Television in Saudi Arabia was introduced in 1965.
There are several hundred pan-Arab channels on air at one given moment. The Saudi television market is, however, dominated by just five major companies: Dubai TV, Middle East Broadcasting Center, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, Rotana and Saudi TV. Together, they control 80% of the pan-Arab broadcasting market. Though private television stations cannot operate from Saudi soil, the country 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 Bahrain-based Orbit Showtime. Although satellite dishes have been officially banned since 1990, Saudi Arabia has the second highest satellite TV penetration in the Arab Region, at 97%, and there are 85 free-to-air satellite channels headquartered in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi government estimated that in 2000 the average Saudi spent 50% to 100% more time watching television than his or her U.S. or European counterpart. On average, 2.7 hours are spent daily watching TV in Saudi Arabia.
The pay-TV market in Saudi Arabia is small, with a penetration estimated at 21%. Al Jazeera Sports is one of the largest pay-TV players in terms of subscriptions, with a market share of 59%. Due to the current absence of cinema in the country, pay TV penetration is expected to increase.
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Famous quotes containing the word television:
“Photographs may be more memorable than moving images because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow. Television is a stream of underselected images, each of which cancels its predecessor. Each still photograph is a privileged moment, turned into a slim object that one can keep and look at again.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)