Television in Kuwait made a small beginning in 1957. However,
the first real steps towards television transmission were taken
in November 1961 when the late Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Abdullah
Al-Salem Al-Sabah, ordered that Kuwait TV be transferred to the
State. Kuwait TV, thereof, became a part of the Ministry of News
and Guidance, now known as the Ministry of Information. Soon,
the Al-Muhaa transmission station was established and its
transmission reached the entire country.
Development of television in Kuwait happened in three phases.
Phase one began when Kuwait TV began telecasting programmes in
black and white for four hours per day from November 15, 1961
until March 15, 1974. The second phase began with the transmission
of the colour German PAL signals.
The third phase began with the inauguration of its new headquarters
in the Information Complex on February 17, 1979. The new building
was equipped with the most sophisticated equipment enabling the
station to offer a variety of programmes -- drama, cartoons, cultural,
scientific, religious, Arabic programmes, local series, western
series, variety programmes, news and political programmes.
Kuwait has four state-run TV channels.
KTV 1 broadcasts a comprehensive variety of programmes in Arabic
including music shows, films and news and current affairs programmes
from morning until late evening.
KTV2 telecasts a variety of family programmes in English. Many
of these programmes are extremely popular. Some programmes, such
as the evening movie, are subtitled in Arabic.
KTV3 is Kuwaits sports channel. It telecasts a truly wide
selection of live and pre-recorded sporting events from all over
the world, some with voice-overs in Arabic.
KTV4 is a recreational channel and offers an entertaining mix
of programmes in Arabic and English throughout the night.
Marking a first in Kuwaits history, Studio 160 - a digital
video studio - has been established. The studio has enabled better
quality transmission and picture resolution without any signal
loss during transmission.
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