Abu Dhabi TV ( ar, قناة أبوظبي) is an Emirates-based

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

that was originally launched in 1969. It broadcasts content from

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

, the capital of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

, and is owned by

Abu Dhabi Media Abu Dhabi Media (, also ADM) is the official media organization of the Government of Abu Dhabi. The organization was established in 2007. The company manages over 18 brands in two categories. ADM brands include Abu Dhabi TV, Al Emarat TV, Abu ...

. Abu Dhabi TV is managed by the

. It is managed through its previous attachment to the Ministry of Information and Culture since 1999 and current attachment to Abu Dhabi Media since February 2006, when the ministry was scrapped. Abu Dhabi TV presents news bulletins every three hours. Abu Dhabi TV broadcasts content throughout the

Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

History and Re-Branding

Abu Dhabi Television started grayscale broadcasts on 4 August 1969, later adopting the PAL format for color broadcasting on 4 December 1974. The station was only carried terrestrially in the

for its first 23 years on the air. The Abu Dhabi TV satellite channel began regular broadcasts on 15 November 1992 on Arabsat A1; broadcasts were later transferred to Arabsat A2. The network also began to be carried through the entire

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

at that time. The network was rebranded on 30 January 2000 as a service aimed at the Arabic-speaking diaspora. Under this format, the channel began carrying a wide range of news programs, as well as entertainment programs catered to Arabic audiences; as a result, it began to become competitive against rival networks MBC and Dubai TV. One of the network's most popular programs was the game show ''Waznak Dahab''; the program premiered on 16 September 2002 and was canceled in early 2003 due to the invasion of Iraq by the United States, which resulted in the beginning of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. On 6 October 2008, Abu Dhabi TV (then-renamed ''Abu Dhabi Al Oula'') was re-branded with a new logo, theme and new original programming content. This re-branding involved the launches of an online website involving catch-ups of television programs and a

1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the scree ...

high definition broadcast channel; which then featured bespoke idents in contrast to the standard-definition cast. The new themes were produced by graphic designer Lambie Nairn and the soundtrack was made by David Lowe, who produced the famous

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

themes. The rebrand also involved the launch of 'Abu Dhabi Sports', a group of eight sister channels (broadcast in either Arabic or English) with the inclusion of 'EDGE Sports' and 'YAS Sports'; all of which are currently broadcast 24/7. In the same year,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a decree ordering Abu Dhabi TV to be established as a public joint-stock company that is wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. In 2009, Abu Dhabi Media relaunched and rebranded 'Emirates TV' as 'Abu Dhabi Al Emarat' after acquiring the network in 2007. Additionally, a UAE-based channel of

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

was launched on 1 July of the same year. On 5 April 2010, the sister channel Abu Dhabi Drama was launched, offering free-to-air broadcasts of drama and soap opera television programs broadcast 24/7 without advertisement breaks. On 13 February 2012, Abu Dhabi TV shut down its analogue broadcasts on terrestrial television and began broadcasting solely in high definition while existing standard definition casts were down-converted. On 22 March 2015, the network was once again rebranded back to the 'Abu Dhabi TV' name with a brand new logo and identity. On 19 February 2020, Abu Dhabi TV unveiled its new logo after 5 years in use. It is now co-owned by the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, ...

/ Fox Networks Group & Abu Dhabi Media Company. The latter is also responsible for launching the Arabic version of the ''National Geographic'' magazine.

Programming

* ''Mission Everest - The UAE Military Team'' * ''Global Village, & Every Emirati's Son''

News and current affairs

* ''‘Ulūm ad-Dār''

Soap operas

; Turkish * ''

Valley of the Wolves ''Valley of the Wolves'' ( tr, Kurtlar Vadisi) is a Turkish media franchise created by Osman Sınav, which has obtained high ratings for the television series and one of the highest box office returns in the history of the Turkish cinema for the ...

Animated shows

* '' Avengers Assemble'' * '' Guardians of the Galaxy''

Sister channels

Abu Dhabi TV is additionally paired with sister channels such as Abu Dhabi Al Emarat (Emirates TV), Abu Dhabi Al Riyadiya (Abu Dhabi Sports TV), "Abu Dhabi Drama" (Abu Dhabi Drama TV) and Abu Dhabi Al Oula +1, a 1 hour time shifted variant of the station.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Dhabi Tv Television channels and stations established in 1969 Television stations in the United Arab Emirates Arabic-language television stations Mass media in Abu Dhabi Television companies of the United Arab Emirates Foreign television channels broadcasting in the United Kingdom 1969 establishments in the Trucial States State media Publicly funded broadcasters