Établissement de la télévision tunisienne (ETT)

Télévision Tunisienne, officially known as Établissement de la Télévision Tunisienne (ETT), is Tunisia’s public service television broadcaster. It operates two national channels: Al Wataniya 1 and Al Wataniya 2, both of which are tasked with delivering news, cultural programming, and public interest content to a wide audience across the country.

Media assets

Television: Al Wataniya 1, Al Wataniya 2

State Media Matrix Typology

Ownership and governance

ETT was established in 2006 by presidential decree under the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, following the division of the former unified state broadcasting entity, Établissement de la Radiodiffusion-Télévision Tunisienne, into separate radio and television institutions. ETT is fully state-owned and falls under the direct authority of the Presidency of the Government, which holds the power to appoint members of its executive board.

In an effort to safeguard against political interference, Tunisia’s broadcast regulator—the Haute Autorité Indépendante de la Communication Audiovisuelle (HAICA)—was granted the legal prerogative to approve the appointment of ETT’s Chief Executive Officer. However, this institutional check has been significantly undermined in recent years, particularly under the current administration.

Source of funding and budget

ETT is primarily funded by state subsidies. Although it is permitted to generate revenue through advertising, commercial income constitutes only about 20% of its overall budget. Tunisia also levies a public broadcasting fee on households, but the majority of the funds collected are withheld by the state treasury, with only a minor share directed to the broadcaster.

Editorial independence

Historically, Tunisia’s state media functioned as an instrument of government propaganda, with editorial lines tightly controlled through executive appointments. While HAICA’s oversight over CEO appointments was initially seen as a step toward depoliticizing the broadcaster, this autonomy has been eroded since President Kais Saied’s 2021 power consolidation.

Under Saied’s “exceptional measures”—widely characterised by observers as a de facto coup—ETT has come under increasingly rigid editorial control. The broadcaster is no longer permitted to host political party representatives on air, a policy corroborated by local journalists and experts interviewed for this report in May 2024 and in March 2025.

In 2019, a performance-based contract between the Tunisian government and ETT had been hailed as a landmark achievement for media independence. The agreement stipulated that the dismissal of ETT’s President Director General could only occur following a formal evaluation conducted by HAICA. Regulators viewed this contract as a crucial tool to insulate the broadcaster from undue pressure and political meddling.

However, the protective force of this mechanism was nullified just two years later. In one of his first moves after seizing full executive control in July 2021, President Saied unilaterally dismissed Mohamed El-Asaad Dahesh, then CEO of ETT—flouting the procedures enshrined in the performance contract.

In August 2023, tensions between the presidency and ETT escalated further when President Saied summoned the broadcaster’s then-CEO, Awatef Daly, to a meeting that turned into a public reprimand. Saied sharply criticized the broadcaster’s editorial output, signalling an increasingly interventionist approach to state media. Awatef Dali continues as CEO of ETT in an interim capacity. Originally installed as interim leader in July 2021, she was formally appointed on 16 June 2024.

Despite HAICA’s nominal mandate to both oversee CEO appointments and monitor the implementation of the 2019 performance contract, the authority’s capacity to fulfil these duties has effectively been suspended under the current political climate.

July 2025