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Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation

Public broadcaster in Bahrain

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
5 min read
Source updated August 30, 2026

Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation (BRTC; Arabic: تلفزيون البحرين, romanized: Tilifizyūn al-Baḥrayn) is a public broadcaster in Bahrain with headquarters in Manama. The BRTC is owned by the government of Bahrain, and under the control of the Information Affairs Authority.

01History

BRTC was set up in 1971, and became an independent body in January 1993. The corporation regulates visual and audio broadcasting in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It broadcasts programs in both Arabic and English.

02Radio Bahrain

Radio Bahrain was established in 1955, was taken over by BRTC in 1971, and became an independent body in 1993. Its English-language radio service has been on-air since 1977, broadcasting four hours a day from a studio in Isa Town. In 1982 the station was moved to a building in Adliya. On-air time was extended to 18 hours a day. A second station, Radio 2, began broadcasting 6 hours a day. In 1989 a new studio was established in the Ministry of Information building, and the following year the station went 24 hours. In 2007 Radio Bahrain switched its frequency from 101.0FM to 96.5FM.

03Bahrain TV

Bahrain TV was formed in 1973 by an American company (RTV International) with limited equipment. The government bought the station in 1975 and improved its facilities. A second channel (Channel 55) opened in December 1981. BTV has produced many Bahraini-created and produced shows, the most prominent being youth shows such as Chat with Batelco, and Hala Bahrain. Bahrain TV was criticised for the way it handled the 2011 Bahrain uprising, during which it ran a campaign to name, punish and shame those who took part in the uprising.

04Programs

Former

Imported shows

Animated shows
Documentary
Game shows
Children
Comedy
Cooking
Drama
Wrestling
Biographical
Sports
Horror
Magazine
Reality
Education
Western
Soap Opera
Talk Shows
Watch videos about Bahrain Radio and Television CorporationExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

Mass media in Bahrain

The mass media in Bahrain mainly consists of several weekly and daily newspapers, with the Information Affairs Authority controlling Bahrain's state-owned Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation, which broadcasts radio and television services. The media is predominantly in Arabic though English language and Malayalam newspapers are beginning to emerge in the country.

Information Affairs Authority

The Information Affairs Authority is Bahrain's ministry of information that was formed in July 2010. The president of IAA is appointed directly by the King of Bahrain and has the rank of a minister in the Bahrain government.