March audience survey results for Alhurra: not bad.

At the Brookings Institution on 17 April, Shibley Telhami presented results of a March 2008 survey in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Most of the questions were about political opinion, but some had to do with media use.
     "When you watch international news, which of the following network's news broadcasts do you watch most often?" Al Jazeera 53%; Al Arabiya 9%; MBC 7%, Al Manar 2%, Alhurra 2%.
     Networks watched "daily" or "5 or 6 times a week": Al Jazeera 60%, Al Arabiya 25%, MBC 23%, Alhurra 9%; Al Manar 4%. Complete survey findings available at Brookings website.
     It would be unreasonable to expect Alhurra, as the outside station, to be watched "most often" by Arab audiences. For viewing five or more days per week, Alurra has a respectable audience of almost ten percent. And it's encouraging that Alhurra's audience, measured this way, is larger than that of Hezbollah's Al Manar.
     In next year's survey, we'll find out how well Alhurra competes with the new BBC Arabic channel. It would be interesting if it also asks about the Arabic television services of France 24, Russia Today, DW-TV, EuroNews, etc.
     It would be especially helpful if the Broadcasting Board of Governors releases the results of its own surveys in the Arab nations. Posted: 16 Apr 2008 Permalink Print