# Countries without a TV industry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2023, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704 "2023-09-26T03:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/1 "2023-09-26T03:06:49Z")
So I have watched fiction TV series produced by/for maybe around a dozen countries, definitely fewer than 20. I’m wondering how many countries produce fiction shows with local casts and local subjects for local consumption. I’m assuming there are _some_ of them too small or poor or opressed or religious to have anything. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/2 "2023-09-26T03:12:49Z")
Even Vatican City has a television network, which apparently produces a fair amount of original programming, though it appears to be entirely focused on non-fiction: news broadcasts about the Pope and his travels and the Catholic Church, and documentaries about the same. > **[Vatican Media](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_Media)** > > Vatican Media, formerly Centro Televisivo Vaticano, is the Holy See's national broadcaster based in Vatican City which first aired in 1983. > Created in 1983 by Pope John Paul II, Vatican Media is, since November 1996, an institution legally associated with The Vatican. > Vatican Media's main goal is the universal expansion of Catholicism by creating television materials and broadcasting images of the pope and of Vatican activities. > Programs are mainly based on what happens in the Vatican. Daily ... ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/3 "2023-09-26T03:12:57Z")
The Vatican has its own TV channel. They don’t produce any original drama, though. > **[Vatican Media](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_Media)** > > Vatican Media, formerly Centro Televisivo Vaticano, is the Holy See's national broadcaster based in Vatican City which first aired in 1983. > Created in 1983 by Pope John Paul II, Vatican Media is, since November 1996, an institution legally associated with The Vatican. > Vatican Media's main goal is the universal expansion of Catholicism by creating television materials and broadcasting images of the pope and of Vatican activities. > Programs are mainly based on what happens in the Vatican. Daily ... Ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/4 "2023-09-26T03:26:51Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > They don’t produce any original drama, though. “Nonfiction” was a better description. It is original and dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/5 "2023-09-26T06:17:57Z")
Go to > **[IMDb: Advanced Title Search - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/search/title/)** > > IMDb's advanced search allows you to run extremely powerful queries over all people and titles in the database. Find exactly what you're looking for! Scroll down to Countries. There are dozens listed. Try some searches. [Before this you might also check the TV options in Title Type] ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/6 "2023-09-26T07:12:42Z")
I just did a search for “tv programming” + [country]. There are quite a few sites listing channels in each country (quite a few with their own FB and Twitter accounts) and trying to push phone apps that will supposedly let you watch live, which I didn’t bother with. Poorer/smaller countries (e.g. from a cursory check on Niger, South Sudan, Comoros) might be a bit short of original drama programming, though. I do know that a [live stream of the main North Korean channel is available online](https://kcnawatch.org/korea-central-tv-livestream/), and I’ve dipped into it and seen the occasional turgid-looking drama. Also, one of the multiplex IP channels down the bottom of our Freeview EPG carries Nigerian soap operas, for one. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/7 "2023-09-26T09:45:45Z")
[Sealand](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand) was planning to start its own TV station but never got around to it: [http://www.offshoreradiomuseum.co.uk/page771.html](http://www.offshoreradiomuseum.co.uk/page771.html) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/8 "2023-09-26T11:42:43Z")
I was on a cruise ship with my son for the inside passage to Alaska cruise. My son spent time at sea doing activities with other kids, including producing a kid’s news broadcast that was shown on the ship’s tv channel. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countries-without-a-tv-industry/990704/9 "2023-09-26T16:45:13Z")
Here is a good detective show from Armenia: > **[Special Division - MHz Choice](https://watch.mhzchoice.com/special-division)** > > MYSTERY | ARMENIA | ARMENIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | TV-14 > Only the best join Armenia's Special Division, the team created to investigate complex crimes and bring criminals to justice. Only one season. We’ve watched the first six episodes and very good. Cool to see the Armenian script. We’ll be looking for Special Division Mongolia.