2M (SOREAD)

2M is one of Morocco’s leading and historically most-watched generalist television channels. It began broadcasting on 4 March 1989, established by the royal-owned conglomerate Omnium Nord-Africain (ONA) as a second national channel intended to introduce competition and diversity into Moroccan audiovisual broadcasting. It initially operated as a paid cable/subscription-style service, with limited free-to-air windows. After ONA withdrew from SOREAD’s capital for financial reasons in 1996, the Moroccan state became the company’s majority shareholder, and 2M operated for years as a hybrid public-private broadcaster under its operating company, SOREAD.

2M is now being absorbed into the state broadcaster SNRT as part of Morocco’s public-audiovisual consolidation. Because the public holding structure and the final legal integration of SOREAD-2M into SNRT’s unified public media perimeter were still being formalised during the 2026 cycle, SMM continues to maintain a separate 2M profile for the cycle. Its typology follows that of SNRT. 2M has been counted within SNRT’s portfolio since the 2023 State and Public Media Global List, and its profile will be merged into SNRT once the public media holding is fully constituted.

Media assets

Television: 2M

Typology: See SNRT

Ownership and governance

2M’s ownership reflects its hybrid commercial-political history. Originally part of ONA, Morocco’s royal business holding, the channel passed to majority state control after ONA withdrew from SOREAD’s capital in 1996. For years, the royal investment vehicle Société Nationale d’Investissement (SNI), later rebranded Al Mada, retained a minority stake of roughly 20%, alongside the state’s majority holding.

The move to bring 2M fully under state control came through the SNRT-led consolidation of Morocco’s public audiovisual sector. In May 2021, the government announced that SNRT would acquire 2M and the Medi1 outlets to form a “Public Media Holding” under SNRT’s direction. The process extended over several years. In January 2025, SNRT president-director general Faïçal Laraïchi told parliament that the public-holding process had reached an advanced stage, that the acquisitions of Medi1 Radio, Medi1 TV and Régie3 had advanced, and that progress had been made on the legal, financial and tax obligations connected to SOREAD-2M. He stated that SNRT would hold 100% of SOREAD 2M and Medi1 TV and 83.6% of Medi1 Radio and Régie3.

The specific SOREAD-2M transaction was then notified to Morocco’s Competition Council in December 2025. The Council published a notice stating that it had received notification of a concentration project involving SNRT’s acquisition of exclusive control over SOREAD SA through the acquisition of 99.99% of SOREAD’s capital and voting rights. As of mid-2026, SMM did not identify a public final clearance decision in the sources reviewed for this profile, so the acquisition is described as notified and moving toward exclusive SNRT control rather than treated as fully closed on the basis of the notification alone.

Pending full integration, 2M retains a separate legal entity, SOREAD SA, based in Casablanca, and its own editorial and web presence. SNRT has stated that, within the holding, each channel will keep its own editorial identity, while technical, satellite, production and training resources are pooled.

Source of funding and budget

2M has historically depended heavily on advertising revenue, supported by its strong audience position. Its operator SOREAD nonetheless recorded sustained financial difficulty in the years before the state consolidation, and the 2021 merger plan was framed in part as a response to inefficiencies in the public audiovisual sector and as a way to safeguard Moroccan public broadcasting through restructuring.

Financial figures specific to 2M are no longer published in a way that provides a clear standalone current picture. As the SNRT acquisition and public-holding process are completed, SOREAD-2M’s revenues and costs are expected to be folded into the consolidated SNRT framework. Funding arrangements for the public media holding are to be set out in a programme contract with the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of Finance, as required by Law No. 77-03. Detailed consolidated accounts for the post-acquisition structure were not publicly available as of mid-2026.

Editorial independence

Although no explicit editorial directives are imposed on 2M by law, the channel has long been regarded as editorially aligned with the Moroccan state. It carries a relatively wide range of entertainment, cultural and social programming, but its news and political coverage consistently avoid criticism of the authorities and sensitive political actors.

Journalists and analysts consulted by SMM in May 2024 and May 2025 described self-censorship at 2M as entrenched and as having deepened following the SNRT acquisition process, with the prevailing view that 2M has become more clearly government-aligned through both formal ownership and informal editorial practice. No independent oversight body or external evaluation mechanism exists to audit 2M’s editorial integrity. With SNRT’s control being formalised, these concerns are likely to persist absent structural reform; the consolidation introduces no statutory safeguard for editorial autonomy.

AI and digital policy

2M maintains its own news website, streaming and social-video presence. As it is absorbed into SNRT, it is expected to come within the parent broadcaster’s wider digital operations. SNRT launched an AI-powered news section on SNRTnews in September 2025, using AI for content production, editing, categorisation, rapid verification and AI-written articles and reports with human oversight. That development indicates AI experimentation within the SNRT group, but SMM did not identify a 2M-specific public framework governing the use of AI in editorial production, verification, attribution, recommendation systems, audience analytics, synthetic-media labelling, content disclosure, bias mitigation or human editorial oversight.

Classification rationale

2M is classified as State-Controlled (SC), following the classification of SNRT, into which it is being absorbed. The Moroccan state, through SNRT, has moved to acquire exclusive control of SOREAD, the channel’s operating company, with a December 2025 Competition Council notice describing SNRT’s proposed acquisition of 99.99% of SOREAD’s capital and voting rights. The consolidation is directed by a state-owned parent whose leadership is appointed through the executive/state appointment system; 2M’s funding is being folded into the state-financed SNRT framework; and its editorial output is aligned with government priorities, with no statutory or oversight safeguard for editorial autonomy.

The channel’s historic hybrid status and its continuing separate legal identity do not alter these determinants of control. SMM therefore treats 2M within SNRT’s State-Controlled perimeter pending the formal completion of the public media holding. It remains in the SC category for the 2026 cycle.

June 2026