AJL-TV
AJL-TV, "the Eye of the Desert", was the first television station in both Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula. The station was set up by the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service of the United States and started broadcasting on June 17, 1955[1] using a 200-watt transmitter.[2] Broadcasts were limited to personnel stationed at the USAF Dhahran Airfield. Like other AFRTS stations, its programming was contemporary American television fare, but all references to Christianity, Israel or alcohol were edited out due to religious considerations.[2] The signal was received in most Aramco communities and by overspill in Bahrain.[2]
In 1958, the station carried weekly programs on fire prevention, led by Chief John Miller.[3]
The station was shut down in 1961,[4] but was revived when the base was manned during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, resuming radio and television broadcasts in the process. On January 17, 1992, the television station was vacated and shut down for good.[5]
References
- ^ Boyd, Douglas A. (Winter 1970–71). "Saudi Arabian Television". Journal of Broadcasting. 15 (1).
- ^ a b c Vitalis, Robert (2007). America's Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier. Stanford University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-8047-5446-0. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ^ Fire Engineering. Technical Publications. 1958. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ "Aramco TV on the air". ARAMCO Life. May 1963. Archived from the original on 25 July 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia". BroaDWcast. 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2024-07-18.