Saturday, April 5, 2014

E is for ETV

ETV stands for Ethiopian Television. It is one of two channels public channels. The other is OTV, Oromia Television.

The main difference really is simply language, though they share a lot of programs. OTV had Oromifa programs. ETV has mainly Amharic, but also regional programs so sometimes the language is Afar, Oromifa, Tigrina, Somali, or a minor language from the south. And then occasional new in English twice a day – just before lunch and after I've settled into bed. But it's local concerns, not news from America or Britain.

There's not much in terms of programing, news and maybe a documentary or two. Dramas are sometimes on, but it's not back to back like a Friday night comedy line up. And there are British League Football games at night once in awhile.

What's mainly on TV though is music videos, traditional ones. Dancers and singers dress in traditional clothes, sing traditional songs, and do region specific dances. You can learn a lot about the different culture's just by watching the songs, and it's amazing how diverse Ethiopia is.

I think my favorite part of ETV though is the schedule. It's rather inconsistent. The 8:30 Wednesday night drama might not start till 9:15 and the schedule for programs might list something starting at 3:32.

1 comments:

Jocelyn Rish said...

That's pretty amazing that you're in Ethiopia. That's funny that the TV schedules are so erratic. And how cool that they feature a lot of traditional dances.

Hope you’re having fun with the A to Z challenge,
Jocelyn

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