University of Pennsylvania

ScholarlyCommons
Departmental Papers (ASC)

Annenberg School for Communication

2002

Arab Satellite Television Between Regionalization

and Globalization
Marwan M. Kraidy
University of Pennsylvania, kraidy@asc.upenn.edu

Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers

Part of the Communication Commons
Recommended Citation
Kraidy, M. M. (2002). Arab Satellite Television Between Regionalization and Globalization. Global Media Journal, 1 (1), Retrieved
from http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/186

Article No. 4
This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/186
For more information, please contact repository@pobox.upenn.edu.

Arab Satellite Television Between Regionalization and Globalization

Keywords

Arab, Television, Globalization, Media

Disciplines

Communication | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Comments

Article No. 4

This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/186

Global Media Journal

Volume 1, Issue 1 | Fall 2002 | Table of Contents

Home
About GMJ
Journal Editors
Advisory Board
Global Editions
Contact Us

Article No. 4

Arab Satellite Television Between Regionalization

and Globalization *
Marwan M. Kraidy
American University, Washington, DC

Current Issue
Archives
Book Reviews
Commentaries
Dialogue

Call for Papers

Submission
Guidelines
Editor's Guide
Paper Review
Form
Future Issues
and Editors
Past Issues and
Editors

kraidy@american.edu
Introduction
Arab media burst onto the North American radar screen when Al-Jazeera, a Qatari all news panArab satellite television station, scooped the world's media with its coverage of the U.S. attack on
Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon. Until then, with the exception of counted academic experts and a few articles and
opinion pieces in the leading national newspapers, the Arab mass media had not received much
attention in American public discourse. Because of this lack of interest, the development of the
mass media in Arab countries, their socio-cultural impact and their political implications, remain
poorly understood. For this reason, this article aims at introducing Arab media from a historical
perspective, focusing on satellite television broadcasting, and analyzing the relationship between
that media sector and the phenomenon of globalization. This article revolves around the following
questions: How did Arab television, especially satellite television, evolve historically? What political,
economic, and cultural forces shaped the operation and content of Arab media and how? What
challenges do these regional Arab mass media face in the era of globalization? Finally, what are the
political, economic and cultural implications of transnational Arab satellite television?

Media Links
Site Search

Since its inception in the 1950s, Arab television has been owned and operated by governments,
most of them non-elected and authoritarian. Until the 1990s, there were a few exceptions to this
trend, with private television experiments in Iraq, Morocco, and most notably Lebanon, where
television was initially conceived as a partnership between the state and business interests (Boulos,
1996; Kraidy, 1998b). The 1974-2000 war in Lebanon eroded the power of the central government
and opened the floodgates for private what Boyd (1991) called "unofficial" broadcasting
inaugurated in 1985 by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), now LBCI with the addition
of "international" to its name. The launching of LBC by the Christian paramilitary formation called
the Lebanese Forces triggered a wave of private television stations opened by the militias
competitors in Lebanon in the 1980s and 1990s, culminating in more than fifty television stations in

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (1 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

1995 (Kraidy, 1998b).

More than six years after the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation initiated terrestrial broadcasting,
the Gulf War revealed the popularity of the Cable News Network (CNN) among Arab audiences.
This triggered a series of developments that lead to the establishment of private television in Arab
countries, inaugurated with the 1991 launching in London of the Middle East Broadcasting
Corporation (MBC) by Saudi business interests with the support of the royal family. While the
Lebanese experience with private television was originally with terrestrial televisionexpanding to
the satellite realm only a few years later (Kraidy, 1998a)the Arab experience with nongovernmental media has been largely restricted to satellite television. In addition to the launching of
MBC, 1991 saw the opening of the Egyptian Satellite Channel, owned by the Egyptian state, and in
subsequent years, numerous Arab satellite stations, both government-owned and private, went on
the air (Amin & Boyd, 1994).
The Historical Development of Satellite Television in the Arab World
While recent events have put Arab media at the center of world politics, the history of the
development of satellite broadcasting in the Arab world warrants a detailed rendition, because the
rapid growth of the satellite industry in the Arab world during the past decade (Amin, 2000; Amin &
Boyd, 1994; Barkey, 1996; Kraidy, 1998a; Millichip, 1996; Sakr, 1999; Schleifer, 1998) was made
possible by political and technical developments since the late 1960s.
In 1967, Arab information ministers articulated the principles of a satellite network whose goal was
the integration of the social and cultural activities of the Arab League, a regional organization
formed after World War Two (Overview, 1997). In the meantime, the Arab States Broadcasting
Union (ASBU) was formed in 1969 (Boyd, 1999). Saudi Arabia did not join the Egypt led and Cairobased ASBU until 1974, most probably because of the tense relationship between Saudi Arabia and
Egypt at the time.
On April 14, 1976, the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT) was established
under Arab League jurisdiction and entrusted with serving the information, cultural and educational
needs of its members (Overview, 1997). Saudi Arabia, because of its considerable financial
resources expanded by the oil price boom of 1973, was the main financier of the new organization
and Riyadh, the Saudi capital, housed its headquarters. After a failed launching attempt by a
French Ariane rocket led to the loss of the first satellite 1-A, the U.S. space shuttle Discovery
successfully launched a second satellite, 1-B in 1985 (Amin & Boyd, 1994). ARABSAT 1-A and 1-B
were switched off in 1992 and 1993 respectively ("Satellite Generations," 2002).
ARABSAT launched its second generation satellites 2-A and 2-B in July and November, 1996
respectively ("ARABSAT second," 1997). These geostationary (longitude 26 degrees East), highpower satellites carry a total of 34 active transponders (Fixed Satellite Service). Their expanded
technical capacities were said to give ARABSAT a competitive edge in the region (Kazan, 1996).
ARABSAT 1-C, launched in 1992, was sold to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in
1997 ("Satellite Generations," 2002).

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (2 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

The third generation ARABSAT 3-A satellite was launched in February 1999, co-located with 2-A.
This is a powerful satellite with one single transponder covering all Arab countries, most of Europe
and a good part of Africa.
With technical development having laid the groundwork, Arab governments have competed with
private companies for a share in the distribution and content of information and entertainment
beamed to more than 300 million Arabic speakers across the Arab Middle East. Initial satellite
broadcasts by the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) and the Egyptian government satellite
channel (ESC) in 1991 have been followed by a variety of contenders: In 1993, Arab Radio and
Television (ART) began broadcasting in Arabic and English. It was soon followed by Orbit Satellite
Television and Radio Network who in 1994 transmitted on 19 television channels (Russell, 1994).
By 1996, Arab and Middle Eastern skies were invaded by a plethora of satellite programs (Barkey,
1996). Several government sponsored services such as Libya TV, Yemen TV, Jordan TV and the
Syrian Satellite Channel, competed against private corporations such as MBC, ART, Orbit and also
the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International and Lebanons Future Television, both of
whom were relatively late comers when they went on the air in 1996 (Kraidy, 1998a).
From Regionalization to Globalization?
While the importance and implications of these regional developments should not be
underestimated, transnational broadcasting is not a novelty in the Arab world, which is the
underlying discourse encountered in much commentary on the phenomenon. Arabs have
historically been targeted by numerous Arabic language media. As recently as 1999, Boyd (1999)
noted that "Arabic [was then] second only to English as an international broadcasting language" (p.
5). The proliferation of mass communication in the region can be explained by the region's
geopolitical importance as a world center for oil production and the cradle of Islam. Because of the
common Arabic language, the small size of many Arab countries, and political tensions, many of
these media operations reached across national borders. For decades, Arab audiences were able
to receive various signals from numerous Arab stations, the highly popular Radio Monte-Carlo
Arabic service, Radio France Internationale, the British Broadcasting Corporation, The Voice of
America and Radio Moscow, to name but a few. In light of these established precedents of
transnational broadcasting, what changes has satellite television brought to the region?
With the advent of satellite television, most media operations are de facto recognized as not only
pan-Arab, i.e. covering the Arab world, but also global. While pan-Arab media are not global in the
same sense that some Western companies, such as Cable News Network (CNN) or the BBC
(British Broadcasting Corporation), or even Latin American conglomerates like Globo or Televisa,
the reach of Arab satellite television exceeds the regional sphere. Does this mean that Arab satellite
television stations are truly global players? There are indications that geographically, Arab satellite
television does cover most of the globes surface, but does this global presence translate into real
global influence?
Currently, diasporic Arab audiences in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Oceania
receive Arabic programming delivered through shortwave radio, the Internet, or more commonly, by
cable or satellite. Arab population centers in the United States, including the Toledo-Detroit corridor
file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (3 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

in Ohio and Michigan, the Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC areas, are connected to
their home countries via television. The same can be said of Arab population centers in Europe,
Australia, and to a lesser extent South America. As early as the late 1980s, the Lebanese
Broadcasting Corporation was targeting Lebanese communities in Montreal and Toronto. At that
time, ongoing military fighting in Christian areas in Lebanon has intensified emigration, especially to
Canada, and Lebanons first fully private media company catered to the growing LebaneseCanadian community. During the same period, the Arab Networks for the Americas (ANA) was
launched in Virginia, USA, and later sold to MBC. Arab satellite television, by virtue of following the
global migration patterns of Arabs, has achieved a global reach concentrated in metropolitan areas
in the West.
Other, mostly political, factors have led to the increased globalization of Arab media. In spite of the
abundance of international broadcasting in Arabic, most Arab media were focused on domestic
audiences, who were subjected to a daily diet of protocol news, state directed programming, and in
many cases direct propaganda. Broadcast dissent was unheard of, and many national audiences
were not informed of events happening in neighboring Arab countries. With the commercialization
of Arabic television in the 1990s, and the growth of satellite television, a pan-Arab audience has
emerged and changed the way that media programmers, advertisers and politicians conceived of
the Arab audience.
With the conflict between Israel and Palestine acting as a lightening rod mobilizing Arab audiences
with daily footage from the West bank and Gaza, there has formed a pan-Arab "imagined
community" that the proponents of Pan-Arabism could have only dreamt about a few decades ago.
This sense of belonging to a community has also made the "Arab street" a constant topic in the
United States media, especially in the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. In the
wake of the United States war on terrorism, the festering conflict in Israel/Palestine, and the
Washington drum beating on Iraq, there is a growing sense that Arab public opinion does have
global implications. The United States State Department has hired Charlotte Beers, a Madison
Avenue advertising executive, as Under-Secretary for Public Diplomacy, with her main mission
consisting of "selling" American policies and viewpoints to Arabs. Radio Sawa, which means
together in Arabic, is a new U.S. government funded radio station using a mixed format targeting
Arab youth.
Perhaps the main impetus behind these effort is the growing importance of transnational Arab news
media, notably the phenomenon of al-Jazeera, the Qatari all news channel that has become a
global cause clbre since airing videotapes produced and featuring Usama Bin Laden, leader of
the al-Qaeda network and public enemy number one in the prevailing world order. As el-Nawawy
and Farag (2001) demonstrate, al-Jazeera has become a household name by challenging every
imaginable Arab taboo, ranging from interviewing Islamic radicals and Israeli generals, to frontal
attacks on Arab government and no-holds barred discussion of social and cultural controversies. In
the aftermath of September 11, 2001 and the US attack on the Taliban regime, al-Jazeera had for
weeks exclusive access to the Afghan scene. The network sold footage to an impressive range of
world media, and became a source of fascination, praise and outrage in global public discourse.

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (4 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

In the current conjecture the Middle East is again at the heart of global geopolitics. With the SaudiAmerican relationship at an historically low ebb, the drums of an Iraqi war beating loudly in
Washington, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reaching a boiling intensity, the stakes of the postSeptember 11 era are very high for Arab regimes. As a result, political issues are taking an
unprecedented importance on the level of transnational media. While these developments might
appear to be unprecedented, they in fact fall in line with history, which provides the willing
contemporary observer with important insights on the current situation. In the 1950s, Egyptian
leader Gamal Abdel Nassers Voice of the Arabs was one example of a country using pan-Arab
broadcasting in order to assert cultural and political views on neighboring countries. Voice of the
Arabs was generously financed and staffed because Nassers regime saw it as a strategic asset in
mobilizing Arab masses for the war against Israel and the political struggle with the oil-rich Gulf
regimes, to fulfill his vision of a united Arab nation.
In fact, Saudi broadcasting developed largely as a counterbalance to hostile Egyptian broadcasts
hostile to the Saudi royal family (Boyd, 1999). After Libyas diplomatic relations with Malta
deteriorated in the late 1970s, Libyas Qaddafi unsuccessfully targeted Cyprus as the site of a panArab Libyan radio station ("Kooley, 1980). Broadcasting "battles" animated Middle Eastern airwaves
in the early 1980s as warring Iran and Iraq waged a radio propaganda war (Temko, 1984, March 7)
and broadcasts from Lebanon reached neighboring Jordan, Syria m Israel and Cyprus (Badran,
1991; Kraidy, 1998b). Perhaps more important for Arab regimes was the fact that their citizens
sometimes tuned in to the Voice of Israel, the Jewish states Arabic language propaganda service
(Temko, 1984, August 14).
The issue of access to alternative sources of information has always preoccupied Arab leaders
wishing to control information available to their population. With the advent of satellites, porous
electronic borders and the ensuing lack of control over television programs caused some
"accidents" that underscore the far reaching implications of Middle Eastern and Arab satellite
broadcasting. In Saudi Arabia, the media did not announce the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait until two
days later, and the coming of American troops onto Saudi soil remained secret for a week (Fandy,
1993). Satellite dishes rapidly proliferated as people looked for more reliable sources of information
(Fandy, 1993; Ambah, 1995; Boyd, 1993). In Saudi Arabia, dishes were mostly "neither permitted,
neither prohibited" (Tawil, 1997) and a dish black market flourished (Russell, 1994), leading the
government to enact, but not enforce, a ban on dishes in 1995 (Millichip, 1996). In spite of the ban,
a 1996 study estimated the number of illegal dishes in Saudi Arabia at 750 thousands (Millichip,
1996). According to advertising industry figures, satellite penetration in 1999 was estimated to be at
around 50 % in wealthy Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and
Qatar (Sakr, 1999). While reliable figures are impossible to obtain, it is probable that satellite
ownership has increased substantially since September 11, 2001.
While Arab satellite television has established a visible global presence, it remains too
underdeveloped of an industry to be a truly global player. Regionally, however, satellite television is
a potentially revolutionary force. The so-called "satellite revolution" is due to the convergence of
three factors, with global and regional dimensions: relative politicial liberalization, economic
privatization, and the acquisition of "new" communication technologies (Ayish, 1997). As a result,

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (5 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

the satellite industry has changed parameters of television production, control and reception. These
changes have political, economic and cultural implications.
Political Governance After Satellite Television
The political forces that have shaped the nascent satellite industry remain problematic for that
industrys growth. Satellite television has undermined state control of television flows, since
programs could be transmitted from any Arab countries and be received in any other. Idealists see
this development as the harbinger of a pan-Arab civil society unshackled from government
censorship. In this logic, satellite television talk-shows serve as a catalyst for a democratic renewal,
where Arab audience members would mobilize as citizens and become increasingly interested in
participation in democratic politics. The reality of the situation, however, is that most governments in
the region have allowed a level of freedom to satellite television still exercise substantial control,
albeit obliquely. Indirect control of privately owned media companies takes different shapes. In
Lebanon, most members of the board of LBC are associated with the Syrian regime, and thus reign
in the stations occasional forays into politically sensitive territory. In spite of the fact that MBC is not
owned by the Saudi government, its owners are links to the Saudi family, and its editorial policy is
Saudi-friendly. In Egypt, the much trumpeted Media Production City is 50% owned by the Egyptian
Radio and Television Union. This stake gives the ERTU "ultimate editorial control" (Sakr, 1999)
over program content. Even al-Jazeera, the much celebrated all-news station which has become a
global household name, is notably timid when it comes to its coverage of Qatari politics.
While several countries (Bahrein, Jordan, Qatar) have been discussing the elimination of their
Information Ministries, Lebanons Minister of Information is being rendered irrelevant by the
intervention of state security agencies in the daily operations of the media, at the expense of
enforcing laws and regulations. This is in spite of assurances by the current Lebanese
administration that it would protect media freedoms (Kraidy, 1999b). The closure of Murr Television
by security forces on September 4, 2002, revealed these troublesome trends: The Minister of
Information, Ghazi Aridi, was not informed of the decision, which he objected too in strong terms.
Also, since the Audio-Visual Law would not condone the stations closure, authorities resorted to
the Law of Publications to justify the crackdown. Creative interpretation and enforcement of the law
is thus an instrument of political control even in the Arab worlds most liberal countries.
Also, while Arab regimes maintain various levels of control over their satellite television stations,
they are notably permissive when these stations are critical of other Arab regimes. In fact, Arab
regimes opposed to each other have used satellite television for propaganda purposes, or to offer
their satellite channels as a platform to dissidents, critics and opponents of other governments, a
theme which was increasingly associated with the Qatari al-Jazeera news network. As a result,
transnational broadcasting via satellite has caused, intensified or publicized rifts between Arab
governments. Al-Jazeera remains a constant source of objection and tension between a variety of
Arab governments and Qatars rulers, and as of the writing of this article in September 2002, Egypt,
Saudi Arabia and Jordan have tense relationships with Qatar because of recent al-Jazeera
broadcast. Because of these intra-regional tensions, plans by the Arab Ministers of Information to
launch a satellite channel destined to Western and Israeli audiences were never implemented,

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (6 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

while Israel launched in the summer of 2002 a satellite television station for Arab audiences. Also,
emerging Arab media policies (Kraidy, 2001b) could either bring positive change to the sector, or
consolidate the status quo.
Economic Dimensions of Pan-Arab Satellite Broadcasting
The conventional wisdom reflected in trade journals and general publications is that Arab satellite
television offers unparalleled opportunities for media businesses and advertisers. At stake is an
Arab audience estimated at over 300 million people, most of whom were not accustomed to
commercial television in the early 1990s, and thus were ideal targets for corporations wishing to
shape consumer loyalties. In industry publications such as Arab Ad and TV World, the satellite
industry is touted as the prime engine of the regionalization of marketing and advertising. This
regionalist outlook is based on the fact that the Arab audience is united by language, and, to a large
extent, by religion, which makes standardized advertising viable. According to some observers,
regionalization facilitates Arab economic integration by embedding individual countries in a panArab market.
The challenge to this rosy scenario resides in that most Arab satellite television stations still have to
cross the threshold of profitability. Many stations in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and others remain
government operated, and thus do not face pressure to become profitable. Not enjoying the deep
coffers of governments, privately owned stations face financial challenges of different kinds. First,
there is a reluctance in the Arab world to pay for television programs, which makes pay-TV
extremely difficult to sell to Arab audiences. Orbit and ART, pay-TV pioneers, are challenged by the
free services of MBC, LBC and Future (Schleifer, 2000). Second, the advertising industry has not
fulfilled its potential, and advertising rate cards remain relatively cheap despite hikes between 30
and 50 % in 2000 and focuses obsessively on wealthy Gulf states, which translates into a small
audience. Third, audience and market research is not sophisticated, systematic, and when
available, is often unreliable (Fakhreddine, 2000). Fourth, the race for specialization and
differentiation is shrinking audiences and therefore reducing markets, but is poised to continue, with
Al-Jazeera focusing exclusively on news, spiced with some sensationalism, while LBC, ART and to
some extent, Future TV, focus on talk-shows and variety programs, spiked with the obvious sexual
appeal of flirtatious and scantily clad hostesses. Fifth, the efforts of satellite broadcasters to
understand who they are in fact reaching are complicated by the Internet and related digital
technologies that fragment the audience into myriad small segments.
It is therefore understandable that there has not been a keen interest among global media
conglomerates to acquire shares in the privately held Arab satellite stations. Unlike Latin America
and Asia, and despite wealth pockets in the Gulf region, the Arab audience overall does not have
the income that would make it a desirable target for global advertisers. This means that the panArab satellite industry remains non-integrated in global media circuits. Undoubtedly, many people in
the region and elsewhere see that lingering Arab control as a positive sign. Others, including
business interests, lament this as a sign of backwardness. The industry, however, remains in flux.
There were talks of a merger between Saudi owned, Dubai based (having recently moved from
London) Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, and Future TV, owned by Lebanese billionaire
Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Discussions have so far not lead to clinching a deal, but changing
file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (7 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

economic parameters might fulfill the merger talks. All, in all, however, the economic outlook of the
pan-Arab satellite industry, while not imminently troublesome, is far from secure.
Cultural Implications of Transnational Arab Television
The cultural implications of pan-Arab satellite television are twofold. On one hand, transnational
media have the potential of strengthening cultural ties between Arab countries, who would
capitalize on their cultural commonalities in order to bring their national diversities in contact.
Regional festivals, exhibits, competitions and production cooperation are seen as some of the
desirable consequences on the cultural front. In that respect, satellite television has brought about a
pan-Arab consciousness. The depth and significance of this regional identification have not been
empirically researched, but anecdotal evidence suggests that, at least on the surface, satellite
television has created a pan-Arab audience.
During morning talk-shows on LBCI in the mid-1990s, for instance, callers participate in games and
conversations from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan, Egypt, even Cyprus, Bulgaria, and France. In
these conversations carried live, audience members refer to events in other Arab countries, and
express concerns on regional issues (see "Satellite Programs," 1997). This mantle is now carried
by Al-Jazeeras own program Manbar al-Jazeera, which has a more pronounced political focus than
LBCIs programs. At the same time, Arab production centers such as Amman, Beirut, Cairo and
Damascus have seen their creations disseminated to an audience considerably larger that the
domestic market. Watching Arab satellite television, one often senses a pan-Arab vernacular
language emerging, heavily influenced by Levantine Arabic, as a kind of pan-Arab lingua franca.
These developments do point to the emergence of a pan-Arab "imagined community" with
converging concerns and a sense of regional belonging.
On the other hand, the growth of pan-Arab broadcasting, and the ensuing need for programming
that the new channels have created has resulted in more imported programs, notably from the
West, which have triggered controversy in more conservative Arab societies, an issue that often
dominates public discourse on Arab-Western relations from Egypt to Saudi Arabia (see "Arabsat
says," 1997, and "Saudi clamp," 1996). The idea of a "Western cultural invasion" is a recurring
leitmotif in religious, political, and intellectual discourse in the Arab world. This revolves around
concerns that the regions traditions, language and social codes and conventions are under threat
of elimination by Western values. Arabs in general believe in the importance of the family as the
social unit, and perceive the Wests focus on the individual to be a threat. Also, the regions
conservative social mores and restrictive views on sexuality are challenged by Western and now
also Arab media standards where sexual appeal is used as a marketing tool. As Fakhreddine
(2000) remarked, the Arab print press, performing as a socio-cultural arbiter, is often in the
vanguard of criticizing televisions perceived excesses.
Another issue is consumerism. I consider consumerism to be a cultural issue to the extent that it is
primarily a matter of learned behavior stoked by the media in a commercial media environment,
which the Arab media context is becoming at a quick pace. Also, it is important to remember that
some these cultural challenges come from within the Arab world. Lebanese authorities have always

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (8 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

received complaints from more conservative Arab countries because of Lebanese televisions use
of sexual and other culturally taboo content. Elements of Lebanese society itself repeatedly criticize
that kind of programming (Kraidy, 1995, 1999a and 2001a). Many problems have arisen between
Saudi Arabia on one hand, and European and other Arab broadcasters on the other, for
broadcasting content deemed offensive to Wahhabi sensibilities. While consumerism is usually not
the red flag for Arab guardians of tradition as is sexuality, it is a far reaching force whose potential
for cultural change will be growing to the extent that most Arab states are aiming for integration into
the global economy.
Conclusion
In spite of their rapid growth, transnational satellite television stations in the Arab world are still in
their infancy. Although we do not have the benefit of a long history to make definitive
pronouncements, the past decade does carry lessons to heed. While it makes sense for reasons of
organization and analysis to separate the political, economic, cultural and media spheres, major
insights can be gleaned from how these realms are mutually articulated.
First among these articulations is that no matter how permissive and free Arab talk-shows are or
appear to be, the road of democratization is still arduous. Without civil society institutions that would
articulate some of the reformist ideas discussed on talk-shows to concrete social or political
agendas, talk will remain just that. While there are nascent civil society organizations in Egypt,
Lebanon, Jordan and others, they remain isolated and at the whim of national government.
Second, the link between private ownership and political freedom will have to be re-thought. After
all, many countries in the world have liberalized economically while maintaining the political noose
tight. In the Arab world, privately owned satellite television stations are still indirectly controlled by
the ruling national elites, whether through family relationships such as the case of MBC, or with a
manipulated board of shareholders such as LBCIs. Government owned satellite stations in Syria,
Jordan and Egypt are still the official voices of the regimes in those countries. Privatization of the
media as commercial companies does not insure political pluralism.
Third, the cultural implications of transnational Arabic broadcasting remain woefully underresearched. Arguably, understanding regional media production and reception in the Arab world
would give us a clearer view of how Arab societies are negotiating the tensions between tradition
and modernity. The media circuit of production, distribution, reception and reproduction the
process through which audience member subjectivities engage the social totality through media
texts is where commercial, political and cultural forces clash. To understand the fundamentalisms
and pluralisms that transnational media helps to shape, research on the cultural dimensions of
satellite television is urgently needed.
Ultimately, satellite television is a force towards the integration of the Arab world into the global
community. Whether one sees this as a dream or a nightmare does not diminish the importance of
the phenomenon itself. Neither should public discourse, in the Arab world and the West, reach
foreclosed and premature conclusions about the consequences of satellite television. It is a
phenomenon that anyone interested in the Arab region and its international relations would well do
file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (9 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

to monitor closely while being prepared for major surprises along the way.
Author Note
All translations from Arabic and French are mine. I am grateful to Joe Khalil, of Murr Television
(MTV), and the Lebanese American University (LAU), both in Beirut, Lebanon, for help in obtaining
information on the Arab satellite industry, for insights gained in conversations with him over the
years, and for his critical reading of this article. Having said this, I assume responsibility for the
analysis and interpretation formulated in this article.

References
Ambah, F. (1995, May 24). Arabs channel-surf past state-run TV. Christian Science Monitor, 1.
Amin, H. Y. (2000). The current situation of satellite broadcasting in the Middle East. Transnational
Broadcasting Studies, 5, available http://www.tbsjournal.org.
Amin, H. Y. & Boyd, D. A. (1994). The development of direct broadcast television to and within the
Middle East, Journal of South Asia and Middle Eastern Studies, 18(2), pp. 37-50.
Arabsat says French channel ban over porn is final (1997, July 24). The Beirut Times, 7.
ARABSAT second generation satellites (1997). Riyadh: ARABSAT.
Arabsats general manager: We have pointed CFIs attention since 1993 on their violation of our
contract (1997, July 27). Asharq Al-Awsat [The Middle East], 16.
Ayish, M. I. (1997). Arab television goes commercial: A case study of the Middle east Broadcasting
Center. Gazette, 59(6), 473-494.
Badran, A. R. B. (1991). Christian broadcasting in the Eastern Mediterranean: The case of Middle
East Television. Gazette, 47, 33-46.
Barkey, M. (1996, January). Satellite TV: On the eve of revolution. Arab Ad, 12-14.
Boulos, J. C. (1996). La Tl: Quelle Histoire [Television; What a story!] Beyrouth: Fiches du Monde
Arabe.
Boyd, D. A. (1991). Lebanese broadcasting: Unofficial electronic media during a prolonged civil war.
Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 35(3), 269-287.
Boyd, D. A. (1993b). A new "line in the sand" for the media. Media Studies Journal, 7(4), 133-140.
Boyd, D. A. (1999). Broadcasting in the Arab world: A survey of the electronic media in the Middle

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (10 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

East. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.

Burnett, K. (1996, December). The scramble for satellite viewers, Arab Ad, 6, 166.
El-Nawawy, M. & Iskandar, A. (2001). Al-Jazeera. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Fakhreddine, J. (2000). Pan-Arab satellite television: Now the survival part. Transnational
Broadcasting Studies, 5, available http://www.tbsjournal.org.
Fandy, M. (1993, December 15). Who is afraid of the satellite dish? Christian Science Monitor, 23.
Gher, L. A. & Amin, H. Y. (2000) (Eds.). Civic discourse and digital age communications in the
Middle East. Stamford, CT: Ablex.
Kazan, N. (1996, November). A winner in the booming satellite industry. Arab Ad, 6 to 12.
Khalaf, R. (1994, November 16). Saudi businessmen reach for the media stars. Financial Times,
page unknown.
Khalil, J. (1996, June). Lebanese television programming: A case of reassembling society.
Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Ohio University, Athens: OH.
Kooley, J. K. (1980, September 2). Libya offers oil to Cyprus for propaganda base. Christian
Science Monitor, 10.
Kraidy, M. (1995, April) Consumption, Culture and Technology: Political Culture and Cultural
Politics in Post-War Lebanon. Paper presented at The Information Revolution in the Middle East,
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Symposium, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Kraidy, M. M. (1998a). Satellite Broadcasting from Lebanon: Prospects and Perils, Transnational
Broadcasting Studies, 1, available http://www.tbsjournal.org.
Kraidy, M. M. (1998b). Broadcasting Regulation and Civil Society in Post-War Lebanon, Journal of
Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 42(3), 387-400.
Kraidy, M. M. (1999a). The local, the global and the hybrid: A native ethnography of glocalization,
Critical Studies in Media Communication, 16(4), 456-477.
Kraidy, M. M. (1999b). State Control of Television News in 1990s Lebanon. Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly, 76(3), 485-498.
Kraidy, M. M. (2000a). "Transnational Satellite Television and Asymmetrical Interdependence in the
Arab world: A research note. Transnational Broadcasting Studies, 5, available http://www.tbsjournal.
org.

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (11 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

Kraidy, M. M. (2000b). Television and civic discourse in postwar Lebanon, in L. A. Gher & H. Y.
Amin (Eds.). Civic discourse and digital age communications in the Middle East (pp. 3-18).
Stamford, CT: Ablex.
Kraidy, M. M. (2001a). National television between localization and globalization, in Y. Kamalipour
and K. Rampal (Eds.), Media, Sex and Drugs in the Global Village (pp. XX). Lanham, MD: Rowman
and Littlefield.
Kraidy, M. M. (2001b). Emerging media policy in the Arab world: Lebanons national television
between the state and the market, presentation at Arab Legal Systems in Transition, 25th
Symposium, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
April 5-6.
Millichip, J. (1996, April). Sand castles: Special satellite Middle East, TV World, 45-50.
Overview (1997). Riyadh: ARABSAT.
Russell, P. (1994, November). Roman roads lead to new orbits. TV World, 28-29.
Saad, J.(1997, November 11). LBCI faces legal quiz over Tamraz talk show. The Daily Star.
Available http://www.dailystar.com.lb/11-11-97/art2.htm
Sabeh: Compliance with a unified political discourse and allowing Tl-Liban to broadcast via
satellite (1997, December 24). As-Safir, 7.
Sabeh: No censorship on media freedom and satellite issue will enjoy "home" treatment (1997,
January 22). An-Nahar, 4.
Sakr, N. (1999). Satellite television and development in the Middle East. Middle East Report, Spring.
Satellite generations (2002, September 2002). ARABSAT, available at http://www.arabsat.com/
satgen/index.asp
Satellite programs and the telephone calls they generate are the reason (1997, January 23). AnNahar, 6.
Saudis clamp down on satellite viewing (1996, December). Arab Ad, 6, 167.
Schleifer, S. A. (1998). Media explosion in the Arab world: The Pan-Arab satellite broadcasters.
Transnational Broadcasting Studies, 1, available.
Schleifer, S. A. (2000). Does satellite TV pay in the Arab world footprint? Exploring the economic
feasibility of specialized and general channels. Transnational Broadcasting Studies, 5, available
http://www.tbsjournal.org.
file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (12 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]

Global Media Journal

Schleifer, S. A. (2001). Looks are deceiving: Arab talk shows and TV journalism. Transnational
Broadcasting Studies, 6, available http://www.tbsjournal.org.
Tawil, F. (1997). Saudi media scene evolution. Arab Ad, 7, 8 to 10.
Temko, N. (1984, August 14). Why ordinary Arabs faithfully turn to the voice of the enemy.
Christian Science Monitor, 1.
Temko, N. (1984, March 7). The battle of the broadcasts in the Gulf war. Christian Science Monitor,
1.

About the Author

Born in Lebanon and educated in Lebanon and the United States, Marwan M. Kraidy (Ph.D., Ohio
University, 1996) teaches global and transcultural communication and Arab mass media in the
Division of International Communication, School of International Service, American University, in
Washington, DC. He is co-editor (with Patrick D. Murphy) of Global Media Studies: An Ethnographic
Perspective, (Routledge, forthcoming). His articles have appeared in Critical Studies in Mass
Communication, Communication Theory, Media, Culture and Society, Journal of Transnational
Broadcasting Studies, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, and Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly. He is also completing a book-length manuscript on cultural hybridity in
international communication. Previously he was Director of Graduate Studies in the School of
Communication at the University of North Dakota. Correspondence regarding this article should be
addressed to the author at kraidy@american.edu , 202-885-1497 (O), 202-885-2494 (Fax), or at
Division of International Communication, School of International Service, American University, 4400
Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016, USA.
Return to Table of Contents | Return to Top of Article

Copyright 2010 Global Media Journal. All rights reserved.

file:///R|/CVs/Annenberg/Kraidy%20CV/gmj-fa02-kraidy.htm (13 of 13) [9/22/2010 10:35:51 AM]