Afghanistan National Television


Afghanistan National Television is the state-owned television channel in Afghanistan, launched in 1977 and part of the Radio Television Afghanistan public broadcaster.

Exclusive 2008 speech

RTA became famous worldwide when Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a live speech to the world minutes after dozens of insurgents attempted to assassinate him at an Afghan military parade. The assassination attempt was thwarted by the Afghan National Army. The scene of the attempt was also broadcast live to RTA viewers in Afghanistan and picked up by the international media.

International launch

Afghanistan National Television became available in Europe, Middle East, North Africa Africa Asia Pacific and North America on 5 January 2008. The channel's broadcasting hours were 06:00 to 00:00, corresponding to 01:30 to 19:30 UTC. Later in 2008, RTA became a 24-hour channel, and this allowed viewers internationally to watch it at more convenient hours. As of 2018, it is no longer broadcast by satellite in Europe.