11 March 2017•Update: 11 March 2017
By Mehtap Yildizalp and Emin Ileri
ANKARA
Turkey’s first English-language television news channel TRT World is pushing for worldwide broadcast on satellite as well as other transmission platforms, the media outlet’s Deputy Director-General, Ibrahim Eren, told Anadolu Agency.
“The TRT World broadcast will be transmitted not only via satellite but also through other platforms by the end of the year,” Eren said, adding the channel is already part of the British broadcasting service, Sky.
“Viewers in the U.K. will be able to watch it on Sky, not on satellite,” he said.
According to Eren, television viewers in Turkey mostly use satellites, which is not common in other countries.
“We need to have different transmissions suitable for each country,” he added.
Based in Istanbul, TRT World already has a digital media news service that is broadcasting internationally.
Eren said TRT World, which began broadcasting in 2015, is now available in 190 countries on 11 satellites as part of a deal with Turkey’s satellite operator TurkSat.
Like the BBC -- the largest broadcaster the world -- Eren said TRT World too would be watched globally.
Eren said the channel aims to reach English-speaking countries, primarily Europe, Asia and Africa, adding countries with which Turkey has cultural ties would also be targeted.
About the channel’s 2017 goals, TRT World News Director Fatih Er said: “We began broadcasting in some parts of Europe on satellite and cable at the beginning of this year.
“The rest of Europe and the Far East will be covered by the second half of 2017.”
Er said the broadcast is available in Europe, Africa, and America, adding that TRT World is achieving success in a very short period of time.
He said the channel is an alternative voice from the region.
“We have done good work in Syria, Mosul, Africa,” he said, adding the channel also offers viewers a different agenda on Palestine issue and the Balkans.
“We have started to give different news from unorthodox regions,” he added.
According to Er, TRT World needs more time for the world to “understand and accept” it.
He recalled President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech at the launch of TRT World last year where he told the channel to not be the government’s mouthpiece but the voice of the oppressed.
“It should be understood that we are not a means of propaganda, we are giving news, we are a voice for the oppressed,” he added.
TRT World Managing Editor Resul Serdar Atas said the channel will try to disrupt the global imperial narrative while preserving its brand value and avoiding marginalization.
