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-Muha’a 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.
KTV1 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 Kuwait’s 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 Kuwait’s 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.
