25TV, an Egyptian privately-owned satellite TV channel that was forced off air on October 9th, will resume transmissions October 20th.  The channel went dark when rioters, including members of Egypt’s armed forces, broke into the channel’s central Cairo studio and destroyed much of the infrastructure.

Mohamed Gohar, 25TV’s CEO, said the channel’s Christian-focussed editorial policy will not be affected in any way by the incident. 25TV and Alhurra channels, both located in the same building in the Maspero ERTU area area, were broken into by central security forces and military police soldiers during the clashes that left at least 26 dead, mostly civilians, and around 300 injured.

The channel has not received any form of contact from the authorities since the incident. However, Egypt’s Al Ahram newspaper reported that members of Egypt’s state television attended the press conference to show solidarity with their fellow broadcasters.  State television has been facing fierce criticism over its coverage of the Maspero clashes, during which it was accused of inciting against protesters, claiming they were shooting at army soldiers and issuing unverified news about the deaths.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTH/Satellite