What are they?
Unlike local television outlets (known as terrestrial broadcasting), these stations send their signals to satellites in geosynchronous orbit above the earth. The signals are then beamed back to the ground where they can be received by viewers across a vast area.

Pan-Arab broadcasters largely use two space satellites, Arabsat and Nilesat. Broadcasts from either of these can be seen across the entire Arab region, from Morocco to Oman.

How is this different from television in the United States?
The majority of viewers in America get their television via cable. Cable operators pull together packages of channels—some local, many from satellites (such as CNN or HBO)—and sell those packages to viewers for a monthly fee. Other Americans simply view over-the-air, terrestrial television broadcasts. And a growing number of Americans receive television from satellite distributors (like the Dish Network or DirecTV) that work much like cable operators—they package together a number of channels and sell access to subscribers for a flat monthly fee.

In the Arab world, the situation is often much more chaotic. Viewers buy satellite dishes (often more than one) and receive whatever signals they can find. Dealers—some authorized, others not—sell various helpful components including decoders if needed to watch scrambled premium or pay-per-view channels.

The necessary equipment is relatively inexpensive. One person with a receiver may sell access to a number of viewers. Some families may share equipment. The price and the underground nature of the business ultimately means that hundreds of channels are available to viewers in almost every economic class.

All in all, "satellite TV" is a much different operation in the Middle East than it is in America. Here, middle men at the cable companies or at distributors like DISH and DirecTV control which channels are offered and what each channel or group of channels will cost. There, people are directly viewing the raw broadcasts from the satellites and new channels added to each satellite are instantly available.

How many of these channels are available?
No one really knows. Knowledgeable people we spoke with in researching the public radio documentary "24/7: The Rise and Influence of Arab Media" gave us answers ranging from 250 to 400. But all agreed that new stations are going on the air every week.

What is on these channels?
Every kind of television programming you can imagine...and more. Sports, weather, movies, cartoons, music, variety shows, game shows, cooking shows, even reality shows. News channels carry live news events, documentaries, and political debate programs. Some religious channels broadcast readings of the Koran and prayers all day. And many channels from the United States, Europe, and Asia are easily available as well.

Which channels and programs are the most popular?
Audience ratings across all Arab nations are incredibly difficult to gather. But public opinion polls and reliable feedback indicate that entertainment programming, especially movies and music videos (referred to as music clips in the region) are very popular.

The program "Superstar," a regional version of "American Idol," is highly watched. More than 30 million votes were cast for various competitors. Music clip channels often have on-screen scrolls generated via text messaging from viewer's cell phones. These programs claim to receive thousands of messages an hour.

Twenty-four hour news channels generate sizable audiences. Recent surveys show that Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are easily the two most watched news sources in the region.

Who pays for all this?
Many of the channels sell advertising and try to support themselves that way. Industry observers, however, say only a few of the very popular entertainment channels may be making a profit. Most of the channels don't even break even.

Some of the channels are government supported. Others are funded by wealthy individuals or families for political or personal prestige reasons.

How can I find out more about individual channels?
A sizeable list of pan-Arab satellite television networks is available on the Web from Middle East Broadcasters Journal and the Middle East Media Guide.

Links to each source are provided only as a resource for readers. The Stanley Foundation does not endorse any particular institute, organization, or publication listed here.