Journal of Social Science Review

2014, 30 (2) 291–306

State, Capital and Media in the Age of Globalization: An Inquiry into the Rapid
Growth of Private TV Channels of Bangladesh

Atiqur Rahman*
Khorshed Alam**

Analysis of television reveals the new alliances being forged among

transnational corporations, the capitalist state, and communications
technologies in the era of techno-capitalism. [Kellner: 1990: 90]

Abstract: By the mid-1990s, a powerful global commercial media market had emerged with
full force. The rise of this global commercial media system is more than an economic matter;
it has had a clear impact on media content, politics, and culture. After the fall of the socialist
bloc, and with the emergence of a new world order, Bangladesh embarked on the path of
market economy in the early nineties by giving significant emphasis on privatization in line
with World Bank and IMF directions. During this period a significant economic
transformation took place in Bangladesh. Simultaneously, the status of Bangladesh media
changed notably. Within the last decade, in addition to daily newspapers and private-owned
radio channels, Bangladesh has seen almost two dozen satellite channels come into being,
something not usual for a developing country. Some media experts argue that this unusual
growth of TV channels will benefit only developed countries as well as the affluent section of
the Bangladeshi people who are be the prime beneficiary of the market liberalization process.
They emphasize on an obvious tie among international money flow, global media market and
the expansion of local TV channels of Bangladesh. This article tries to interpret the TV
channel boom in Bangladesh and focuses on the interconnection among media, state policy
and free market economy in the epoch of globalization.

Key Words: Globalization, Market Economy, Corporatization of Media, Ideological

Apparatus, Neo-liberalism, Consumerism, de-politicization

Atiqur Rahman, Associate Professor, Dept. of Communication and Journalism University of

Chittagong, Bangladesh
Khorshed Alam, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Mass Communication and Journalism University of
Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Introduction
The recent growth of private television channels of Bangladesh is analogous to the expansion
of corporate controlled media all over the world. Bangladeshi private television channels saw
an exponential growth after the 90s because of the intervention of global capitalism and rise
of a strong local comprador class. These channels are not dedicated to the people or the
nation state, and they serve only the interest of the corporate sector. After the Cold War, a
significant change in the media has taken place in the media industry, especially TV
channels, in Bangladesh. The old public media industry has now been replaced by profit-
making private industries as is the case in many other developing countries. This study
focuses on this transformation of the media sector, especially private TV channels, in
Bangladesh and analyzes how and why it happened and who have benefitted from this shift.
It also highlights the impact of recent capital flow in third world countries in the name of
globalization and its influence on the growth of the media industry. This study further
examines the role of the state in the advent of private TV channels in Bangladesh. Almost
three dozen private channels have surfaced during the last one decade whereas there was only
one single state-owned television channel (BTV) in Bangladesh for more than three decades.
Clearly, the abrupt growth of private television channels in Bangladesh demands a very
careful and critical reading. This article tries to do so from the political economy and cultural
studies approach.

Some critiques of mainstream media: A theoretical discussion

Political economy investigates ‘social relations that mutually constitute the production,
distribution and consumption of resources’ (Mosco: 1996:25) and ‘deals with the factors like
the history of social changes, relations between social organs-such as social class, economic
and political organizations’ (Golding & Murdock: 1991:15-32). The political economy
approach to media analyzes how media production takes place, how it is organized
politically, economically and institutionally, and who produces it and why (Magder: 1989:
278-96). Traditional political economy, which emphasizes power relations in the economic,
political and social spheres, has also produced a large body of literature analyzing the media.
(see. Bagdikian 1990, Herman and Chomsky 1988 and Murdock 1997 etc.). These theories
tend to show that two main groups of capitalists – media owners and advertisers – utilize the
media as a tool for manipulating the masses. They argue that the media which emerges in a
capitalistic system fails to provide diversity of information, perspectives and cultural
resources to the public (McChesney: retrieved 2010, May 2010).

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The cultural studies approach examines the political dimension of different cultures, its
historical perspectives, conflicts and charactersitics. It scrutinizes how a specific
medium or message relates to ideology, class, ethnicity, sexuality, rather than investigating a
certain culture or region of the world. According to cultural studies theorists ‘there could be
no real understanding of the media unless priority is given to the understanding of the
fundamental relationship between ‘developed’ and ‘developing countries’, the international
socio-politico-economic system that decisively determines the course of development within
the sphere of each nation.’ (Boyd-Barrett: 1982:175) In the early 50s, there was a common
perception that development of communication system in developing countries was a
prerequisite for their progress. (Schramm: 1964) But in most cases western prescription for
developing countries could not bring about much positive outcome. Moreover, experts have
argued that the development of communication tools have ensured the advantage of
developed countries and not the poorer ones. As Mohammadi (Mohammadi: 1997: 80) notes,
free flow of data in the global market benefit the strongest ones. Most of the time, data are
produced to meet very specific needs of multinational corporations, national government
bureaucrats and military establishments of the advanced industrial states.
Since 1980, very few Western media have played a crucial role in paving the path for
globalization. In this process, the media have played an important part of the bloc’s bid to
dominate the world market. (Mohammadi: 1997: 67) At the same time, nation states have
facilitated the consolidation/concentration of media industry by privatizing and liberalizing
their respective media markets. The expansion of the free market was accompanied by media
expansion. (Herman & Chomsky: 1988:4) Media giants, advertising agencies, and large
multinational companies have a joint and close interest in the developing countries. (Herman
& Chomsky: 1988:13) No doubt, the media has been used as a means of 'manufacturing
consent' in these parts for a long period, (Chomsky: 2002) as the mass media is drawn into a
systematic relationship with powerful sources of information out of economic necessity and
reciprocity of interests. It must be stressed that media images and stories carry powerful but
coded meaning and messages that ordinary people cannot understand instantly. A common
allegation against the media is that media practitioners socially reconstruct reality based on
professional and personal ideologies, corporate interests, organizational norms and values.
Activities of the media are controlled by factors such as profit demands, organization of the
industry, relation with other industries, financial institutions, public institutions, cable
operators and newspaper hawker unions etc. Such factors surely influence the form and
content of media programs. Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno have been concerned
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about the ideological character of capitalist media. They have argued that the integration of
the cultural realm into the system of commodity exchange means that only cultural products
which can survive in a capitalist market are produced. The market mechanisms inevitably
lead to standardization, identity, and conformity. As a result, consumers are confronted with
the permanent reproduction of existing societal conditions. This leads to mass deception,
manipulation, uniformity, and elimination of every idea of resistance. (Horkheimer and
Adorno, 1947/1997) Douglas Kellner, a cultural critic, has drawn attention to the ambiguity
of dominant media, “Media and computer technologies are among the most advanced forces
of production which are creating a new global capitalist society which may well strengthen
capitalist relations of production and hegemony, but also contain the potential for
democratizing, humanizing and transforming existing inequities in the domain of class, race
and gender. Like most technologies, they can be used as instruments of domination or
liberation, and can be used by capital as powerful instruments of domination.” (Kellner,
1997: 1)

TV as a vehicle of ‘Techno-capitalism’
Over the last three decades there has been a significant development in terms of corporate
involvement in television production and distribution. For this very reason some radical
media experts have termed television as a vanguard of the new techno-capitalism. (Kellner:
1990: 89) In most cases, television is primarily used for commercial purposes, in whole or in
part, by private interests albeit under state supervision. Some critics even argue that television
is a powerful tool for selling the values and lifestyles of corporate capitalism (Schiller, 1995:
193). Actually, the revenue-producing capability of commercial broadcasting is one of the
important causes behind the recent television boom evident all over the world. As a result, in
the mid 90s roughly 600 million television sets were in use in the world and this number is
increasing every second (Mohammadi: 1997: 81). Liberalization of the market, rapid increase
of commercial advertisements, and the ongoing globalization process have opened the
floodgate of television channels in developing countries. The impositions of privatization,
deregulation, decentralization and further integration into the global economy have coincided
with a decrease in public expenditures in such countries. (Gonzalez: 1996: 39-48) Under the
force of such globalizing trends some see the state as becoming increasingly powerless, while
a liberated market economy is gradually usurping the traditional functions of the state.
Certainly, television is seen to be one of the strongest ideological and commercial arms of the
capitalist system. Criticism of television is best reflected in Douglas Kellner’s analysis
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(Kellner, 1990: p:6). He lists that the television is ‘an ideological state apparatus’
(Althusser, 1971), ‘mind manager’ (Schiller, 1973), the cultural arm of the industries order’
(Gerbner, 1976), ‘instrument that maintains hegemony and legitimates the status quo’
(Tuchman, 1994), ‘looking glass’ that provides a distorted and ideological view of social life
(Rapping, 1987), instrument that ‘invents reality’ according to the needs and imperatives of
corporate capitalism (Parenti, 1987) and a propaganda machine that ‘manufactures consent’
for the existing socio-political order (Herman and Chomsky 1988; Herman 1988; Chomsky
1989).’ Like Douglas Kellner, we can say that the rapid expansion of private television
channels in Bangladesh is an outcome of the post-cold war transformation of global political
and economic system where Bangladesh as a state has played a crucial role.

Brief Sketch of the Private TV Channels of Bangladesh

Before 1995, Bangladesh Television (BTV), owned by the government, was the only TV
channel to operate in Bangladesh. At present, however, 25 Bangladeshi satellite television
channels are in operation, presenting a significant number of programs throughout the day.
Of these television channels, the government-owned Bangladesh Television, established in
1964 with the aim of improving the national culture with information, education, motivation
and entertainment, attracts the highest number of viewers in the country. This may partly be
due to the fact that only this channel has terrestrial facility. ATN Bangla was the first
private-owned commercial television channel in Bangladesh which started a limited-hour
transmission in 1995. Apart from ATN Bangla, Channel i, NTV, Banglavision, RTV,
Ekushey Television, Islamic TV, Boishaki, Desh TV, Diganta Television, ATN News, My
TV, Ekattur Television, Channel-9, Independent Television, Somoy Television, Machhranga
Television, Mohona TV and GTV are the other private channels that are currently on air.

Rapid Growth of Private Channels: An upshot of Market Economy

From the time the global commercial media market emerged in the early 1990s, the concept
of national/public media began to change. In the past, to understand any nation's media
situation, one had to understand the local and national media and then determine where the
global market ─ which largely meant imports and exports of films, TV shows, books, and
music ─ fitted in. Today one must internalize the trends and tendencies of the global
commercial system and then determine how local and national media are working in the
framework of a given system. At present the Bangladesh media system is no longer separated
from the global commercial media system which is closely tied with the burgeoning 'neo-
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liberal' global capitalist economic system. Both neo-liberal economic policies and growth of
media, especially television, is a new phenomenon for Bangladeshi society. In fact,
Bangladesh has experienced a significant transformation like many other countries in its
capital expansion in the post-cold war era. This transformation has also played a significant
effect on the media sector.
After the independence there were so few wealthy individuals in Bangladesh that it was
impossible to envisage a capitalist class. In fact, in the mid 70s only a small middle class was
involved in state mechanisms such as civil or army bureaucracy. Though in the mid 80s the
number of affluent people increased somewhat, it was still too meager to constitute a social
class. After the cold war period, however, a huge amount of money started to flow into
Bangladesh, mostly as foreign aid and foreign direct investment, resulting in the emergence
of a large number of moneyed persons. Very naturally within a capitalistic mode of
production they have a strong link with the power base. In the last two decades more than ten
thousand people in Bangladesh have become multimillionaires (Sen, 2006: 100). One statistic
interprets the scenario as: “In 1983/84 fiscal year 5 per cent of the population holds 18.30%
of national income which is 30.66% in the year 2000’’ (Muhammad, 2005). It is important to
note here that after independence the government took control of large private institutions
and nationalized many private-owned industries. Because of this nationalization process there
were only four national dailies in Bangladesh in 1974 under Sheikh Mujib’s pseudo-socialist
regime. But immediately after the fall of the Mujib regime, the Zia government adopted a
liberal policy, which included the World Bank prescribed SAP, affecting not only the
economy but the media as well. Steps taken by Zia’s government facilitated the way for
private ownership of media such as dailies, weeklies, monthlies etc. As a result, the
Bangladesh media sector experienced noteworthy growth during this period. On November
29, 1980, the state-owned Bangladesh Television started color television transmission; at the
same time the Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) also made its way into Bangladesh society,
mainly through business magnates and unskilled blue-collar workers employed in Middle
Eastern countries who managed to go there as a consequence of the state labor policy adopted
by the Zia government. Here one noteworthy point is that during the Zia regime Bangladesh
developed good ties with Middle Eastern Islamic countries and managed to send a large a
number of unskilled and semi-skilled laborers to them. The expatriate semi-skilled laborers
not only brought back foreign currency but also new cultural products like the burkha (hijab)
and television. After the fall of the Zia regime, President Ershad, came to state power and
took further steps to encourage privatization. In the 1990s, we saw an even bigger leap in the
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privatization process. From industry to education, every sector along with the media
experienced a sharp shift in privatization. Bangladesh saw the pinnacle of privatization
process with the establishment of the ‘Privatization Board’ in 1993. The year 1992 was very
significant as the government permitted foreign satellite transmission, private universities,
cell phone companies and other private ventures.
Three important developments strengthened the media revolution ― the demise of
communism, the increasing integration of world markets and very rapid advances in
communication technology. (Page & Crawley: 2001: 21) A significant step was then up taken
by the caretaker government of President Shahabuddin Ahmed, in 1991, to enhance the
development of private media. He erased the legal obstacles in securing license for
establishing media organizations which had been promulgated by President Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman through the ‘Special Power Act 1974’ to control the media, especially newspapers.
With the elimination of this legal obstacle and the onset of a free market economy of
Bangladesh, there was a quantum leap in the media sector. According to the Information
Ministry of Bangladesh (1996:9), the number of newspapers doubled between 1992 and
1999. Before 1991 there was a single state-owned television channel but now there was
around twenty, in 1991 there was a single radio channel now there are five. In keeping with
the privatization-liberalization policy in the economic sector, an open sky policy for foreign
satellite television channels through satellite was adopted by Khaleda Zia, when she was
elected prime minister in 1991. This policy was continued subsequently by Sheikh Hasina’s
regime. During her 1996-2001 tenure, three local private channels got permission and started
broadcasting regularly. Consequently, media consumption increased and audience size grew
(Maddhyam: 2003: 7). Within a decade of the private television channel boom, the number
of viewers in Bangladesh increased up to 33 per cent. (Prothom Alo, 08 August 2006) It
appears that television channels have become a price commodity. Though Bangladesh
experienced hundreds of industrial layoffs during the last twenty years (Muhammad, 2005),
yet its commercial television sector has been booming since inception. Contents of these
television channels have become advertising windows for the business-politico elites of
Bangladesh who use private channels as a means of patronage to capture a poorly informed
captive market of citizen audience as well as to influence democratic politics.
Indeed, after 1990, and in a free market world order, it became easy to get permission for
setting up private television channels and radio stations. In fact, the abnormal growth of
private television channels in Bangladesh is due to the impact of free market economic
policies which promoted by leading global development related institutions such as the World
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Bank, IMF, ADB, WTO etc. Throughout the 90’s the private sector of Bangladesh media
system grew rapidly, while its public sector started to close down in 1995. Except for the
single channel Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Radio, other state media outlets were
closed. Meanwhile, private-owned newspaper organizations, radio stations as well as
television channels flourished. In particular television channels become profitable. Indeed, if
we examine the major media organization of Bangladesh, we will see that all these media
organizations are outlets of some big business enterprises: Prothom Alo, The Daily Star and
ABC Radio are the sister concern of ‘Transcom Group’, Desh TV, Daily Bhorer Kagoj and
Diner Sheyshe are connected with ‘HRC Group’, Jamuna TV, which does not get
government approval yet and Daily Jugantar are associated with ‘Jamuna Group of
Industries’, Kaler Kantha, Daily Sun and Bangladesh Protidin are the sister concerns of
‘Bashundhara group’, Daily Independent and Independent Television are with the ‘Beximco
Group’ etc. In fact, not only in Bangladesh, throughout South Asia there has been a
spectacular media growth during post cold-war era that is linked to the expansion of big
business houses.
Since early 1970s these institutions have been steering Bangladesh towards privatization,
market liberalization, and de-regularization through their policies and strategies.
(Muhammad, 2005) As per the prescription of these agencies, the private sector has been
getting a good priority from early 1980s. Within a few years the private sector of Bangladesh
expanded through national and international financial support. Closing down and transferring
of ‘Adamjee’, the largest jute mill of the world, to private sector is the best example in this
regard. The government closed this jute mill in 2002, alleging that it was a drain on the
economy. Without taking necessary steps to make it profitable the government shut it down
abruptly rendering at least 1,00,0000 laborers jobless. Actually, during the last two decades
hundreds of mills and industries, big or small, were shut down. There is a clear sign of de-
industrialization in comparison to the early 80’s, on the other hand, hundreds of shopping
complexes have sprouted. For example, just after the closing of Adamjee Jute Mill
Bangladesh observed the launching ceremony of the self- proclaimed largest shopping mall
of South-Asia, ‘Basundhara City Shopping Mall’. Therefore, a common saying is that the
Bangladesh economy has turned to malls from mills during this period. (Muhammad: 2005)
These mall-based economic trends have tended to promote an abnormal growth of private TV
channels in Bangladesh. Throughout the 90’s the private sector of Bangladesh media system
grew rapidly, while its public sector started to close down in 1995. Except for the single
channel Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Radio, other state media outlets were closed.
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Meanwhile, private-owned newspaper organizations, radio stations as well as television
channels flourished. In particular television channels become profitable. After 1990 the major
expansion of private sector took place particularly in the service sector e. g. transportation,
private university, hospital, real estate, telecommunication, media, banking sector etc. Among
them the media have been the most vibrant. Most owners of the companies in the sector have
other businesses. Indeed, if we examine the major media organization of Bangladesh, we will
see that all these media organizations are outlets of some big business enterprises: Prothom
Alo, The Daily Star and ABC Radio are the sister concern of ‘Transcom Group’, Desh TV,
Daily Bhorer Kagoj and Diner Sheyshe are connected with ‘HRC Group’, Jamuna TV, which
does not get government approval yet and Daily Jugantar are associated with ‘Jamuna Group
of Industries’, Kaler Kantha, Daily Sun and Bangladesh Protidin are the sister concerns of
‘Bashundhara group’, Daily Independent and Independent Television are with the ‘Beximco
Group’ etc. In fact, not only in Bangladesh, throughout South Asia there has been a
spectacular media growth during post cold-War era that is linked to the expansion of big
business houses.

Socio-economic Transformation and the Growth of Private Channels

Media critics underscore the many factors responsible for the recent growth of private TV
channels in Bangladesh such as expansion of private sector as well as advertisements from
private sectors, pressure of global commercial channels and local print media, growing
awareness about democracy, entertainment demand from the growing middle class,
technological advancement and the bid to legalize ‘black money’. These factors are discussed
in detail in the next section of the paper.

Expansion of private sector and private advertisement as well

Needless to say, profit maximization through advertisement is the most effective way for the
private TV channels. This money generating process of both local and global media system
maintains a strong tie with global market economy. In reality, commercial media system is
the necessary transmission conduct for businesses to market their commodities across the
world. Indeed capitalistic globalization as we know it could not exist without it. With the
influence of national and international inputs in the last few decades there has been an
increasing development of private sector in Bangladesh. Index of Economic Freedom 2010
shows that the economic freedom score of Bangladesh is 3.6 point higher than the previous
year where trade freedom and investment freedom curve is exclusively higher than the last
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year. (Index of Economic Freedom 2010) Even big NGOs of the country have turned into
large corporate bodies working with big multinational corporate houses (Muhammad, 2005).
As a result of the growing expansion in the private sector, the advertisement industry is also
flourishing here. The burgeoning advertisement industry is the major source of revenue for
Bangladeshi private TV channels. On the other hand, these advertisement industries are
dependent on media, especially TV channels, to sell advertisements on behalf of private
enterprises. As a result, new TV channels have come into existence to take advantage of the
expanding consumer base and increased scope for advertising revenue. Thus, one can easily
see that new channels have emerged not to address the needs and necessities of viewers but to
meet the demand of growing profit-maximizing industries.
According to a report prepared by Ryans Archive, a media-monitoring agency, (Daily
Star 05 September 2010) spending on television commercials in Bangladesh increased from
around Tk 83 crore in December, 2009 to Tk 96.5 crore in January, 2010. Among the top 10
advertisers four were mobile phone operators. The top 10 advertisers accounted for more than
half of the total spending in advertisement. The mobile operators, including Grameenphone,
Banglalink, Warid and Citycell, spent around Tk 36 crore on TV commercials in January
alone, which was 11 percent more than the previous month. Industry insiders estimate that the
total market size of the local advertising business is around Tk 1,200 crore per year (Daily
Star 05 September 2010), exhibiting a steady growth of 15 percent. In the industry, print
media still gets the largest amount of advertisements, grabbing around 43 percent of the total,
while TV commercials account for 39 percent. (Daily Star 05 September 2010) According to
Tusher Abdullah, a renowned television journalist of Bangladesh, 70 per cent of this
advertisement market is dominated by some 10 advertisement companies of which most are
multinationals (Abdullah, 2010:69). Very often advertisers determine the contents, news
anchor/presenter, time slots of different programs etc. of private channels. (Jahangir, Prothom
Alo, 15 June 2008)
In 1995, when private television channels were initiated in Bangladesh, very few of the
populace had their own TV set while cable connection was seen as a status symbol. However,
the advent of Bengali programs of private TV channels and the expansion of the cable
network have increased the sale of television sets. According to a statistic of 2010, 56 per
cent households in rural areas have television sets though the number was far lower just two
decades ago. (Prothom Alo: March 14, 2010) However, only 18.8 per cent rural people have
cable connections at their homes, 44.7 per cent people can enjoy watching satellite television
programs mainly in public places like bazaars and relative’s or neighbor’s houses. (BCDJC
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Survey, 2007: 35-28) The number of private channels viewers are about 38 million (3 crore
77 lakhs) while state-owned BTV has an audience size of almost 64 million (6 crore and 44
lakhs). (Prothom Alo: March 14, 2010)

Entertainment apparatus for the growing middle class

As an outcome of the expansion of the private sector in Bangladesh, a consumerist middle
class has emerged. This newly visible middle class, composed of civil and military
bureaucrats, small scale entrepreneurs, mid-level politicians, share market brokers, NGO
workers, educationists, bankers, black marketers, and unskilled and semi-skilled expatriate
laborers, have demands for recreations that have been met by newly introduced private TV
channels. This social class has been using media as its cultural apparatus to fulfill its needs of
recreation and amusement. Moreover, when CNN and BBC started transmitting its programs
in 1992 they got tremendous popularity among the educated urban people. This media has
been identified as one of the crucial factors behind the growth of private television channels
in Bangladesh. Certainly, these news-based channels broadcast through foreign satellite
channels contributed to the formation of this new consumer class as well as a new generation
who feel happy to consider themselves as Westernized. Large portions of this generation
believe in ‘consumerist life style’. A research survey conducted by the Communication and
Journalism Department of the University of Chittagong, reveals that satellite television in
Bangladesh has been changing the behavioral pattern of city dwellers, threatening the age old
values, and the culture and tradition of the country. The survey showed the changes effected
by daily television viewing have occurred in day-to-day lifestyle as in clothing, s, fashion,
career plans, language choices, and in attitudes to elders, heroism and violence. The survey
also revealed that youths, particularly teenagers who had been exposed to international
satellite channels programs that were violent through household cable connections, were
posing serious threats to our culture and tradition. It further shows that the socio-political and
cultural impacts of such programs were ignored when the government decided to give
permission to telecast them in its territory in 1992. The respondents believe that 41 per cent
of the youths are interested in speaking Hindi as a consequence of the popularity of Hindi
television channels in Bangladesh. It was noted that the audiences are spending two to three
hours more than before in watching satellite television programs. This trend has paved the
way for the popularity of private-owned local television channels.

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Pressure of local newspapers
The pressure of local newspapers is an important reason for the rapid growth of private
channels in Bangladesh. Though the history of print media in the subcontinent originated in
1780, it began in present day Bangladesh from 1847. Before 1990 the newspapers of
Bangladesh were mainly used as the ideological apparatus of different political parties, but
nowadays it is driven by strong commercial motivation. In the nineties, the newspaper
industry in Bangladesh was taken over by the commercial sphere due basically to the impact
of global market economic. At present it has become one of the tools to generate money and
safeguard ill-gotten money. As the experience of print media has already proven profitable,
entrepreneurs are keen to invest in the television sector also. Moreover, as television has a
greater impact on the audience than newspapers, it offers greater incentive for investment in
private television channels.

Pressure from foreign television channels

Another reason behind the growth of private television channel is pressure from foreign
television channels. At present more than 200 private television channels are active in India
(Sagor, 2008). Of these some are very popular in Bangladesh. Moreover, poor presentations
by state-owned local television channel and thirst for variation have prompted Bangladeshi
audiences, even audiences in rural areas, to view these channels. Most of them are
entertainment based, such as: Star Movies, HBO, MM1, MM2, Zee TV, Sony TV, Zee
Cinema, Star Sports, ESPN, TEN Sports etc. There are, however, some people, mostly in the
cities and divisional headquarters, who enjoy watching news channels such as CNN, BBC or
NDTV of India. This growing pressure from foreign media market has triggered both
Bangladeshi entrepreneurs and state policy makers to establish private television channels. It
has been argued by relevant personnel and local media experts that if the government had not
given permission to private channels then Bangladesh would have lost local audiences to
foreign channels, especially Indian ones. One noteworthy point is that though in Bangladesh
almost all Indian satellite channels are popular, India does not permit broadcast of any
Bangladeshi channels, not even in West Bengal, where millions of Bengali speaking people
live.

Technological advancement
Rapid technological advancement is one of the prime causes behind the boom of television
channels in Bangladesh like rest of the world. In fact, during the last few decades
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technological advancement has developed to a greater extent than ever before. Consequently,
the prices of manufacturing televisions, television sets and other relevant accessories, like
satellite connection etc., have lessened over this period. As it is a developing country, most
people in Bangladesh did not have the ability to buy a television one and half decades ago.
But television, once a status-symbol of the urban upper class, is now a common household
apparatus even in slums and rural areas of the country. It has become possible only due to the
blessings of rapid development of modern technology. Nowadays, television set sales is
increasing at around 10 per cent a year (The Daily Star, 30 May 2010, Star Business, p.1).
Today it is very easy to obtain a satellite connection and this encourages people to take
advantage of this.

Private television channel as an ideological tool

Another reason behind the mushroom growth of television channels is the practice of using
them as a tool for ideological persuasion by the ruling class. Some channels are being used
for political propaganda by the ruling class, comprising of two major political parties, who
have been trying to legitimize their misdeeds. In fact, in the last two decades, in Bangladesh
as in other South Asian countries, media owners have developed a symbiotic relationship
with the ruling class comprising of big industrialists, traders, politicians, members of
parliaments, both army and civil bureaucrats, members of the government and etc. (Islam:
2002). There is evidence that the investors of some private channels are not only business
people but are backed by major political parties. For example, the now defunct Channel 1
was owned first by former state minister of Home Affairs Mr. Lutfuzzaman Babor, and then
parliament member of ruling party Mr. Nurul Islam. NTV is owned by Mr. Mosaddeq
Hossain Falu, a former adviser of the Prime Minister. Boishakhi Television is owned by
Destiny Group, Islamic Television is owned by one of the influential parliament members of
BNP, and Diganta Television by the Akij Group. One significant fact is that a good number
of shareholders of these private channels were arrested during the anti-corruption movement
of the last caretaker government in 2006-2008. This indicates that the owners were exploiting
the television channels to legitimize political manipulation and increase of assets. Since
there is no comprehensive broadcasting policy, media owners use their political affiliation to
get permission for transmission. Recently the government has issued licenses to 10 more
private television channels without following any principle (Prothom Alo, 19 October 2009).
Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad has acknowledged the irregularities in a discussion
meeting on 26 May, 2012, saying ‘‘the licensing process of some private television channels
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2014, 30 (2) 291–306
was not fair enough. (Prothom Alo, May 27, 2012. p. 7). There is an allegation that owners of
these ten new channels are close to the ruling Bangladesh Awami League. Having no strict
policy, the number of channels has been increasing gradually, even though 50 per cent of
television audiences do not want anymore private television channels in Bangladesh
(Prothom Alo, 16 September 2006). More than two dozen channels are operating at this
moment as there is no comprehensive broadcasting policy in the country to guide these
private television channels. Regrettably, the formation of a broadcasting policy is not a
prime agendum of the government yet (Prothom Alo, 19 August 2009).
In Bangladesh the media is not subjected to direct government restriction, but there are
some restrictive laws constraining freedom of the media, especially in the area of national
security and public safety (Rahman: 2002a & 2006b:11). Control over the license would be
an effective tool for handling privately owned media (Rahman: 2002a). Another state
apparatus which relied on distribution of government advertisement to control the media is
counterproductive as non-government advertising dominants advertisement market (Rahman:
2002a). These two factors have also contributed to the development of private television
channels in Bangladesh.

Concluding Remarks
Apart from contributing to the development of a consumerist attitude during last few decades,
the media have significantly impacted on cultural formation. Therefore, it has also been
questioned by being called the 'the cultural-extension of the industrial order' because of its
intervention in lifestyle (Sinha: 2003:5). Though impact of audio-visual medium is
undeniable even to the poorest of the globe, Bangladeshi private television channels are
mostly serving the demands of commercialism, consumerism and individualism. Starting
their journey with the slogan of ‘news first’, Bangladeshi private television industry is now
very busy with their profit making activities through entertainment and political partisanship,
ignoring the dark realities of a poor country. As part of global entertainment industry, these
channels are promoting corporate and commercial interests and trying to promote a deep de-
politicization value. Actually, ordinary people of Bangladesh get very little benefit from the
current distorted information flow of these channels. For example, several labor movements
in the country were depicted as anarchic in these media (Adhikari: 2007:197-219). Thus, the
recent boom of media in Bangladesh can not be a boon for society because of its ownership
patterns, its distortion of information, its manipulation of agenda and the commoditization of
news.
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2014, 30 (2) 291–306
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