TV Channel Overview
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB / سازمان صدا و سیمای جمهوری
اسلامی ایران), commonly known in Iran as Seda va Sima, is the national
radio and television broadcasting organization of Iran. Its headquarters
are in Tehran.
IRIB occupies a distinctive position in the Iranian media system. Under Iranian law, the establishment and operation of domestic radio and television broadcasting transmitters is reserved to the organization. Article 175 of the Constitution provides the institutional framework for IRIB: its head is appointed and dismissed by the Supreme Leader, while a supervisory council includes representatives of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
Rather than operating as a single television channel, IRIB manages a large broadcasting system consisting of nationwide general channels, specialist services, provincial and local networks, and international television services.
National Television Channels
IRIB TV1 is a general national channel carrying news, public affairs, drama, cultural programs, entertainment, and other broad-interest content.
IRIB TV2 combines general programming with family, social, educational, cultural, and entertainment content.
IRIB TV3 places considerable emphasis on sports and entertainment alongside general programming and content aimed particularly at younger audiences.
IRIB TV4 focuses more heavily on education, science, culture, documentaries, academic discussion, and intellectual subjects.
IRINN is the organization’s principal television news service, concentrating on news and current affairs.
IRINN 2 provides an additional news-oriented television service.
IRIB Amoozesh specializes in educational programming.
IRIB Quran is dedicated to the Quran, Islamic teaching, and religious programming.
IRIB Mostanad focuses on documentary programming.
IRIB Namayesh concentrates on films, drama, and television series.
IRIB Tamasha is centered mainly on television drama and series.
IRIB Varzesh is devoted to sports programming and sporting events.
IRIB Pooya & Nahal serves children with age-oriented programming.
IRIB Omid is designed primarily for teenage audiences.
IRIB Salamat concentrates on health, medicine, lifestyle, and public health subjects.
IRIB Nasim focuses largely on entertainment and light programming.
IRIB Ofogh presents cultural, social, documentary, and public-interest programming.
iFilm Persian carries Iranian films and television drama for Persian-speaking audiences.
IRIB UHD-HDR, also known as Faratar, provides ultra-high-definition television programming and is associated with the development of IRIB’s 4K broadcasting services.
The boundaries between “national,” “specialist,” and “regional” services are not always identical in every IRIB listing, particularly for channels such as Tehran TV and iFilm. For this reason, the network is better understood by the role and target audience of each service rather than by a single fixed channel count.
Regional and Provincial Television
Regional broadcasting forms another substantial part of IRIB. The organization maintains television centers across Iran’s provinces and several important local areas. These services concentrate on provincial government, local news, social affairs, culture, sports, community events, and other subjects directly connected with their respective regions.
Examples include Sahand TV in East Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan TV in West Azerbaijan, Sabalan TV in Ardabil, Esfahan TV in Isfahan Province, Fars TV in Fars Province, Khuzestan TV, Khorasan Razavi TV, Kordestan TV, Tabarestan TV in Mazandaran, Khalije Fars TV in Hormozgan, and Tehran TV in the capital region.
IRIB also maintains local services such as Abadan TV, Mahabad TV, and Kish TV.
Persian is central to the national broadcasting system, but provincial services may also use regional languages and dialects where appropriate to their audiences. This is especially relevant in areas with Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Arabic, and other linguistic communities. Regional channels therefore provide a different function from the nationwide networks by concentrating on local identity, provincial affairs, and community information.
International Television Services
IRIB also operates television networks intended primarily for audiences outside Iran. These international services use several languages and cover news, current affairs, culture, religion, films, and television drama.
Press TV is an English-language international news and current affairs network.
Al-Alam is an Arabic-language international news network.
Al-Kawthar broadcasts in Arabic and emphasizes religious, cultural, social, and informational programming.
HispanTV provides Spanish-language news and current affairs.
Sahar TV operates multilingual services directed toward audiences in different regions outside Iran.
iFilm operates international services featuring Iranian films and television drama in languages including Arabic, English, and Dari.
Jame Jam provides Persian-language television for Iranian and Persian-speaking audiences outside the country.
IRIB’s international media structure also includes additional multilingual news and information services.
The international networks are distinct from IRIB’s domestic television channels because their target audiences, languages, and editorial priorities are primarily oriented toward viewers outside Iran.
Historical Background
Television broadcasting began in Iran in 1958. A national television system expanded during the 1960s, and in 1971 the country’s national radio and television operations were consolidated as National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT).
Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the broadcasting system was reorganized under the Islamic Republic and developed into the present Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. IRIB inherited the earlier national and regional broadcasting infrastructure and subsequently expanded the number of specialist, provincial, and international television services.
Understanding the IRIB System
Iran’s television structure differs from systems in which several separately owned domestic broadcast networks operate alongside one another. Nationwide general channels, specialist channels, provincial stations, and international services are all organized within the IRIB broadcasting system.
The differences between individual IRIB channels are therefore mainly found in their intended audience, geographic focus, language, and program specialization. Some address viewers throughout Iran, some concentrate on individual provinces or cities, and others are intended primarily for audiences abroad.
Taken together, IRIB’s television services cover news and current affairs, drama and entertainment, sports, education, documentaries, religion, health, culture, children’s and youth programming, and regional affairs. Viewing IRIB as a broadcasting organization rather than as a single television channel makes it easier to understand both the scale of Iranian state television and the relationship between its nationwide, specialist, regional, and international services.
Basic Information
- Official Website
- Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)
- Genre
- General (News, Culture, Education, Sports, Religion, Entertainment)
- Language
- Persian (Farsi), Arabic, English, Spanish, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Dari, and other regional languages
- Country / Location
- Home > Middle East > Iran
- Headquarters
- Tehran
