Al Sharqiya ("The Eastern One") ( ar, الشرقية) is Iraq's first privately owned satellite channel owned by the London, Baghdad and Dubai-based Iraqi media tycoon Saad al-Bazzaz, is a well-known sunni political opponent from Mosul. Al-Bazzaz is also the Editor in Chief of the

Azzaman ''Azzaman'' ( ar, الزَمان meaning ''The Time'') is a daily Iraqi newspaper published simultaneously in London, Baghdad and Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a popula ...

newspaper. The station was launched in March 2004 and began regular transmission on 4 May 2004. The Shia militias used to call the channel, Al-Baathiya (Baathist), due to the relationship of Saad Al-Bazzaz with the former Baathist president Saddam Hussein. Al Sharqiya now has been gaining a growing audience with its mixture of popular current affairs, satire and Iraq's first reality TV programs. The satellite channel with the greatest reach in Iraq, according to a June Ipsos-Stat poll, is the Saudi-owned news channel

Al Arabiya Arabiya ( ar, العربية, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC. The channel is a flag ...

with 41 percent reach, followed by private Iraqi satellite channel Al Sharqiya at 40 percent. Sharqiya's founder says his current staff of 400 hopes to capture a wide audience by using political comedy and the kind of impartial news coverage unheard of during decades of rule by ousted head of state

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. Since its formation in March 2004, the channel has gained a reputation for its humanitarian assistance and charity work which has been aimed at cities all over Iraq. As part of a programme called ‘Reputation and Capital’ (Saya’o Surmuiya) Al Sharqiya distributed a number of grants to small-scale projects that assist the needy and disabled around Iraq. The distribution of these grants around Iraq were as follows: 39% to

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

, 10% Najaf, 10% Baghdad, 7% Amara, 6% Karbala, 5% Kut, 4% Babylon, 4%

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

, 3% Nasriya, 3%

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...

5% Other cities. The channel's line up for the holy month of Ramadan, including humanitarian programmes, comedies, dramas, satires, music and religion is widely watched in Iraq. Monetary aid dispensed during Ramadan to 90 of the poorest families in Iraq, equated to 1 million dollars in August 2010. In August 2008 four staff were killed in

whilst on assignment.4 Sharqiya Staff Kidnapped, Killed
''

Informed Comment John Ricardo Irfan "Juan" Cole (born October 23, 1952) is an American academic and commentator on the modern Middle East and South Asia. Dead link; no archive located. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University ...

'', 2008-09-14 The channel's head of news, Ali Wajih, blamed the Iraqi Government's al-Iraqiyyah channel, saying their "''campaign of slander''" against the channel was "''morally responsible''" for the killings.Iraq TV 'morally responsible' for crew's killing: Al-Sharqiyah
''Gulf in the media'', 2008-09-13 Al Sharqiya TV was fined $87,000 on the 12th of August 2009 for falsely reporting that orders had been issued to arrest ex-detainees recently released by the United States. Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the main military spokesman in Baghdad, insisted he said only that ex-detainee files would be reviewed to determine if any of them were involved in a recent uptick in bombings.

References

External links

* {{Iraqi broadcast television Television stations in Iraq Arabic-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 2004