The Terrestrial TV sector in the Arab world has remained static with governments mainly in charge, according to a new report.

The boom in the supply of free satellite TV channels in the Arab region seems to have stifled the terrestrial TV landscape, said the Arab Advisors Group report.

Local terrestrial TV stations are still alive in the region, but regulations and market dynamics have ensured that - except in a few countries- the number of terrestrial TV stations has not grown in the past few years, said the report titles "Terrestrial TV in the Arab World 2009”. 

These results were highlighted during Arab Advisors 6th annual media and telecoms convergence conference held in Amman recently. The conference was attended by 533 delegates from over 180 companies spanning 25 countries.

The 29-page report, which has 24 detailed exhibits, provides a detailed analysis of the terrestrial TV channels in the 19 Arab countries of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen. This report can be purchased for $950.

There are 129 terrestrial TV stations broadcasting in 19 Arab countries. Palestine, Egypt and Iraq lead in the number of terrestrial TV stations, constituting 50.4 per cent of total terrestrial TV channels in the Arab World. The majority of Palestine's and Iraq's terrestrial TV channels are privately owned and they constitute 83.6 per cent of total private terrestrial TV channels in the Arab World. Egypt has the largest number of government owned terrestrial TV channels. 

"According to surveys conducted by Arab Advisors Group, terrestrial TV channels in the region still have a relatively large audience although much reduced than before the satellite TV era. In Lebanon, for example, 93.9 per cent of respondents surveyed who watch TV said that they still have access to terrestrial television," Noura Abdulhadi, Arab Advisors senior research analyst wrote in the report.
 
"Arab Advisors Group’s analysis reveals that the vast majority of the countries covered, still have full government ownership of the operational terrestrial TV channels,” Abdulhadi added. “Of the 19 countries covered in this report, only Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan allow private terrestrial TV channels. It is noteworthy that by April 21, 2009, Jordan's only licensed private TV channel (ATV) was still not operational. Sudan and Morocco have terrestrial channels that are jointly owned by the government and the private sector.” – TradeArabia News Service