KHUJAND, January 27, 2011, Asia-Plus — RTR-Planeta can be picked up only by 38.5 percent of the population of Sughd province, Saidkamol Nabiyev, the director of Transmitting Center-2, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
“To extend the broadcast range, we have installed additional equipment in Panjakent, Isfara, Asht, Ayni, Kuhistoni Mastchoh and Jabborrasulov districts as well as in the cites of Taboshar and Konibodom,” said Nabiyev, “RTR-Planeta programs cannot be viewed by residents of Ghonchi, Mastchoh, Spitamen, Istaravshan and Zafarobod districts.”
As far as the Tajik national TV channels are concerned, Shabakai Avval (Channel One) can be picked up by 99.38 percent of the Sughd population, Safina can be viewed by 75.34 percent of the population and Children’s TV Channel, Bahoriston, can be picked up by 70.65 percent of the population of northern Tajikistan.
We will recall that Tajikistan resumed rebroadcasting Russia’s television channel, RTR-Planeta, in September 2010. An agreement on resumption of RTR-Planeta rebroadcasting in Tajikistan was reached during a meeting of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon with his Russian counterpart, President Dmitry Medvedev, in Sochi, Russia on August 18, 2010.
Tajik Committee for TV and Radio-broadcasting stopped airing the state-run RTR Planeta on March 2, 2009 due to unpaid fees by the Russian side. RTR-Planeta was the only Russian-language broadcaster operating in Tajikistan as the rebroadcasting of Russia”s First Public Television Channel (ORT) programs in the country ended in 1999 due to ORT”s reluctance to pay fees.
