Communication, the only body able to issue a broadcasting license.
Algeria currently has some sixty private channels, but only five are legally authorised to broadcast in the country: Ennahar TV, Echourouk TV, Dzair TV, El Djazairia and Hogar TV. They were the only ones allowed to cover the parliamentary elections on May 4th.
The other private channels are “offshore” stations, that is to say they are Algerian but operating under foreign law: they have editorial offices on Algerian soil but transmit from abroad. Most are based in Jordan or elsewhere in the Middle East.
According to the TSA website, the government uses the “the Algerian Broadcasting Corporation’s limited broadcasting capacity” to justify the low number of channels officially authorised. However, Hamid Grine has suggested that with the launch of a new Algerian telecommunications satellite, Alcom Sat 1, in the near future, a new wave of authorisations could be made by the end of 2018.
Sources: L’Expression, El Watan, TSA, Geopolis
