‘BTV needs to be competitive’

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has advised Bangladesh Television (BTV) to build its capacity to compete with the private TV stations.

She made the suggestion on Thursday while inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of government-run television station at BTV Bhaban in Dhaka’s Rampura.

The prime minister also asked BTV, which runs on taxpayers' money, to keep being accountable to the state about programmes.

The television station commenced operation on Dec 25, 1964 at DIT Bhaban, now RAJUK Bhaban. It was renamed Bangladesh Television after independence.

BTV was shifted to the Rampura premises on Feb 9, 1975. Now it has two fully fledged centres at Dhaka and Chittagong and 14 sub-centres across the country.

The TV station covers 98 percent of the country’s territory.

Hasina, in her speech, said her government had given licences to 31 private satellite TV channels in the last six years.

“BTV has made a lot of progress which has to be maintained. BTV has to compete with the private TV channels.”

Speaking at the function, Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor warned that BTV would be ‘pushed hard’ unless it could be creative.

The prime minister said her government had no intention to use the state-run TV station as its mouthpiece.

“Television station was once used as a toy of military dictators. BTV was used as a medium to legitimise usurp power. After grabbing power illegally, it was announced through the TV station: ‘I'm the president from today,” she said.

Hasina launched the celebrations by releasing balloons and pigeons.

She also unveiled the plaque of the new 12-storey building of BTV and released special stamps and envelops commemorating the TV station’s golden jubilee.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, Prime Minister’s Information Advisor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, BTV’s first Director General Jamil Chowdhury and incumbent DG Abdul Mannan and Artiste Ferdausi Rahman also spoke on the occasion, among others.