Manama: The number of Arab satellite stations reached 1,294 by the end of last year, a report indicates.

The Annual Report on Arab Satellite Broadcasting said that 165 public and 1,129 private channels were beaming in the region using multiple languages and offering a variety of specialities.

Issued by the High Committee for Coordination among Arab Satellite Channels (HCCASC), and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), the 2014 Report released last week provides updated statistical data on the satellite broadcasting industry in the Arab region, and classifies channel categories according to their programming, language of broadcasting, geographic coverage, specialisation and public and group or private ownership.

The report also provides a critical reading of new trends and developments of the sector and attempts to understand the phenomenon of satellite channels proliferation and its implications, a statement on ASBU website said.

In the 1990s, the number of Arab satellite channels (both public and private) was limited to no more than 30, and the current boom has been brought about mostly thanks to the private sector, the report said.

“Various factors have helped the proliferation of channels, such as the growing role of the private sector, technology developments and digital satellite broadcasting that offered unlimited opportunities, low cost access and wide prospects for development,” the report explained.

“The number of Arab corporations broadcasting or re-broadcasting satellite channels stands at 758, including 29 publicly owned ones and 729 owned by the private sector.”

The rise recorded in the number of public channels is mostly attributed to the return of Libyan television channels to broadcast after having disappeared with the revolution, as well as to the creation of more public specialised channels, especially in sports.

Sports leads the number of specialised channels with 170 broadcasters, followed by drama (series and movies) channels with 152, music and variety shows channels with 124, religious channels with 95 and news channels with 68.

“In addition to the growth in numbers of the private sector, there is an expansion in the geographical coverage of Arab satellite broadcasting, bringing the signal to all points of the globe, including Australia, New Zealand and the Americas,” the report said.

The Arabic language and dialects used in the broadcast take the lead as expected, while English is in the forefront of foreign language broadcasts, followed by French. Other languages used by Arab broadcasters include Farsi, Hebrew, Hindi, Spanish and Turkish. Amazeegh, Urdu, Hassani and Berber are also used to reach minority target audiences.

The report said viewers in the Arab region can watch international channels targeting them, mostly using the Arabic language and Arab satellites.

They include BBC Arabic, France 24, Germany’s Dutchwelle, the Arabic-speaking channel RAI, Russia Today, as well as Turkish, Korean and Chadian.