TV channels Saudi Arabia

Television in Saudi Arabia starts with the state. The Saudi Broadcasting Authority, a governmental body under the Ministry of Media, runs nearly all of the Kingdom's public broadcasting, from the flagship general channel to rolling news and sports. Alongside it works the privately owned Rotana entertainment empire, and religious broadcasting keeps a permanent window on Mecca's Grand Mosque.

The State Services

Al Saudiya is the Broadcasting Authority's flagship, carrying news and entertainment in Arabic. Ekhbariya TV is the Riyadh-based news and current affairs satellite channel. SBC Channel adds the corporation's general entertainment, and Thikrayat TV - the name means "Memories" - keeps the Kingdom's television archive on air. Sport belongs to the KSA Sports family, also known as Al-Riyadiya, the Kingdom's oldest surviving sports broadcaster, whose channels KSA Sports 1, KSA Sports 2, KSA Sports 3 and KSA Sports 4 cover a wide range of events.

News Beyond the State

Asharq News is an Arabic-language channel focused on regional and global economics, launched on 11 November 2020 as a subsidiary of the Saudi Research and Media Group. A different kind of voice is Alhurra TV, the Arabic-language news network funded by the United States government and broadcasting to the Middle East and North Africa since February 2004.

The Rotana Empire

Rotana Media Group, the Saudi entertainment company primarily owned by Prince Al Waleed bin Talal through Kingdom Holding, supplies the private side of the screen. Rotana Khalijia serves Gulf-oriented entertainment, Rotana Drama carries series, Rotana Cinema shows films, Rotana Classic returns to the Arabic screen's older library, Rotana Kids looks after the youngest viewers, and Rotana Mousica runs the music.

A Window on Mecca

Religious broadcasting here has a unique center. Makkah Live and Al-Masjid al-Haram 24/7 keep a round-the-clock broadcast from the Grand Mosque of Mecca, open to viewers anywhere. Ahl Al-Qur'an TV completes the shelf with programming devoted to the Quran. Together with the state services, the newsrooms and the Rotana family, they draw a television landscape in which government, entertainment and the holy city share the same air.