Media in Côte d'Ivoire is controlled by the government. Audiovisual communications are regulated by the Conseil national de la communication audiovisuelle (CNCA), an administrative arm of the national government.
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Telephone and telegraph services are government owned. In 2003, there were an estimated 14 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people; about 3,400 people were on a waiting list for telephone service installation. The same year, there were approximately 77 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.
All news media are owned or controlled by the government or the ruling PDCI. In 2002, daily newspapers included the French language daily Fraternité Matin, with a circulation of 80,000; Ivoir’Soir (50,000); Le Jour (16,000); and La Voie.
Côte d'Ivoire has several dozen daily, weekly and other periodicals that are published regularly. The government, or its supporters, also publish several magazines: Femme d'Afrique, Spécial Auto and Guido.
Other niche publications include: Top Visages (music articles, one of the top circulations (50,000), Gbich (humour articles, circulation of 40,000), Mimosas (sports), Mousso (women), and others. Most newspapers are in tabloid format.
The government also controls radio and television broadcasting. Radio broadcasts are in French, English, and indigenous languages; television is in French only. Some international broadcasts are available, but transmission of some programming has been disrupted by the government in the past. In 1998, there were 2 AM and 9 FM radio stations, with 14 television stations reported in 1999. In 2003, there were an estimated 185 radios and 61 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were 9.3 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 14 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There were three secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.
The state-controlled television broadcasting entity is Radiodiffusion Télévision ivoirienne (RTI), which oversees two channels: La Première (RTI 1), which broadcasts nationally, and TV2 (RTI 2), which since its debut has broadcast exclusively to Abidjan and its surrounding region. They present respectively an average of 10 to 13 hours and 6 to 8 hours of daily programming each. RTI 1 focuses on news programming and discussion of government topics. RTI 2 targets a younger audience with its programming, focussing on entertainment.
Canal+ Horizons is the sole private television broadcaster to transmit on the hertz network in Abidjan, since January 21, 1994. This channel is a project of the French-owned Canal+, and targets a French-speaking African audience. Canal+ Horizons follows the same programming format as Canal+. It does not broadcast commercial advertisements, nor does it carry locally made programming.
Canal+ Horizons is estimated to reach 40,000 households.
TV5MONDE, the French-owned international broadcaster that reaches countries throughout "la francophonie" (the French-speaking world), is offered to more subscribers than Canal+ Horizons, although it could be accessed directly like CFI-TV, another satellite station. Canal+ Vert is also available by subscription.
Television channels offered by the satellite service provider "Le Sat" (100,000 subscribers throughout), owned by the former Sofirad, can be picked up in Abidjan with MMDS antenna : TV5 Afrique, RTL9, Festival, TiJi, Mangas, MCM Africa (a subsidiary of MCM), Euronews, Planète, etc.
Some business promoters in the country have presented differenct projects aimed at privately-owned television broadcasting to the (Conseil national de la communication audiovisuelle - CNCA). For example: Afric Channel, announced for January 2002, has yet to begin broadcasting. This proposed satellite channel, with a commercial orientation, is proposed by an Ivoirian businessman, Afric Channel, which would transmit from Milan, Italy, is intended to be aimed at a multidimensional audience: it would market itself to a West African market, the Cote d'Ivoire in particular, and also the 8,215,000 Africans living in Europe.
Radiodiffusion Télévision ivoirienne (RTI) also manages a network of two radio stations : Radio Côte d'Ivoire (covering the national territory) and Fréquence 2 (broadcast throughout the country, after initially only transmitting to the region of Abidjan. Radio stations transmit on FM and can be identified as belonging to one of three categories: stations of close proximity, commercial stations and foreign stations.
Stations of close proximity represent local interests and carry programming oriented towards community life, such as social, economic and cultural programs. These are located within a broadcasting area of 10 km. Since June 1998, stations began transmitting under a decree issued on September 13, 1995 that set down their rules of operation.
There are 52 radio stations of close proximity. They all broadcast under a license (26 licences are issued to communities and 26 to private individuals). These stations are banned from broadcasting any programming of a political nature or that includes branded advertising. Several exclusively broadcast Roman Catholic religious-related programming.
A dozen stations of close proximity broadcast in the capital Abidjian :
Only two private radio license holders are authorized to broadcast commercial material:
The decree approving the convention for the operation of a public radio broadcasting service was signed by the Conseil des ministres April 24, 1996.
There are three foreign radio broadcasters that can be received in Cote d'Ivoire on the FM band: RFI (Abidjan and Korhogo), Africa N°1 (Abidjan) and BBC (Abidjan). Voice of America (VOA) obtained a license in 2001 with a view to transmitting in FM in Abidjan.
Though the constitution provides for free expression and a free press, the government imposes significant restrictions on print and electronic media. In 2011, the government replaced members of the National Press Council (CNP), which regulates the print media, with supporters of Laurent Gbagbo. Gbagbo’s communication minister, Ouattara Gnonzié, told Radio France Internationale that “the end of tolerance was a self-defence measure” and that support for insurrection would be “punished harshly.” Arrests and beatings of journalists were regularly reported. The government also imposed censorship in 2011 by cancelling the broadcasting permit of the UN radio station, Onuci FM, operated by the United Nations peace-keeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI). Transmitting equipment belonging to French-owned Canal+ was seized without the government notifying the company. Local retransmission of the French TV news channels TV5 and France 24 is meanwhile still suspended.[1]
After Gbagbo's loss of power in May 2011, reprisals against pro-Gbagbo members of the media were reported.[2]