OSCE Office in Baku programme gets clear picture of Azerbaijan's public television

BAKU, 28 July 2006 - The first part of an OSCE Office programme to help improve Azerbaijan's Public Television (PTV), concluded today with the completion of a study to assess the broadcaster's needs.

The assessment aimed to establish a clear picture of PTV's current operation and to define its immediate development needs. A BBC team of two international and one local consultant interviewed key staff and met local media experts to discuss the broadcaster's editorial policy, the role of the Broadcasting Council, programming, technical infrastructure and training programme.

"Established almost a year ago, Azerbaijan's public broadcaster has achieved impressive results, but there is still a long way to go," said Robin Seaword, Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Baku. "We hope that the outcomes of this project will help PTV to advance to a new level in its development and thus to become a highly professional public broadcasting service."

A detailed report on the assessment findings will be published by the end of September.