Saudi Arabia has announced its plan to establish a media city with advanced satellite television channel transmission facilities to encourage private channels currently operating from overseas stations to telecast their programs from the Kingdom.
“The new satellite TV platform will provide a suitable atmosphere for improving the standard of media industry in the country,” said Riyad bin Kamal Najm, president of the General Authority for Audio and Visual Media.
The new platform, which will be ready by the beginning of 2015, will help channels launch their own satellites.
It will be part of a media city announced by Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja.
“It will bring about qualitative improvement in the Kingdom’s media industry, besides encouraging opening of more private channels,” Najm said.
He said a number of specialized companies had expressed their desire to participate in the project. The authority has sent out invitations seeking information for their prequalification, he said, and urged companies interested to provide necessary information quickly.
A Saudi source speaking on condition of anonymity, however, expressed doubts whether the new media city would be successful in attracting channels that are currently broadcasting from foreign stations because of the strict Saudi regulations.
“Even to get license for a production unit, I had to spend 28 months,” he told Arab News.
Saudi Arabia established the authority in 2012 to monitor the content and programs of audio and visual media organizations allowed to operate in the country. An independent and autonomous body in terms of finance and administration, the authority began its operations early this year.
The authority decided to establish the integrated transmission platform on the basis of a Cabinet decision. The multi-million dollar project will be carried out in coordination with Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat) and other relevant agencies.
Najm said the Kingdom recently closed some unlicensed channels not as an arbitrary measure but because of its determination to apply rules and regulations. “Foreign channels that have opened their offices in the Kingdom without a license will be issued a warning before they are closed,” he added.
Najm said his organization would provide all support and encouragement to investors in the industry. “We closed some channels and studios when they failed to follow rules and regulations,” he pointed out.
New media city to boost private TV channels
