New sports channel launched in Morocco, Amazigh language channel to come

19/09/2006

A new public Moroccan sports channel called "Riyadiya" began broadcasting via satellite on 16 September. "Amazighiya", an Amazigh language channel, is expected to begin broadcasts between nine months and one year from now.

By Mawassi Lahcen for Magharebia in Casablanca – 19/09/06

[File] Laraichi believes unknown sports clubs will greatly benefit from "Riyadiya".

"Riyadiya," a new Moroccan sports channel, began broadcasting on Friday (16 September). The television channel is the fifth public channel to be broadcast via satellite. It comes in a package with Channels One and Two, the Education Channel and the Mohammed VI Holy Qur'an Channel.

Faiçal Laraichi, president and director general of the National Company of Radio and Television, held a press conference in Casablanca when "Riyadiya" was launched. He said a huge investment would have been required to bring the channel to non-digital, terrestrial broadcasting, though noted that since October, Morocco has been in the process of approving terrestrial digital broadcasting techniques to allow terrestrial channels to broadcast with quality similar to that of digital broadcasting via satellite channels. The speaker pointed out that 93 per cent of Moroccans currently receive public channels programming via non-digital, terrestrial broadcasting, while 53 per cent receive digital channels via satellite.

Laraichi indicated "Riyadiya" is designed to be a true reflection of what takes place in Moroccan sports. It could help promote and develop the sports sector by opening up sponsorship and funding possibilities for unknown clubs, which were only appearing on the two public channels once or twice a year.

"Showing these clubs on the 'Riyadiya' channel twice a week will strengthen the interest of investors, because exposure through these clubs will have a distinct impact because of the increased frequencies and opportunities for them to appear on screen," he explained.

The new channel offers a package of assorted programmes for 12 hours a day. The schedule includes11 sports magazines, three discussion and commentary programmes, documentaries, sports history programmes, and non-sports entertainment.

Laraichi mentioned the broadcasting language will be somewhere between Moroccan dialect and modern standard Arabic, while allowing guests to speak the language of their choosing.

Launching "Riyadiya" channel cost around 50m dirhams and a 60m-dirham operating budget for employee wages was allocated for the first year. According to Laraichi, launching the channel would have cost 200m dirhams if it had been launched as a self-standing project. He said the project's funding was provided by the National Company of Radio and Television within its normal budget without government support and that the company relied entirely on its own abilities in the creation of the new channel.

Laraichi will also be launching an Amazigh language channel called "Amazighiya". He denied a quota of time allocated to broadcasting in the Amazigh language existed.

"I personally am against this treatment of Amazigh … The Amazigh channel will be launched in nine months to a year from now," he stated.