science

Television in Saudi Arabia

Television in Saudi Arabia is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Television in Saudi Arabia rather than just read about it. In short: Television in Saudi Arabia was introduced in 1965 (after limited launches in 1955 and 1957), but is now dominated by just five major companies: Middle East Broadcasting Center, SM Enterprise TV, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, Rotana and Saudi TV. Together, they control 80% of the pan-Arab broadcasting market.

Key takeaways

Television in Saudi Arabia belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Television in Saudi Arabia to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Television in Saudi Arabia from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Television in Saudi Arabia was introduced in 1965 (after limited launches in 1955 and 1957), but is now dominated by just five major companies: Middle East Broadcasting Center, SM Enterprise TV, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, Rotana and Saudi TV. Together, they control 80% of the pan-Arab broadcasting market. Saudi Arabia is a major market for pan-Arab satellite and pay-TV. Saudi investors are behind the major networks MBC, which is based in Dubai, and Emirates based OSN. The Saudi government estimated that in 2000 the average Saudi spent 50% to 100% more time watching television than their European or US counterpart. On average, 2.7 hours are spent daily watching TV in Saudi Arabia. The pay-TV market in Saudi Arabia is big, with a penetration estimated at 21%. beIN Sports is one of the largest pay-TV players in terms of subscriptions, with a market share of 59%.

History The first television broadcasts in Saudi Arabia originated from a 200-watt television station, AJL-TV, "The Eye of the Desert". These were English-language programs for the personnel of the USAF Dhahran Airfield, and started on 17 June 1955. The programming was from contemporary American television, but all references to Christianity, Israel or alcohol were edited out. In September 1957, ARAMCO began a television service for its 9,000 employees in Dhahran; that service would cease operations on 31 December 1998. The first state owned television channel Al Saudiya would launch on 7 July 1965. Women were completely prohibited from appearing on screen at first, but as the country completely lacked a theater tradition, Saudi television had to import programs, forcing restrictions to loosen slightly. Adultery was discouraged, and criminals had to be punished. Saudi Arabia refused to buy television programs from Egypt, the main source of programs in the Arab world, so Lebanese productions—designed to not cause cultural offense—sold well. Nawal Baksh was the first Saudi woman to appear on Saudi television, in 1966. Prior to the introduction of satellite broadcasting, Saudi TV channels One and Two had a reach of 60% of the adult Saudi population. The exception was with regard to Eastern Province audiences who traditionally tuned into Bahrain TV. Arab satellite first became available in 1985 with the launching of Arabsat, but it was not until the 1990s that satellite television became commercially viable. Accessibility of Western entertainment and news programs had a profound effect, as the foreign programs were instantly popular, leading Saudi TV to respond with more programs, including a live political talk show in which senior officials responded to questions by viewers. The first private satellite channel in the Arab world, the Middle East Broadcasting Centre, was founded in 1991. In the early 1990s, King Fahd began to invest in the television business through Abdul Aziz Al Ibrahim and Khalid Al Ibrahim, the brothers of Al-Johara, his favourite wife. Other private channels soon followed, led for the most part by Saudis and Lebanese. By 2003, there were 15 private Arab satellite television channels, four of them owned by Saudis. By the mid-2000s, many women presented shows on Saudi television. After trials in 2004 and 2005 in Jeddah, Digital Terrestrial Television launched in July 2006 and covered five major cities. To continue DTT transition and extend the service across the Kingdom, the Ministry of Culture and Information signed a contract with Thomson in May 2008. By 2010, its network of 100 digital terrestrial broadcasting towers covered nearly 90% of the population. However, probably due to the adoption of multichannel TV on satellite, the uptake of DTT remains limited; in 2012 it was estimated at 1% of total households.

State-managed stations The terrestrial broadcast sector in Saudi Arabia is state-owned through the Ministry of Media. The state-run Broadcasting Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia operates almost all domestic broadcasting outlets. State-run television consists of four channels: Saudi One, the main channel in Arabic launched in 1963; Saudi Two, an English language channel; Al Riyadiah, a sports channel; and the news channel Al Ekhbariya. Government-owned terrestrial television has changed little since 1969. Its programming is still predominantly focused on educational, entertainment, and religious subjects. Reruns of Arabic-language cinema, particularly Egyptian movies, are also broadcast. Political content other than official government announcements has remained relatively limited.

Programming Kalam Nawaaem, a popular female-hosted Arabic talkshow discussing various societal topics, and Arab Idol, both showing on MBC, are the most popular TV programs in Saudi Arabia. Sada Al Malaeb, a sports talkshow, is the third preferred show. Turkish drama series also capture a strong following.

Most-viewed channels Average daily reach, total Arab population, March 2024

List of channels Al Arabiya Al-Hadath Asharq News Altaqafeya MBC1 MBC2 MBC3 MBC4 MBC Max MBC Drama Al Saudiya SBC Thikrayat TV Quran TV Sunna TV SSC | 1 SSC | 2 SSC | 3 SSC | 4 SSC | 5 KSA Sports 1 KSA Sports 2 KSA Sports 3 KSA Sports 4 Iqraa Rotana Clip Rotana Khalijiah Rotana Comedy Rotana Drama Rotana Cinema Rotana Kids Rotana Mousica Al Resalah Al-Majd Satellite Al-Majd Hadeeth Al-Majd Quran Al-Majd Illmiya Al Dal Radio Al-Majd Doucementary Al-Majd Nature Al-Majd News Service Al-Majd Kids Al-Majd Zaman Besma Rawdah Taghared Masah Al Ajawed

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Television in Saudi Arabia

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Television in Saudi Arabia claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Television in Saudi Arabia before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Television in Saudi Arabia ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Television in Saudi Arabia

In research: Television in Saudi Arabia appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Television in Saudi Arabia in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Television in Saudi Arabia is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of mass media in Saudi Arabia, Television by country, Television in Saudi Arabia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Television in Saudi Arabia outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Television in Saudi Arabia in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Television in Saudi Arabia means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Television in Saudi Arabia out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Television in Saudi Arabia in simple terms?

Why does Television in Saudi Arabia matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Television in Saudi Arabia?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Television in Saudi Arabia.