Kazakh Television marks 60th anniversary
The resolution establishing the Kazakh Radio and Television Committee was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR on June 29, 1957. And the first broadcast was made on March 8, 1958, from the capital of the Kazakh SSR, Alma-Ata.
The first television studios in Karaganda and Ust-Kamenogorsk were opened the same year.
Initially, Kazakh television broadcast movies and television plays, subsequently mastering other formats.
In the mid-1970s, the Committee was renamed into the State Committee of Radio and Television of the Kazakh SSR.
Kazakh television went through a number of changes over the years of its existence.
The 1960s and 1970s saw the creation of the Shugyla, Kurdastar, and Rovesniki creative associations, the premiere of television plays such as 50-episode Kymyzkhana, children's programs Altybakan and Aigolek, as well as agriculture oriented Ak Biday and Operation Rhythm dedicated the subject of industrial development.
During the Perestroika period, Kazakh television was also looking for ways out of the crisis. In 1991, Kazakh television was the first to report about Nursultan Nazarbayev taking the oath as the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Today the national TV and radio company Qazaqstan continues its work in a new format.
The modern-day Qazaqstan Radio and Television Corporation includes three national channels: Qazaqstan, Qazsport, and Balapan and four radio stations: Qazaq Radiosy, Shalkar, Astana, and Classic, as well as 15 regional TV channels, and employs more than 2,000 people.
The share of own production currently amounts up to 80 percent of Qazaqstan's content and the channel continues to work on new projects.