Television in Egypt

Television in Egypt is mainly received through free satellite, while analog terrestrial represents 41% of total viewers. The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics said the average time an Egyptian spends watching television a day is 180 minutes (3 hours), while Egyptian channels recorded 170,000 hours of broadcast in 2019.[1]

Egyptian Television headquarters on the Nile banks, Cairo

Since Egypt launched its first broadcasts in 1960, state-run channels have held a monopoly on terrestrial broadcast.[2] The Ministry of Information strictly regulated private satellite channels as well.[2] In the 1990s, there used to be an Egyptian company called CNE (Cable Network of Egypt) which provided a few foreign pay TV stations broadcast terrestrially over the air (CNN International, MTV Europe with one show made for Arab League viewers, and other defunct channels), but needed a special receiver and a card. The National Media Authority, a government entity, owns all 17 terrestrial channels. Channel 1 and Channel 2 are the network’s main channels and broadcast across Egypt. The state-owned Nile TV is the main foreign language channel, aims at promoting Egypt's state point of view and promote tourism. There are 6 regional terrestrial channels, which used to all be broadcast to Greater Cairo, but as of 2007, only Greater Cairo channel (Channel 3) of the regional channels is broadcast to Greater Cairo. Most terrestrial channels were in fact satellite channels owned by ERTU, but simulcasted to Greater Cairo, since 2007.

The state's 23 channels are reported to have, as of 2012, "a small and dwindling viewership".[3] There are also many private satellite stations. As of 2002, there used to be only two, Al-Mehwar and Dream, though the government has a financial stake in both channels.[3] Since the 2011 revolution, more channels have launched, including Capital Broadcasting Center, Al Nahar, DMC TV, Al Hayah, ON E and TeN TV, which have managed to attract significant viewership.[3]

Subscription television penetration is low, estimated to be 9% in 2011, which consists of OSN and Arab Radio and Television Network. OSN was formed in 2009 by merging Orbit and Showtime Arabia. All of which are not owned by Egyptian companies, but by Persian Gulf companies. While WATCH IT, is the main Egyptian subscription over-the-top streaming service created and operated by the United Media Services.[4] The service launched on March 15, 2019. The service is one of the most-watched Arabic streaming services in the Middle East and North Africa.[5][6][7]

The overwhelming number of private satellite stations launched during 2008 until 2012 has changed the Egyptian TV production market drastically, lifting the dominant hand of state-run channels off the market. Over 50 TV series[8] have been broadcast annually during Ramadan[9] – Main TV viewership season. Introduction of dubbed TV shows – from Turkey and India mainly- on Egyptian TV channels made the market more competitive.[10] Egyptian TV productions companies started to adapt in efforts to match the foreign offerings which started to dominate the market.[11] Companies like Egyptian Arts Group, El Adl Group and many others started doubling their annual production budgets in efforts to match the foreign TV series offerings in terms of quality of production.

Television channels and networks

Selected list

  1. Aghapy TV
  2. Al Ahly TV
  3. Al Hayah
  4. Al Nahar TV
  5. Alexandria Channel
  6. Cairo Channel
  7. Canal Channel
  8. CBC TV
  9. CTV (Egyptian TV channel)
  10. Delta Channel
  11. Egyptian Television Network
  12. DMC TV
  13. Free TV
  14. Mazzika
  15. Mehwar TV
  16. Melody Aflam
  17. Nile News
  18. Nile TV International
  19. ON E
  20. Sada El Balad
  21. TeN TV
  22. Thebes Channel
  23. Upper Channel
  24. Zamalek TV

Most viewed channels

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.
Position Channel Share of total viewing (%)
1 MBC Masr 8.4
2 Dream 1 7.7
3 Mehwar TV 7.1
4 MBC 1 6.7
5 CBC 6.1
6 Al-Nahar 5.7
7 ON E 4.3
8 OSN 3.8
9 Rotana Drama 3.4
10 Al Hayah 3.1
11 TeN TV 2.7
12 MBC Drama 2.2
13 DMC TV 1.7
14 ERTU 1 1.4
15 ART 1.1
16 Nile TV 0.6

On-demand and streaming

In 2012, Core Republic started the first online Television in Egypt named El Gomhoreya TV which an on-demand service online. It was later renamed to ELGTV[12][13] before becoming a YouTube channel with a separate website called the Glocal.[14][15]

WATCH IT, is the main Egyptian subscription over-the-top streaming service created and operated by the United Media Services.[16] The service launched on March 15, 2019. The service is one of the most-watched Arabic streaming services in the Middle East and North Africa.[17][18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Egyptians watch 180 minutes of TV per day: CAPMAS - Politics - Egypt". Ahram Online. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b "The media in Egypt: Television wars". The Economist. 17 December 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Arab Media Outlook 2011-2015" (PDF). 2012. pp. 141–142.
  4. ^ "Watch It – En – المتحدة للخدمات الإعلامية". Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Consumers turn to subscription-based entertainment models drives WATCH IT success: Gad El Haq - Society - Egypt". Ahram Online. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  6. ^ "WATCH IT & Media Hub Unveil the Official Poster for Etnein Gheirna". EgyptToday. 5 February 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  7. ^ "The Resilience of Good Content: An Interview with Watch iT VP Moustapha Bekheet". SecneNow. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Flood of Ramadan TV shows hits Egypt".
  9. ^ "Race or no race, its Ramadan Anyway".
  10. ^ "Remon Magar: Egyptian Drama Falling apart because of Turkish Conquer of the Egyptian production market" (in Arabic). 6 March 2013.
  11. ^ "best performance by Actor in Ramadan season".
  12. ^ "رسميًا.. الإعلامية ريم ماجد خارج خريطة 'أون تي في' الجديدة". 23 October 2013.
  13. ^ "بالفيديو.. "بالدليل: الطفل المصرى أذكى طفل في العالم" - المصري اليوم".
  14. ^ "The Glocal". YouTube. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  15. ^ "The Glocal -". 17 August 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  16. ^ "Watch It – En – المتحدة للخدمات الإعلامية". Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  17. ^ "Consumers turn to subscription-based entertainment models drives WATCH IT success: Gad El Haq - Society - Egypt". Ahram Online. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  18. ^ "WATCH IT & Media Hub Unveil the Official Poster for Etnein Gheirna". EgyptToday. 5 February 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  19. ^ "The Resilience of Good Content: An Interview with Watch iT VP Moustapha Bekheet". SecneNow. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_television