Television
The Central African Republic was one of the first Central African countries to set up a public television station at the beginning of 1974. Yet, more than 40 years later the country’s television reach is practically limited to major cities, and not throughout the national territory as seen in neighbouring countries. The CAR still lags in the use of television as a tool for social recovery, awareness, information, education and leisure on a national scale. Inaugurated on 22 February 1974, the Télévision Centrafricaine (Central African Television - TVCA), equipped with a transmitter with a power of 5KW, only covers the capital Bangui and other cities less than 200 kilometres away. Its performance does not meet the expectations of the Central African viewers due to an obsolete and poor system of production and distribution.
However, since 2011, international private televisions have appeared on the media market. This is the case of the American Direct TV, the Cameroonian Vision 4 and the French Canal+ channels. This international opening, although late, has now enabled the Central African diaspora to follow the news of their country in the sub-Saharan region and in Europe. According to a study of the Francophonie in 2014 there were about 6000 household are equipped with at least one television. That said, with a population of about 4.5 million, 6000 households represent a very negligible percentage rate compared to other African countries. For this, the television audience is very limited in the Central African Republic.
In addition to the problems of acquiring television sets, which are unfortunately very expensive in the Central African Republic, there is also the already mentioned problem of access to electricity, which is largely lacking throughout the country. As television is largely dependent on electricity, only middle- and upper-class households that are able to use alternative power sources such as generators or solar panels can have easy access to it.