On November 21, the world celebrates World Television Day, in commemoration of the first World Television Forum held by the United Nations at its headquarters in New York on November 21 and 22, 1996.

Prominent figures in the field of media met to discuss the growing importance of television and its role in changing the world, and to find a way to enhance mutual cooperation between the peoples of the world through this media.

The United Nations chose a global day to celebrate television in recognition of its great role in spreading knowledge, and its desire to transform it from a tool for conveying information to public opinion and influencing it, into a means that plays an effective role in the socialization of young generations, as well as using it to advance countries socially and culturally.

The emergence of television globally and in the Arab world

The American city of New York was the first to know the television transmission service, on August 12, 1928, and it was for two hours a day, and 3 days a week. The national broadcaster, NBC, began broadcasting silent pictures alongside its radio programs. In 1939, the corporation began the first regular television broadcast in the United States, and its first program was an animated program.

In 1935, Germany knew for the first time television transmission service. While Britain was the first to provide regular television broadcasting service in 1936, through the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which was the first institution to provide live broadcasting from outside closed studios, as it began broadcasting from Alexandra Palace in London. France was able to provide its first television broadcast from the Eiffel Tower in 1939. In the same year, television broadcasting began for the first time in Moscow in 1939, and the Soviets exploited their leadership in the field of space in broadcasting via satellite, so that the Moscow station became one of the first television stations to broadcast its programs through space to the world.

On the Arab level, Iraq was the first Arab country to introduce television transmission service in 1954, when the first Arabic-speaking television station in the world was established. Broadcasting at that time was limited to Baghdad, before it included other regions such as Basra, Mosul, and Kirkuk. Then, Algeria opened the Algerian Television channel in 1956, which targeted the French community in Algeria, and its broadcast was limited to only three cities: Algiers, Oran, and Constantine. Next comes Lebanon, which inaugurated its official television building in 1957, but television broadcasting was delayed until 1959.

Egyptian TV

Egypt was one of the first countries to adopt the idea of television. The French Company for the Radio and Television Industry conducted the first experiment in television production in Egypt in 1951, when it filmed the festivals held on the occasion of the marriage of King Farouk and Queen Nariman. The company displayed it at a local evening after placing the receivers in some clubs in Cairo.

Three years later, specifically in 1954, Salah Salem, Minister of National Guidance, proposed to President Gamal Abdel Nasser the establishment of a new radio house and television station on Mount Mokattam. This is what actually happened, and Egypt took the decision to start broadcasting Egyptian television in 1956, but due to the political circumstances at the time, which were represented by the occurrence of the tripartite aggression, the decision to start broadcasting was delayed until 1959. A contract was signed between Egypt and the American Broadcasting Corporation, R.C.A., aiming to supply Egypt with With a television transmission network, and sending Egyptian delegations to train media cadres at the R.C.A. Institute in New York State. The Maspero Radio and Television Center was completed in 1960, and is considered one of the oldest television institutions in the world.

The first broadcast in Egypt

Egyptian television began broadcasting with one channel, and began its test broadcast at seven o’clock in the evening on July 21, 1960, coinciding with the celebration of the eighth anniversary of the July Revolution, so that the first thing Egyptians would see on television screens was the Egyptian emblem, “the eagle,” and the broadcast began with the radio of Republican Peace Music. “By God, it is a long time ago, my weapon,” which was the republican peace treaty for Egypt after the tripartite aggression.

After that, Sheikh Muhammad Siddiq Al-Minshawi recited some verses of the Holy Quran. Radio Salah Zaki was the first television broadcaster to appear on screen to announce the birth of Arab television from Cairo. After that, television broadcast President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s speech before the National Assembly on the occasion of the revolution celebrations, followed by the broadcast of a group of patriotic songs by major singers, and radio stations linked them to Hemat Mustafa.

The first test broadcast on Egyptian television lasted for 6 hours, and was limited to only one channel. Broadcasting stopped the next day, and Egyptian television was officially opened on Saturday, July 23, 1960. On the same day the following year, broadcast time was extended to 13 hours per day. The second television channel began to be transmitted, as a window to foreign cultures.

Start of color transmission

After the end of the October 1973 War, Egypt began the largest operation to renew transmitters and convert television broadcasting from black and white to color under the SECAM system. Egyptian television began broadcasting in color on September 9, 1976. Further improvements were also made, and Egyptian television broadcasting changed again from The SECAM system was converted to the PAL system in 1992.

Launching regional channels

With the beginning of the 1980s, Egyptian television witnessed a geometric and geographical expansion of the field of television coverage. In 1985, the idea of regional channels began, bringing Egyptian television transmissions to all governorates of the country, so the third channel was established, which addresses the Greater Cairo region (Cairo, Giza, and Qalyubia). In 1988, Channel 4 began broadcasting, which addresses the Suez Canal region and includes (Ismailia, Suez, Port Said, and Sharqia). In 1990, the experimental broadcast of Channel 5 began, which addresses the Alexandria region and includes (Alexandria, Beheira, and Matrouh). In 1994, the channel was launched