Within a few days the Kingdom will launch Channel 4. It is a new all-news satellite television station. Those responsible for the channel face an uphill task trying to make it competitive with the other well-established Arabic satellite channels.
The officials at Saudi Channel 4 have only one choice: Succeed or else. The new channel will no doubt seek to employ the most qualified staff and the latest in technology. Ever since the idea was first conceived, meeting after meeting was held at the Ministry of Culture and Information to discuss the details. Now the officials have become so confident that they say the channel will serve as a model, offering a new style of news presentation relying on two basic elements - credibility and speed.
The new channel will face its first problem the moment it begins broadcasting. This is because it has, though unseen, already been judged by many who compare it to other stations launched long ago. The latest channel is the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya which was welcomed as a change by those who were fed up with Al-Jazeera and its diagnoses and prescriptions.
The fears concerning the new channel will be heightened by the media which is bound to overreact to a Saudi news channel. Some are so enthusiastic they expect the channel to provide viewers with service matching the highest expectations. Others say the channel will be able to compete with the most professional stations.
Success requires not only money but also brains. Channel 4 staff must keep constantly in mind the experiments and lessons to be learned from the three previous experiments in the Kingdom: The Sports Channel, Channel 1 and Channel 2 of Saudi Arabian Television.
