Turkmenistan’s national TV and radio as well as cinematography will be gradually shifted to self-financing.
Turkmen President Qurbanguly Berdimuhamdow has signed a decree on shifting national TV and radio as well as cinematography to self-financing “for the purpose of further development of the branch,” Radio Liberty’s Turkmen Service, locally known as Radio Azatlyk, reported on July 12.
Turkmenistan’s national TV and radio as well as cinematography are expected to be shifted to self-financing gradually, beginning in 2018.
As Azatlyk’s interlocutors noted, programs of the national television are monotone, information is extremely poor and the programs are mainly based on an official chronicle. Therefore, residents of the country prefer to watch foreign television channels, mostly Russian and Turkish channels.
Against this background, President Berdimuhamdow has repeatedly criticized programs of the Turkmen national television.