Saudi Arabia’s national broadcaster changed from being the Saudi Broadcasting Corporation to the Saudi Broadcasting Authority in 2018, as part of a wider evolution of media under a new converged regulatory regime.
The Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) had a strong presence at the recent Saudi Media Forum. It now operates the country’s public tv stations, a production comissioning business, a broadcasting services business plus 2 local radio stations and 5 national stations known as Saudi Radio:
- Riyadh Radio, (إذاعة الرياض)
- Jeddah Radio, (إذاعة جدة)
- Saudia Radio (راديو السعودية)
- International Programs (الإذاعات الدولية السعودية)
- Holy Quran Radio (إذاعة القرآن الكريم)
- Nedaa Al-Islam Radio (إذاعة نداء الإسلام)
- Military Radio (إذاعة الجيش السعودي)
Public radio broadcasting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia began in 1948. In 1964, the Riyadh Broadcasting Station began its transmission, and in 1979, the stations were unified into the General Service, known as SBC and are now part of SBA.
In addition to the General Service, there are now a number of other radio channels, including the Second Programme Service which broadcasts folkloric, drama, recreational, literary and scientific programmes. Other radio channels include The Call of Islam Broadcasting Service, the Holy Qur’an Broadcasting channel and the multi-language Foreign Service.
Public television broadcasting in Saudi Arabia commenced in 1965. There are currently 10 television channels. Government stations are regulated and adhere to the Basic Law of Broadcasting, which emphasizes the use of Arabic as the primary language and prohibits content deemed offensive or divisive.
There are 9 private commercial radio stations in Saudi Arabia, according to broadcaster Hamoud Hezam, who spoke to radioinfo at the Saudi Media Forum.“We have maybe eight or nine private stations. There are some sports stations… some news stations… some music and we have public stations. They are different appearing on different FM frequencies.”
Some commercial stations from nearby states can also be heard in Saudi Arabia.
Steve Ahern met some of the team from Riyadh Radio at the SMF exhibition stand just as they were preparing for a live program from the conference.
Broadcast radio continues to be consumed strongly during long car journeys in the vast kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An Ipsos radio measurement study in November 2023 showed that 84% of the population actively listens to the radio for an average of 3 hours a day.
Online streaming has also grown with 80% of the population also consuming radio and music streams plus podcasts. According to the Ipsos data, 76% of Saudis consume podcasts, with the most popular podcast topics being sport and comedy.
Related reports:
The power of Audio in the modern media environment: Saudi Media Forum
Most podcasts fail before their fifth episode, it’s harder than they think: Saudi Media Forum
Covering crises… balance deadlines with accuracy: Saudi Media Forum
Media helps Saudi Arabia open up to the world: Saudi Media Forum
Politicians shouldn’t have a good relationship with the media: Boris Johnson at Saudi Media Forum
Invitation from AIBD Director to the Asia Media Summit in Cambodia