With the boom in satellite and new media platforms, sceptics have been quick to denounce new investments in traditional and terrestrial broadcasting claiming they are wasted. As I hail from Saudi Arabia, a country that has pulled out all the stops to build a state-of-the-art broadcast infrastructure aimed at reaching the farthest corners of the […]
With the boom in satellite and new media platforms, sceptics have been quick to denounce new investments in traditional and terrestrial broadcasting claiming they are wasted. As I hail from Saudi Arabia, a country that has pulled out all the stops to build a state-of-the-art broadcast infrastructure aimed at reaching the farthest corners of the Kingdom, I believe it is time to counter some of these arguments. But first, let me place it all in perspective.
Saudi Arabia has an area of more than two million square kilometers and a population of 27 million people. Around 30% of the population is concentrated in three main cities: Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam while the rest is scattered around the country across vast deserts. This makes it extremely difficult and expensive to cover the whole population with radio and television services.
Saudi Arabian Television was launched in 1965. In the last two decades, the TV transmission network has undergone several phases of upgrades aimed at modernising the countrys broadcast infrastructure, migrating to HD and reaching every corner of the Kingdom. Although traditional, it has incorporated all modern elements to ensure that it is scalable, expandable and future proof.
For many years, the country has made do with two analogue channels; Saudi-1 and a second channel. This second channel was initially the English Saudi-2 channel which began transmission in 1983. It was then replaced by Saudi Sports Channel nearly 10 years ago.
With the emergence of digital technologies, the Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) saw an opportunity to distribute more of its TV channels to various parts of the country.
As part of this plan, in 2006, the first digital terrestrial multiplex using the DVB-T system was introduced in the Kingdoms five main cities.
Today, after nearly four years, we have expanded our network to cover nearly 100 TV broadcasting stations in the country. These 100 stations cover nearly 90% of the population. The rest of the network, which includes the smaller villages, is presently being upgraded.
The primary distribution of the DTT signal has been done with automatic protection using two satellites: Arabsat and Nilesat.
The multiplex started with four TV programmes, four radio programmes, and an interactive channel using the MHP technology. It has been changed since then to include seven TV and five radio programmes, as the interactive channel did not prove as attractive as initially thought.
Saudi Arabia, therefore, boasts the largest digital terrestrial television network in the Middle East and North Africa region.
DTT has several advantages; not only does it carry more TV channels on the same RF channels, but it can also reach further distances compared to analogue TV. It is also ideal for mobile reception. This means that we are able to reach more people and the smaller villages that were difficult to cover in the past. Of course, this technology comes at a huge cost. However, it also brings great benefits and more programmes to our people.
Other countries in the MENA region are now following suit and building their own respective DTT networks. Tunis, Algeria, Syria, Iraq and Oman have already begun this process. Smaller countries are still slow in DTT start up but again, it is an expensive proposition.
Saudi Arabias MOCI also recently drafted a Broadcast Act, which is presently under evaluation by the relevant legislative bodies in the Kingdom.
Once the Act is approved, there will be a provision to issue licenses to the private sector for terrestrial TV channels. The frequency plan is also being prepared to have at least five multiplexes of terrestrial TV in the country. As in many countries, this will give viewers in Saudi Arabia a good variety of TV programming that is consistent with the countrys moral and family values.
While there is no doubt that other media platforms will continue to develop and we see them as supplementing traditional media, DTT has been very successful in the developed world including the UK and France, despite the availability of satellite and new media so we believe it will be even more successful in our country.
Saudi Arabia has always maintained that it has a social responsibility to its citizens. For us, DTT allows us to draw the perfect balance between our responsibility towards our people and catering to their diverse entertainment requirements. What we envisage is a country with a strong terrestrial backbone and a solid traditional broadcast infrastructure that is built with all modern elements and embraces new media platforms. We do not view new media as replacing existing platforms but as supplementing them.
Dr. Riyadh K. Najm is Deputy Minister of Engineering at the Ministry of Culture & Information, Saudi Arabia.
