Arab Radio and Television Network

Arab Radio and Television Network (ART)
Company typePrivate
IndustryTelecommunication
Founded15 October 1993; 31 years ago (1993-10-15)
HeadquartersJeddah, Saudi Arabia and Cairo, Egypt
ProductsDirect-broadcast satellite
Websitewww.artonline.tv

Arab Radio and Television Network (acronym: ART) is an Arabic-language television network characterized by its multitude of channels. It is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

History and profile

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ART was founded on 15 October 1993 by Saleh Abdullah Kamel, a Saudi businessman and is a private company specializing in family entertainment, including movies, music and sport.[1]

ART was particularly known in Saudi Arabia for its exclusive sports event broadcasts, especially the Saudi Leagues. The network lost a significant amount of its audience share after the launch of many similar free-to-air channels like the Rotana network, owned by Al-Waleed bin Talal. At the time of launch, ART produced over 6,000 live and recorded shows per year, including family-oriented dramas, series, plays, sports programs, music videos and documentaries.

ART is broadcasting via the Arabsat, Nilesat and Hot Bird satellites. Most ART Channels are encrypted using Irdeto 2 Encryption. ART's technical broadcast facilities are based in Jordan Media City in Amman, Jordan.

On 24 November 2009, Al Jazeera purchased all of ART's sport channels which had the license to broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2010 and 2014 matches. This decision led to calls to boycotts of Al Jazeera by Arab football fans who were accustomed to watching major football events for free; and turned broadcast rights into a political issue where governments —who often purchased broadcasts and aired them locally for no charge, had to be involved.[2] ART Sports was subsequently rebranded as Al Jazeera Sports (since 2014, BeIN Sports). Later that year, ART also sold most of its remaining entertainment channels to Orbit Showtime Network.

ART channels list

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Arab Radio and TV Network consists of the following channels:

ART Hekayat logo (2006-present)
ART Aflam 1 Logo (2011-present)
ART Aflam 2 Logo (2011-present)

Current channels

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TV
  • ART Aflam 1: Arabic movie channel one
  • ART Aflam 2: Arabic movie channel two
  • ART Cinema: Arabic movie channel three
  • ART Hekayat: Arabic drama channel
  • ART Hekayat 2: Egyptian drama channel
  • ART Hekayat HD: Arabic series Pop-up channel in HD during Ramadan
  • ART Hekayat 2 HD: Arabic series channel in HD during Ramadan
  • Cima: Arabic movie channel four
  • Iqraa: Arabic Islamic channel
  • ART Movies: Arabic movie channel five, broadcast in North America, Asia-Pacific and Australia
  • ART: International Arabic channel, broadcast in North America and Brazil
  • ART Tarab: Arabic classic music and opera channel, broadcast in North America and Australia
Radio
  • ART Music Radio
  • Dhikr Radio for the Holy Quran

Former channels

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ART branded channels
  • ART Eye
  • ART Sport 1-9
  • ART Prime Sport
  • ART Al Zaeem
  • ART Al 3amed
  • ART Al Laith
  • ART Al Alami
  • ART 1
  • ART 2
  • ART 3
  • ART 4
  • ART 5
  • ART Children
  • ART Music
  • ART Monasabat
  • ART Shopping
  • ART Hekayat Zaman
  • ART Teenz
  • ART Al-Talimiyah
  • ART Open University
  • Ayen Al-Awail
  • ART Travel
  • ART Movie World
  • ART Hekayat Kaman
  • ART Hekayat Kaman HD
  • ART America
  • ART Variety
  • Iqraa International: Non-Arabic-speaking Islamic channel (English and French)
  • Iqraa Bangla: UK-based, Bengali Islamic channel
Distributed channels

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cochrane, Paul (Fall 2007). "Saudi Arabia's Media Influence". Arab Media and Society (3). Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  2. ^ Reiche, Danyel; Brannagan, Paul Michael (27 April 2022). Routledge Handbook of Sport in the Middle East. ISBN 978-0-367-47022-7.
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