Saudi Arabia launches first news radio station

The Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) has launched the country’s first news radio station. Known as Al-Ekhbariya Radio, it was launched on 13 February to coincide with World Radio Day. It is a radio branch of the Al-Ekhbariya TV channel and aims at focusing on local specialised content.

The Saudi Press Agency quoted SBA’s CEO, Mohammed bin Fahd Al-Harithi, as saying the launch came within the framework of the authority’s strategy towards distributing media discourse across all platforms and shifting towards specialised media to meet the different tastes of the society.

The radio will feature a variety of news coverage including news bulletins, brief updates, debates on different issues of interest to the Saudi society and urgent global news.