A new research and analysis by the Arab Advisors Group (AAG) has revealed that the three main satellite pay TV operators in the region offer a total of 140 channels.

The Arab Television and Radio Network (ART) was the first pay TV provider to offer its subscription services in 1993. Orbit followed a year later with a fully digital, multi-channel, multi-lingual, pay television service in the Middle East.

Showtime Arabia, the third provider, was launched in 1996. In addition to the three major pay TV providers in the Arab World, Al Jazeera Sports, Almajd and STAR operators also provide pay TV channels.

A new report, Satellite Pay TV operators in the Arab World was released to Arab Advisors Group’s media strategic research service subscribers on December 24, 2007.

The report -which has 56 pages and 31 detailed exhibits analyses the landscape of Satellite pay TV and profiles all the main operators including ART, Orbit and Showtime Arabia. The report also provides insights into pay TV penetration in the region based on Arab Advisors major surveys.

This report can be purchased from the Arab Advisors Group for only $950. Please contact the Arab Advisors Group to get a copy of the report's Table of Contents and the survey questions.

“It is noteworthy that in addition to pay TV services there are some cable TV providers that provide local cable services in some Arab countries such as Kuwait Cable Vision in Kuwait, Cablevision in Lebanon, QVC in Qatar and E-vision in the UAE,” wrote analyst Danya Nusseir.

“In November 2007, Orbit offered the highest number of channels with 48 channels (excluding the four pay-per-view channels), going up from only 31 in December 2005. ART provides 42 channels and Showtime provides 36 (excluding the 10 pay-per-view channels),” Nusseir added.

The Arab Advisors Group’s team of analysts in the region has produced over 1,000 reports on the Arab world’s communications and media markets. The reports can be purchased individually or received through an annual subscription to Arab Advisors Group’s (www.arabadvisors.com) Strategic Research Services (Media and Telecom).

To date, Arab Advisors Group has served over 450 global and regional companies by providing reliable research analysis and forecasts of Arab communications markets to these clients. – TradeArabia News Service