More than 8 million Arabs watch RT on daily basis

Geostrategic Studies Center Poll

The phenomenon of satellite television in recent years has started to spread rapidly. The youth are attracted to satellite channels’ programs which have increasing influence on their characters. The impact of these programs on the behavior of the individual and the family, and society in general, has turned into trends and values, particularly the social, cultural and political trends of youth.

Arabs spend more and more of their time glued in front of a TV screen watching wall-to-wall news coverage, music videos, reality shows, comedy, and drama. Previously taboo subjects on TV are now being shown throughout the region.

The number of viewers of RT, according to our poll which was conducted on the period from January 2018-July 2018, has reached more than 8 million in many Arab countries including Jordan, Morocco, KSA, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the UAE and Egypt on daily basis. According to the study, the number of Russian viewers per month exceeds 220 million in the Middle East, taking the lead ahead of well-known channels including Deutsche Welle, CCTV, France 24 and the CNN.

The number of viewers of RT Arbic in Iraq was the highest in comparison to other countries, with 40 per cent of the country’s population watching the Russian channel every day, according to the poll.

The Russian channel enjoys greater confidence in the countries participating in the poll, compared to other Arabic-speaking channels. Opinion polls revealed that only 5 per cent of respondents said they did not watch RT Arabic for not believing in the credibility of the news. As for “Al Jazeera”, the polls indicated that 28% of the participants do not follow the Qatari channel for the lack of confidence in the credibility of the news it broadcast. The study included 5600 respondents from the age of 18-70 from all levels of society.

At a time when animosity between the West and the Arab world is increasing, Arab satellite television has provided a window on what close to three hundred forty million people in the Middle East see on a daily basis