Television in Obanacia

Television broadcasts in Obanacia began in 1962 with the launch of the Nayartal-based OET. OET held a brief monopoly on Obanacian television until Sastava Television was established in 1969, building a major competition between two networks. As of 1970, over thirty television stations have been licenced and assigned and are yet to go on air. By the 1980s, several television channels have been launched in Obanacia, including We Are One, Nesionytan Television Network, Obanacia Television, Televisej 6, Dasab TV, and UTA, which gradually led to television becoming the leading source of entertainment and information in Obanacia by the late 1980s. The country as of today has more than 300 television channels operating, making it one of Nesionyta's largest television markets. The constitution of Obanacia forbids government ownership of television broadcasting, but OET was allowed to be operated by the Obanacian Department of Education, which itself is a government department.

History
Experimental television broadcasting commenced in 1958, in a small apartment in Mullaqar. Its resident, Asur Telakomaj, widely referred to as the 'Father of Obanacian television', stated that he was introduced to television during his business trip to the, bringing a television set to Obanacia with him. Television signals have already been available in Isandarual since 1950, and many people came to his apartment just to watch Isandarualese programming, most of which were second language French speakers, since the programming was mostly available in French at the time. In 1960, Telakomaj built the first Obanacian television set, with aid from.

Initially, television was formally introduced to the country in 1962 after Telakomaj worked with OER and the Obanacian government to launch the first Obanacian television station. On September 10, 1962, the Obanacian Educational Television went on the air for the first time, airing on weekdays providing edutainment content. Telakomaj later established the Obanacian Television Corporation, now known as Obteco, which mass produced television sets throughout the country. Television began arriving in other major cities in Obanacia during the mid-1960s, including Jokani in 1963, Xaxi in 1964, and Ghabarollah and Binayah in 1966. In 1964, telecommunications company DasabCom came up with the second television station in Obanacia, but after several failed attempts at establishing it, the idea was dropped until the 1980s. That same year, Obanacia began allowing the registration of television stations to help further developing the country's television industry. In 1965, over twenty television stations have been registered and licensed by the government. The first of the twenty stations to commence transmissions was Sastava Television in 1969, ending OET's television monopoly.

Soon after, OET and Sastava Television entered a grand competition, and relations greatly soured during the 1970s. Sastava Television quickly grew to become the most watched television channel in Obanacia, and also the country's largest in terms of viewership. It had also aired international programming, which have attracted the country's youth. Color television debuted in Obanacia in 1975, with experimental color broadcasts commencing in STV, and in OET in 1976. Full-time color broadcasts on both channels began in 1979. OET gradually declined and almost shutdown in 1977 due to lack of viewership, but funding from both OER and helped OET to keep broadcasting. In 1978, both networks broadcast the funeral of Telakomaj, who had passed away due to cardiac arrest. In 1981, We Are One established its first television channel of the same name, after several delays. During the 1980s, Obanacia saw a tremendous increase in television channels, with NTN, OTV, TV6, DTV, and UTA all launched in the decade. Television quickly became the largest form of entertainment in Obanacia, with many choices in television. During the late 1980s,, , , and began manufacturing television sets in Obanacia, as the television manufacturing industry had always been dominated by either Obteco or Admier.

Satellite television made its first presence in 1989, and foreign channels immediately gained popularity in Obanacia. Wider competition in the country's television industry began to grow, with several other local channels launched during the early 1990s. In 2000, Sastava Television became the first Obanacian television channel to broadcast in. All analog signals in Obanacia ceased broadcasting in major cities in 2006, and the digital switchover was completed in 2008, making Obanacia the first country to do so.

Classification of television channels
The Department of Broadcasting and Communications uses five classifications for television channels in Obanacia. These five include class-1, class-2, class-3, class-4, and satellite/cable. Satellite and cable television channels that are available in the country but not native to or does not have headquarters or studios in Obanacia, per se, are often classified as 'non-native', and is perceived as the sixth classification.


 * Class-1 - Refers to multilingual broadcasters, predominantly the ones that broadcast in the three official languages of Obanacia, namely Hajorian, Baritoa, and Barashan. This classification is only used for broadcasters using terrestrial signals. Satellite and cable exclusive multilingual television channels are classified as "satellite/cable".
 * Class-2 - Hajorian-language television channels. Used for all Hajorian-exclusive channels regardless if they are on terrestrial, satellite, or cable television.
 * Class-3 - Regional-language television channels. Classifies every television channel broadcasting on other Obanacian languages.
 * Class-4 - Local television channels broadcasting in foreign languages, namely English or French.

Satellite and cable television channels
After the arrival of satellite and cable television in Obanacia in 1989, the DBC implemented the "satellite/cable" classification of television channels.

Major television channels

 * Obanacian Educational Television - The oldest television channel in Obanacia, launched in 1962. It provides educational programming, and is headquartered in Nayartal. Operated by the Department of Education.
 * Sastava Television - The first television channel out of the twenty registered channels in 1965 to be launched, on June 14, 1969. Owned by the Sastava National Media, it is the largest television channel in Obanacia by revenue. Sastava Television is headquartered in Jokani.
 * We Are One - A multilingual television channel encouraging unity among Obanacian ethnicites owned by the organization of the same name. It was launched in 1981 as Ethnic Unity Television, and is headquartered in Jokani, with bureaus in Nayartal and Xaxi. We Are One Television ceased broadcasting in 2021 after failing to renew its license.
 * Nesionytan Television Network - Owned by Dunyan Qilarham and based in Binayah, NTN was launched in 1984. It is one of the most popular television channels in Obanacia, airing dramas and sports.
 * Obanacia Television - Launched in 1985 as Onunda Television, and later renamed to Obanacia Television in 1991. The channel was shut down in 1995 for news reports defaming the government, but did return to broadcasting in 1999.