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LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) The "Tony and George show" will not have reached many of the Iraqis it was meant for but the celluloid nation is determined to bring its message to Iraqis through the all-powerful television screen.

A U.S. military plane is flying over Iraq broadcasting to Iraqi televisions even though the lack of power means most people in the country cannot watch. U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair made appearances on Thursday, explaining their motives for invading Iraq.

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said he recognised much of the country would not have been able to watch video messages dubbed by one British newspaper the "Tony and George show".

"While we recognise we're not reaching all of the population yet by television, we think it's important to begin broadcasting right now for those that can receive it," Brooks said. "We know there are some elites that had access to satellite TV, there are also some population areas that have generators."

"Our radio broadcasts cover all of the country and have for some time on five different frequencies seven days a week," he added.

With few people in Iraq able to see the "Towards Freedom" broadcasts given the lack of electricity, media commentators say the Bush/Blair statements were aimed as much at the west as Iraq.

"For every Iraqi who watched it, many thousands in the West also saw it," said Paul Rogers, professor of peace studies at Bradford University.

"The broadcasts are partly directed at Western audiences as an illustration of what they are saying to Iraqi people and how they are promoting the idea of a free and democratic Iraq".

A specially modified EC-130 plane known as "Commando Solo", a flying TV and radio studio, has started flying over Iraq broadcasting for five hours a day. It transmits to frequencies previously used by Iraqi state media.

"It is not a long-term alternative to Iraqi broadcasting," said a British official. Brooks said this week Washington was actively seeking Iraqis to start their own television and radio broadcasting.

Of the five hours now on air, the American content is produced by the Pentagon. U.S. officials say the current schedule includes replays of the Bush message and slides of propaganda leaflets dropped over Iraq in recent weeks. The British content, one hour of the total, is the responsibility of Britain's Foreign Office which has outsourced production to a private London-based company called World Television. Its producers and journalists are all Arabs.

Officials say programming will include news, discussions, features, culture and "some" public service announcements. The British government has commissioned 30 one-hour programmes.

"It's not designed for any other purpose than to reassure the Iraqi people that the coalition will contribute towards the reconstruction and reconciliation," said John King, chief operating officer of World Television.

"We will be producing an hour-long Arabic-language programme including reviews of London newspapers and broadcast news, Iraqi culture, interviews with members of Iraqi political groups and some public service announcements," he added.

Analysts say Washington considers television as the key medium in Iraq, particularly terrestrial channels because of a ban on satellite dishes under Saddam.

"That was why we saw so much effort to destroy television networks," said Paul Cornish, director of the centre for defence studies at King's College London. But media experts said Iraqis would see through blatant propaganda. Some media experts said the U.S. leaflet and email campaign used in the run-up to the war was a more subtle and sophisticated way of getting the American message across.

Major General Victor Renuart boasted this week that the leaflet campaign had convinced Iraqi oil workers to shut off the flow of oil from oil wells which he said had been rigged for demolition on Saddam's orders.

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