Egypt & Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE, host the highest number of FTA channels broadcasting in the Arab World, according to a report titled Satellite TV in the Arab World 2011 from Arab Advisors Group. The number of FTA satellite TV channels in the Arab World increased by 10.5% between April 2010 and April […]
Egypt & Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE, host the highest number of FTA channels broadcasting in the Arab World, according to a report titled Satellite TV in the Arab World 2011 from Arab Advisors Group.
The number of FTA satellite TV channels in the Arab World increased by 10.5% between April 2010 and April 2011 to reach 538 channels broadcast on Arabsat, Nilesat and Noorsat (fully operational channels reached 501).
The research revealed that the highest number of channel types were the private-sector general channels followed by government-sector general channels.
The number of Free to Air (FTA) satellite channels targeting the Arab region continues to grow. The FTA landscape had a major growth of 438% in the number of FTA satellite channels between January 2004 and April 2011.
According to the research, the total number of distinct FTA satellite channels reached 538 on Arabsat, Nilesat and Noorsat by April 2011. This reflects an increase of 10.5% over the number of channels recorded in April 2010.
The number of fully launched and operational channels; excluding channels in the test transmission phase, reached 501, up from 448 in April 2010.
Speaking about the current trend, Mohammed Al Shawwa, Arab Advisors Research Analyst, said: “In line with the liberalisation of the audio visual sectors in the region, the number of private satellite channels exceeds the number of government owned channels. Over two thirds of the operational FTA satellite channels are privately owned. In terms of the types of channels, general-private sector channels constitute around a fifth of the operational FTA satellite channels followed by the general-government sector.”
A plurality of FTA channels are headquartered in Egypt which hosts 17.6% of the fully launched and operational FTA channels. Saudi Arabia and the UAE follow with percentages of 17.0% and 14.4%, respectively,” added Dima Abu Rub, Arab Advisors Research Analyst.
