Medi 1 TV

Medi1 TV was founded in 2006 by Pierre Casalta, who is also the founder of Medi 1 Radio. Known then as Media 1 Sat, the channel was to focus on Moroccan and It was to be a satellite news channel focusing on Moroccan and Maghreb-related news to be broadcasted to a North African and Mediterranean audience. Its investors were representative entities of the Moroccan government alongside French investors. It started broadcasting from the Tangiers’ Free Zone. 

The TV channel was launched in 2006, as part of the first wave of licenses given out by the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (La Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle [HACA]) with the “intent to liberalize" the TV and radio sectors. However, its licence attribution remains unclear. While it is said Medi 1 Sat was the only bidder in this process, some raise that the HACA received nine competing proposals for a TV channel. 

As it went through a phase of restructuring in 2009, French investors sold their shares and in 2010 the newly formed Board of Directors appointed a new CEO, Abbas Azzouzi, who previous to this position was director of the Moroccan National Office for Tourism. The same year, the satellite TV channel also became an analog channel, adding its name to the list of nine public channels and one private-public partnership TV channels. At this point in time, and somewhat to this day, the channel decided to target middle-class, urban men and women aged 25 to 45. It did so by developing more talk-show type programs with a focus on Morocco, as well as news programs with a large share dedicated to Morocco and the Maghreb. 

In 2014, the TV announced a new restructuring, through capital opening to two Emirati media firms allowing it triple its initial capital. With this change, a new Cahier de Charges had to be submitted to the HACA to get approval for their new ownership and editorial line. In 2016, the channel announced it would be going back to its initial 2006 aims : to be a general news channel with regional and international focus. This editorial restructuring, has led to a new CEO being named by its Board of Directors: Mr. Hassan Khiyar, who has been and still is CEO of Medi 1 TV's sister-radio Medi 1 Radio (Radio Méditerranée Internationale).