I must confess that like most Saudis I do not watch Saudi TV very much. In fact my viewing is limited to the holy month of Ramadan. And only for a specific period during this month. For it is then that I would turn on our state sponsored monolith of communication a few minutes before the breaking of the fast.
Messages of spirituality and guidance during those few minutes before the Maghreb (sunset) prayers help defray our minds momentarily from the pangs of hunger and thirst. And then the call to prayers from Makkah comes on. Broadcast live from the Holy Mosque, it is a signal that the time for breaking the fast for those in Jeddah is near.
After breaking the fast, the family retreats to the living room to catch up on the latest episode of Tash Ma Tash, a mocking parody of life in the Kingdom. While waiting for the show to come on, we are treated to commercials that have been carried over from previous years, and which serve to irritate your senses by their banal un-originality.
And then finally the show comes on. This program addresses the inconsistencies in our social and cultural make-up, as well as attacks the inefficiencies of the various government organs that generally deal with the public. It is very popular among the locals, serving as an outlet for those with a list of grievances against our inefficient bureaucracy.
Once the show is over, the family group usually retreats to other interests and chores. I will often linger on waiting for the news, and hoping against hope that somehow those media powers at the broadcast station have finally got their act together. But I am always left wanting.
The news leads off with music that hasn’t changed since my daughter was in diapers. She is a married woman now. And then the announcers begin: “So and so left Jeddah today. They were seen off by so and so.” The next item would be the same “so and so arrives somewhere, and is greeted by so and so.” Then there are news items about greetings being exchanged between government figures. And it goes on and on.
This is usually followed up by clips referring to meetings that were held between government dignitaries, again with that annoying background music, and showing dignitaries shaking hands with a host of people. But what was said and discussed at these meetings is rarely ever brought up. You’d have to read it up in the newspapers.
At this point my patience usually wears out and I blip off the channel. With a multitude of channels from the region, Europe and the Americas to choose from, why bother. Don’t the media heads at our TV station ever evaluate the format of their dull and predictable fare?
There is a lot of news out there, and not just limited to international news. When is Saudi TV ever going to sit up and notice?
