Switch to digital television faces bumpy road in Palestine

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.

As the target date approached, a frenzy of movement took place on various levels. The Palestinian Telecommunications Ministry produced a 12-page strategy paper that ended with the establishment of a large governmental committee that was mandated to prepare for the migration from analogue to digital. The supervising committee included representatives of relevant ministries including telecommunications, interior and information as well as a representative of Palestine TV, and one representing local TV stations. Birzeit University’s Media Development Center held a number of discussions on the topic and will be producing a detailed report on the topic by mid-May 2015.

The move to digital television also attracted the attention of international media organizations. The US-based Internews Network dedicated time and effort to help raise the level of awareness of the move to digital through workshops and conferences. Mamoun Matar, a professor of digital media at various Palestinian universities who participated in many of these meetings, told Al-Monitor that great effort was made to ensure that poor local TV stations are not stomped on with the big money move toward digital. “We wanted to make sure that community-based television stations are part of the discussion and that their interests are represented,” he said. Matar expects the first batch of 12 digital stations to include all public service stations as commercial and a couple of community-based university stations.