Country | Saudi Arabia |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Worldwide |
Network | Broadcasting Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
Headquarters | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
Programming | |
Language(s) | Arabic, English |
Picture format | 1080p MPEG-4 HDTV |
Ownership | |
Owner | Saudi Broadcasting Authority |
History | |
Launched | 7 July 1965 |
Al Saudiya (previously known as Saudi TV Channel 1 and KSA 1), is a Saudi news and entertainment TV channel broadcasting in Arabic, owned by the Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA), which is state-run and is administered by the Ministry of Media. [1]
Broadcasting throughout the West Asia, Europe and North America, KSA 1 officially began transmissions on 7 July 1965 [2] in black and white from Riyadh and Jeddah until 1974, when color broadcasting was introduced in Jeddah and Mecca.
While the channel produces programmes focusing on cultural, political, and economic issues, it also shows of religious programmes and Islamic rituals. It is known for being the first channel to broadcast the Hajj pilgrimage, and has done so since the end of 1974. [2]
Saudi Arabian state television made its first broadcast on July 17, 1965, carrying signal tests in Riyadh and Jeddah. These tests consisted of static slides, music, and some Mighty Mouse cartoons. [3]
It was the third television station to sign on in Saudi Arabia, after Aramco TV (1957) and AJL-TV (1955). The introduction of a national service was seen with controversy from conservative Islamic clerics, believing that television was the "devil's handiwork". The first regular broadcast of Saudi Television was a reading of the Qur'an. [4]
With limited resources, Saudi Television broadcast from the two centers with a schedule that didn't surpass five hours a day. By the 1970s, the station was broadcasting on two shifts on weekdays (10am to 1pm; 6pm to midnight) and a continuous shift on weekends (without the afternoon break). [4]
In December 2012, the Intelligence Bureau of India flagged Al Saudiya as a "hate channel" allegedly broadcasting anti-India programming. It was one of the twenty-four "illegal" channels to have been flagged. [5]
Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia are the diplomatic and trade relations between Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world. The foreign policy of Saudi Arabia is focused on co-operation with the oil-exporting Gulf States, the unity of the Arab World, Islamic solidarity, and support for the United Nations. In practice, the main concerns in recent years have been relations with the US, the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iraq, the perceived threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the effect of oil pricing. Saudi Arabia contributes large amounts of development aid to Muslim countries. From 1986 to 2006, the country donated £49 billion in aid.
Jeddah, alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda, is the largest city in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located along the Red Sea coast in the Hejaz region. Jeddah is the commercial center of the country. It is not known when Jeddah was founded, but Jeddah's prominence grew in 647 when the Caliph Uthman made it a travel hub serving Muslim travelers going to the holy city of Mecca for Islamic pilgrimage. Since those times, Jeddah has served as the gateway for millions of pilgrims who have arrived in Saudi Arabia, traditionally by sea and recently by air.
Al Arabiya is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group.
Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran is a residential community built by Saudi Aramco for its employees to live in. It is located within the city of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. There are three areas recognized by the inhabitants in the Dhahran camp. The first built is known as the Main Camp. It is the oldest part and the busiest as it contains the commissary, various shops and parks, and infrastructure. The second area, known as the Hills, is the quietest since it is mostly residential and more family-friendly. In 2017, a new residential area was opened and is known as Jebel Heights, an extension of the camp on the western edge of the facility. The area of Jebel Heights contains modern villas that vary from three-bedroom houses to five-bedroom houses as well as apartment blocks.
MBC Group, formerly known as Middle East Broadcasting Center, is a Saudi media conglomerate based in the Middle East and North Africa region. Launched in London in 1991, the company moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2002 and to Riyadh in 2022. It is majority owned by the Saudi government-operated Public Investment Fund.
Saleh Abdullah Kamel was a Saudi billionaire businessman. He had a net worth estimated at US$10.6 billion, as of March 2017. He was the chairman and founder of the Dallah al Baraka Group (DBHC), one of the Middle East's largest conglomerates. He was also the chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce.
The Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts Association is the national Scouting organization of Saudi Arabia. Scouting was officially founded in Saudi Arabia in 1961, though Scouting was active many years prior to the founding date, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1963. It has 19,269 members.
Arab Radio and Television Network is an Arabic-language television network characterized by its multitude of channels. It is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Articles related to Saudi Arabia include:
Peace TV is a non-profit Emirati satellite television network that broadcasts free-to-air programming. It is one of the world's largest religious satellite television networks. On 21 January 2006, Zakir Naik created the network, which is based in Dubai.
Rotana Media Group, commonly known as Rotana, is a Saudi Arabian entertainment company. It is primarily owned by Saudi prince Al Waleed bin Talal through Kingdom Holding Company.
Mass media in Saudi Arabia provides unwavering support for the Mohammed bin Salman regime and routinely ignores negative reporting about the kingdom. Independent media are non-existent in Saudi Arabia. Outlets and journalists that fail to support the regime are subject to suspicion and repression.
Al-Resalah is an Arabic language satellite television channel "to present true Islam".
The Haramain High Speed Railway, is a passenger railway serving the Mecca and Medina provinces in western Saudi Arabia. The 449.2-kilometre-long (279.1 mi) main line directly connects the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, via Jeddah and the King Abdullah Economic City. A 3.75-kilometre (2.33 mi) branch line provides connections to the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. It opened to the public on 11 October 2018.
The Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA), formerly Saudi Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and the Broadcasting Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (BSKSA), is a governmental entity of Saudi Arabia, organized under the Ministry of Media. BSKSA operates almost all broadcasting outlets in the Kingdom.
Highway 40 is a major east–west six-lane controlled-access highway in Saudi Arabia, spanning 1,395 km. The highway connects Jeddah, the second-largest city in the kingdom, on the western coast of Saudi Arabia to Dammam, the sixth-largest city on the eastern coast and the largest in the Eastern Province. Apart from Jeddah and Dammam, Highway 40 also runs near or through Mecca, Ta'if, Riyadh, Abqaiq and Khobar along its length, and provides access to the Mahazat as-Sayd and Saja and Umm Al Ramth wildlife sanctuaries.
Television in Saudi Arabia was introduced in 1965, 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 his or her European or US counterpart. On average, 2.7 hours are spent daily watching TV in Saudi Arabia.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The response of Saudi Arabia to the Islamic State has taken many forms. For example, Saudi government agencies have worked with the United States since late 2014 to train and equip Syrian fighters hoping to engage with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants. The challenges of dealing with ISIL is complicated by the fact that around 2,500 militants originally from Saudi territory have left for Syria in order to join ISIL, the destabilization created by the Syrian Civil War having a big effect on the region.
Weam Al Dakheel, also Aldakeel, is a Saudi Arabian journalist and television presenter. After Jumanah Al Shami became the first woman to present the morning television news in Saudi Arabia in 2016, in September 2018 Al Dakheel featured on Saudi TV's Channel 1 as the first woman to act as an anchor for the main evening news broadcast, appearing side-by-side with Omas Al Nashwan. Since January 2018, her official job title at the Saudi Broadcasting Authority has been operations manager.