Suroyo TV celebrates 18th anniversary of first experimental broadcast

ZALIN, Syria — Eighteen years have passed since Suroyo TV launched its first experimental broadcast on 4 July 2004 on Hotbird satellite. At the beginning, the station only broadcast for an hour a day. On 10 October of that year, Suroyo TV held its official opening gala, live, and started airing daily on weekdays for two hours in the evening with extended four hour broadcasts on the weekend. Eventually, the station would broadcast 24 hours a day.

Suroyo TV’s programs touched on various topics, including culture, society, politics, and religion. They were presented in the Syriac language in its western and eastern dialects, both having branched off of the ancient Aramaic language. The station has become an educational edifice, a cultural center, and a uniting place for Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people around the world. At the time, the stated goal of Suroyo TV was to energize the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people to pursue their rights more actively.

During the past eighteen years, Suroyo TV has been keen to transmit all local news and urgent developments on the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people who are scattered in more than 40 countries. The channel now operates via internet protocol television (IPTV).

Suroyo TV has recently opened a studio in Zalin (Qamishli), North and East Syria, for broadcasting live and recorded programs.

SyriacPress wishes to congratulate the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people and Suroyo TV on this achievement.