| Altyn Asyr | |
| Owner: | Maksat Altayev, Government of Turkmenistan[1] |
| Country: | Turkmenistan |
| Headquarters: | Ashgabat, Turkmenistan |
| Former Names: | TMT-1 (1997-2000) |
| Language: | Turkmen |
Altyn Asyr, meaning "Golden Age" in Turkmen, is one of the seven television channels owned by the government in Turkmenistan.[2] It is mainly focused on broadcasting the news in Turkmenistan.
The Watan Habarlary newscast airs six times a day (7:00, 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 21:00 and 23:00). The channel's TV startup is at 7:00, while the closedown is usually at 1:00, averaging 18 hours on air.[3] [4] Other programs include Diýar, which has separate editions covering each of the regions of Turkmenistan as well as programs on agriculture and technology. Feature films are broadcast at 23:30 on weekends, after the late edition of Watan Habarlary.[4] Watan Habarlary frequently repeats stories from the previous night in its morning editions.[5]
The Altyn Asyr's clock ident is the same as all other news channels excluding the Türkmen Owazy and Aşgabat channels.
Television arrived to Ashgabat, the capital of the Turkmen SSR, in 1959,[6] with a transmitter on VHF channel 1 in the Russian standard.[7] Initially it was an experimental service carrying out feature films, with regular service pending the completion of its television center.[8]
Altyn Asyr no longer plays Russia's Channel One Russia since 1998.[9]