AIM

Alternative International Media

Type	Publicly funded public service broadcaster
Industry	Mass Media
Founded	June 12th, 1941
Headquarters	Media City Park, Orley, Plangainer
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Westley Conrad (Chairman) James C. Morris (Director)
Revenue	$3.676 billion (2024)
Operating income	$199 million (2024)
Net income	$211 million (2024)
Total assets	$3.10 billion (2024)
Owner	Public owned
Number of employees	1,696 (2024)

AIM, also known as Alternative International Media, is a Plangainerian radio and television public service broadcasting company, having originally started as a radio broadcast station in June 12, 1941 before expanding its services to television in 1956, the broadcaster provides multi-station television broadcasting and radio technologies including online and streaming services. It is the largest television broadcaster in Plangainer, serving all regions of Plangainer including the Autonomous Republic of Banou and operating with multiple local and international broadcasting channels for both television and radio services.

The broadcaster's headquarters are located at the Media City Park in Orley, the offices built in 1911 before being expanded to accompany the broadcaster's eventual transformation from a private to a public broadcast service by the Government of Plangainer, including a growth in both the workforce and finance of the company.

AIM is a full member of the International Broadcasting Alliance (IBA), and occasionally participates in a multi-national song contest, WorldVision Song Contest.

History

The early arrival of broadcasting and radio transmission technology in the early 1940s established the foundations of telecommunications in Plangainer. In the mid-twentieth century, independent broadcasting stations were prominent throughout the southeastern prompts of Plangainer as well as the capital city of Orley. Prior to the installation of the National Broadcast and Media Commission (NBMC) a major portion of operating costs for these local stations were funded by private businesses such as partnered newspaper organizations or corporations with historical ties to political and lower-house council parties that initially permitted government oriented broadcasting with political content included in its media, while also presenting prominent censorship and politically motivated bias within local media outlets.

In response to the oversaturation of available waveband frequencies available at the time, the NBMC was founded in 1963 to oversee and enforce new broadcast regulation policies intended to limit the amount of radio broadcasts that can be held at FM and AM wavebands while also creating clear rules and imposing state-enforced guidelines on blacklisted frequency ranges of which all local broadcasting stations are not permitted on using.

In the late 1950s, the NBMC had granted AIM an independent broadcasting license as an established public service and media provider after a ruling from the government declared the necessary foundations for a national entertainment and public service to be established, making them the first station licensed to operate on both FM and VHF bands simultaneously, later being granted partial independency from commercial interests until being classified as the public radio and television organization by the government in 1961 and falling under a influence-free protection mandate in 1966 to prevent influence of services through any political methods.

By end of the 1960s, AIM began to operate on a budget funded by public taxpayers under the Ministry of Media and Public Affairs new budget plan and NBMC oversight after losing its original corporate financial makeup due to increasing legal structure and regulation by the government, and upon passage of the Foundations of Public Broadcasting and Radio Act (FPBRA) in 1991, the broadcaster was since banned from commercial advertising, finalizing their change in funding model, though sponsorships may still be broadcast if the event is supported or in partnership with the broadcaster.

In 2012, AIM was hit with a legal action lawsuit filed by the Independent Media Group, TV12 and several other local broadcasting companies that had accused AIM of anti-competitive practices in the form of market domination over broadcast frequencies within Plangainer by creating a monopoly of television broadcasts at the national level, the case was brought to the High Court of Orley and was ruled in favor of the Independent Media Group before being settled by the Ministry of Media and Public Affairs and the National Broadcast and Media Commission.

In 2018, AIM switched from VHF to UHF band television transmissions in accordance to the release of the 2017 National Broadcast and Media Commission regulations which were imposed upon all license holders for television and radio broadcasting across both bands. By December 25, 2018, the NBMC had announced that analog broadcast are to cease for all television broadcast by 2025.

In 2021, AIM joined the International Broadcasting Alliance as a full member.

Services

Television

Channels

AIM

The original flagship public channel of the broadcaster launched in 1956 with a broadcast makeup of original entertainment programs and other shows, news, comedy, drama, films, documentaries and sport. It is home of majority of its news programming, and streaming of original content produced by the broadcaster. The channel is restricted for viewing overseas.

AIM Two

The secondary public channel of AIM launched in 1982. Unlike other domestic TV and radio channels from the broadcaster, AIM Two is catered to streaming more variating content including other programme, such as comedy, drama and documentary shows, opting for more ambitious and off-trend content but still simulcasting some content between AIM and AIM Two simultaneously.

AIM Three

The third channel of the primary trio of broadcasted channels and the youngest, having been launched on July 2nd, 2006. Most of its programming include arts, music, international film and drama being broadcasted throughout a large portion of the broadcaster's weekly schedule. The channel is also home to premiers of foreign films and shows, and procures a large streaming archive which is occasional broadcasted to air from 3 AM till 7 AM.