2M

In 1989, the 2M TV channel was launched to be the second Moroccan TV channel, by the Société d’Etudes et de Réalisations Audiovisuelles [SOREAD] - the same company owning it today. Its CEO, Faiçal Laraichi, the former son in law of late King Hassan II, and its Director, Salim Cheikh, are also those of Radio 2M, the companion radio channel that is also under the umbrella of the SOREAD.

2M exists today as two channels accessible within the country and abroad. From within Morocco, it is free of charge and accessible as an analog channel while from abroad, the satellite channel, called 2M Monde, is accessible through Globecast, Nilesat and Arabsat. It is estimated that (analog or both?) the channel attracts about 33.5% of TV audiences - an average for all programs combined throughout the day.

2M boasts a large variety of programs, including news casts, foreign TV shows dubbed in the Moroccan language alongside national and international movies - however only for the analog version of 2M as it only buys the rights for Moroccan broadcasting - entertainment shows, medical and societal reporting/magazines amongst others. It broadcasts in French and Arabic and includes one Newshour a day in Amazigh. It has been the target of criticism, on the part of Moroccan artists and film directors, for a lack of willingness to diversify the type of national TV shows and movies being broadcasted.

When first introduced to the public in 1989, 2M was as a (paying) cable TV channel, with two uncoded time slots a day only, based after Filali’s idea to recreate the model of Canal+, the first French cable tv channel. 2M relied then mainly on entertainment and movie content. However, it was also the first attempt to broadcast political talk show, in the context of Morocco’s political openness.

At the time it was launched, 2M belonged to the holding group Ominium Nord Africain [ONA],that Filali was heading at the time. The ONA is now defunct and was replaced by the Société Nationale d’Investissement [SNI]. However, the channel’s financial model collapsed due to a lack of membership sales and in 1996, seven years after its launch, the major shareholder, ONA, withdrew from SOREAD’s capital. This move has prompted a rescue operation by the Moroccan state, which has since then been its major shareholders.