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.
