The feeling that many Arab-Americans have about being able to view television from the Arab world is one of connectedness and awareness. With limitted coverage of the Middle East on major news stations, Arab-Americans need to look to other sources to learn about what's going on in their native countries. "The arabic news brings us stories that American news stations either don't cover, cover very narrowly, or present in a biased way," says Mohammed, originally from Palestine. "It's nice to be able to watch a full story on events in my homeland, and to watch them reported more fairly. Through American television news we don't see what goes on there on a daily basis, we don't see the individuals beyond the headlines and 10 second news flashes here."
For others, the Arabic channels also provide entertainment. "My mom watches the Arabic soap opera's daily, and she also likes the comedy shows on the Egyptian channel," says Rima, a Lebanese-American. "I sometimes watch it with her, but she really enjoys watching Arabic TV. She says it reminds her of home."
With the following channels to choose from, it's no surprise that more Arab-American families are choosing to add Arabic channels to their TV viewing:
Channel: ESC-1
Description: Has a morning show called "Good Morning Egypt", variety shows, movies, talk shows, and children's programming. It also has extensive coverage of the Egyptian Soccer League so you'll be able to keep track of your favorite teams.
Channel: DUBAI
Description: Dubai Satellite Channel is a variety channel from the United Arab Emirates that covers the most recent sporting events along with the latest news, movies, documentaries and TV series. This channel is more sophisticated than some of the others in terms of the quality of presentation.
