Country Afghanistan Launch date 2004 | Owner Abdul Rashid Dostum | |
Type Satellite television network Availability Afghanistan
Uzbekistan
Kazakhstan
Turkey
Azerbaijan
Kyrgizstan
Turkmenistan
China
Tajikistan
other Asian and European countries | ||
Ayna Television (means "mirror" in Turkish) was the first commercial television station broadcasting from Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan. It began broadcasting in late 2004. The station is owned by General Abdul Rashid Dostum. It airs entertainment and news programs as well as serving as an improvement tool for Dostum and his party, Junbish-i-Milli Islami Afghanistan.ار
Ayna was set up in order to satisfy the entertainment needs of people in northern Afghanistan where Uzbek is widely spoken. The channel can also be viewed by people in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and other Asian and European countries.
It can be viewed from all the northern provinces of Afghanistan, including the Greater Kabul region.
The signal of Ayna can be received throughout the northern province of Jowzjan as well as in the neighbouring provinces of Balkh, Faryab, Sar-e-Pol, Badghis, Herat, Ghor, Samangan, Takhar, Kunduz, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Bamyan, and other provinces. The main transmitter is in Sheberghan, the capital of Jowzjan. The station currently broadcasts all day and employs 32 journalists, 25 technical staff and 12 administrators.
Sayed Fahim Zaffar, the person responsible for Ayna Television, said launching the channel cost about US$1 million. The station's location is in a house belonging to General Dostum. The station plans to construct a new building meeting international broadcasting standards to house the television station.
The logo of Ayna TV was changed in 2009.