November 6 – Day of Azerbaijan Television and Radio

The first radio program went on the air for the first time in our country with the commissioning of the first radio station in Baku on November 6, 1926. And since then, this day has been celebrated as a professional holiday of television and radio workers – the Day of Azerbaijan Television and Radio.

The first 180-meter TV tower, assembled from steel blocks, was built in Baku in 1956. On February 14, 1956, the AzTV1 program aired for the first time in black and white via a television transmitter.

On June 28, 1957, for the first time, a live broadcast from the Republican Stadium was carried out through a mobile television station.

In 1961, high-power TV stations were built in Ganja, Goychay and Shusha, and in 1962, a low-power TV station and studio were built in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

In 1967, the transition from black and white television to color TV broadcasting (SECAM) began.

The first Republican radio program and Araz were broadcast for the first time on the FM band from the Baku TV Tower Complex in 1997.

Currently, 13 national radio programs are broadcast on the FM band via 126 radio transmitters operating in more than 100 radio and television broadcasting stations in the country.

In 2012, an IPTV head-end station was built at the Baku TV Tower Complex and IPTV content began to be transmitted to providers. Unlike other TV channels, IPTV has no restrictions on the number of programs, i.e. subscribers have the opportunity to watch hundreds of channels.

In the same year, the radio stations “Azerbaijan” and “Ictimai”, as well as TV programs “Ictimai” were broadcast in HD format.

Analogue TV broadcasting in the country was completely terminated on December 20, 2016, and the transition to digital TV broadcasting was fully completed. Currently, 99.7% of the country’s population is covered by digital TV.

It should be noted that the main advantages of the transition to digital broadcasting are high-quality reception of television programs, efficient use of strategically important frequency resources and the ability to receive a large number of television programs via terrestrial broadcasting.

In 2019, Radio-TV Broadcasting and Satellite Communications Production Association (Teleradio) of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies completed the digital reconstruction of the 185 km long radio relay line in the direction of the Fatmai – Sumgait – Khizi – Daghbiliji (Shabran) – Yerguj – Guba. This was done as part of the digital reconstruction of the analog radio-relay line network used to deliver state, public, private and regional radio-TV programs to regional stations throughout the country.

In order to ensure uninterrupted radio and television broadcasting in Baku and Absheron peninsula during force majeure circumstances and necessary repair and maintenance work at Baku TV Tower Complex in 2016, the radio station was overhauled and reconstructed. Alternative radio and television broadcasting station was built on the basis of radio station No. 1.

In August 2019, Teleradio Production Association for the first time in the country began test broadcasting of digital radio in the DAB + standard in Baku and on the Absheron peninsula. At present, digital reception of 12 radio programs in one package at a frequency of 218.6 MHz (11B) is possible in Baku and anywhere on the Absheron Peninsula.