For most Palestinians, July 17, 2015, means very little. But for those who have long been working toward the migration of all Palestinian TV frequencies from analogue to digital, the date has been etched in stone. Mandated by the International Telecommunications Union and approved by the Arab League, all Arab states agreed in 2006 to turn off the analogue TV signals by this date.
In Palestine, the move toward digital broadcasting was preceded by a move to local television broadcasting. Shortly after the Oslo Accord began to be executed, there was a rush to establish local radio and TV stations especially in the cities from which the Israeli army withdrew. At one time, more than 31 local television broadcasting using terrestrial frequencies spread throughout the occupied territories. Nablus, Palestine’s largest city, had the record for having nine local television stations in 1996. However, by 2010, the number of stations was down to 18 local stations and in Nablus down to four. In time, some of these small stations folded or merged into networks such as the Maan TV network, which has become a national community-owned TV station.
