Arab Radio and Television Network

Arab Radio and Television Network (acronym: ART) is an Arabic-language television network characterized by its multitude of channels. It is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
History and profile
ART was founded in October 15, 1993 by Saleh Abdullah Kamel, a Saudi businessman and is a private company specializing in family entertainment, including movies, music and sport.
ART was particularly known in Saudi Arabia for its exclusive sports event broadcasts, especially the Saudi Leagues. The network lost a significant amount of its audience share after the launch of many similar free-to-air channels like the Rotana network, owned by Al-Waleed bin Talal. At the time of launch, ART produced over 6,000 live and recorded shows per year, including family-oriented dramas, series, plays, sports programs, music videos and documentaries.
ART is broadcasting via the Arabsat, Nilesat and Hot Bird satellites. Most ART Channels are encrypted using Irdeto 2 Encryption. ART's technical broadcast facilities are based in Jordan Media City in Amman, Jordan.
In November 24, 2009, Al Jazeera purchased all of ART's sport channels which had the license to broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2010 and 2014 matches. This decision led to calls to boycotts of Al Jazeera by Arab football fans who were accustomed to watching major football events for free; and turned broadcast rights into a political issue where governments —who often purchased broadcasts and aired them locally for no charge, had to be involved. ART Sports was subsequently rebranded as Al Jazeera Sports (since 2014, BeIN Sports). Later that year, ART also sold most of its remaining entertainment channels to Orbit Showtime Network.
ART channels list
Arab Radio and TV Network consists of the following channels:
Current channels
TV
ART Aflam 1: Arabic movie channel one
ART Aflam 2: Arabic movie channel two
ART Cinema: Arabic movie channel three
ART Hekayat: Arabic series Pop-up channel
ART Hekayat 2: Arabic series channel two
ART Hekayat HD: Arabic series Pop-up channel in HD during Ramadan
ART Hekayat 2 HD: Arabic series channel in HD during Ramadan
Cima: Arabic movie channel four
Iqraa: Arabic Islamic channel
ART Movies: Arabic movie channel five, broadcast in North America, Asia-Pacific and Australia
ART: International Arabic channel, broadcast in North America and Brazil
ART Tarab: Arabic classic music and opera channel, broadcast in North America and Australia
Iqraa International: Non-Arabic-speaking Islamic channel (English and French)
Iqraa Bangla: UK-based, Bengali Islamic channel
Radio
ART Music Radio
Dhikr Radio for the Holy Quran
Former channels
ART branded channels
ART Eye
ART Sport 1-9
ART Prime Sport
ART 1
ART 2
ART 3
ART 4
ART 5
ART Children
ART Music
ART Monasabat
ART Shopping
ART Hekayat Zaman
ART Teenz
ART Al-Talimiyah
ART Open University
Ayen Al-Awail
ART Travel
ART Movie World
ART Hekayat Kaman
ART Hekayat Kaman HD
ART America
ART Variety
Distributed channels
Jetix
Hallmark Channel
Channel [V]
National Geographic Channel
Nat Geo Adventure
Nat Geo Wild
CBS Reality
Cartoon Network
Boomerang
BabyTV
Discovery Science
Animal Planet
Sky News
STAR Plus
STAR News
Sony Max
Sony Entertainment Television Asia
STAR Gold
ITV Granada
Zee TV
Zee Cinema
NDTV 24x7
STAR One
TCM
Sahara One
B4U Movies
B4U Music
Indus Vision
Geo TV
Kairali TV
Jaya TV
See also
Showtime Arabia
Orbit Satellite Television and Radio Network
List of direct broadcast satellite providers
List of digital television deployments by country
References
External links
Aflam Arabia
ART Network demographics and Audience
Television networks
Arab mass media
Mass media in Jeddah
Companies based in Jeddah
Television channels and stations established in 1993
Television in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian companies established in 1993
Mass media companies established in 1993