Dubai TV - What to Expect
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Dubai TV: first, the good news. The increasing competition between cable and satellite programme providers means that, overall, the choice is widening. The bad news is that this same competition means that the situation is constantly changing, as favourite programmes get poached back and forth. For example, English Premier League football has been bounced between five channels in just a few years. People planning to move to Dubai and pay for access to non-terrestrial channels would be well advised to avoid signing any long-term contracts.
The main "PAY" channels are:
E-Vision Basic, Showtime, Orbit, Firstnet, Art, E-Pehla, Art and TFC which is available through E-Vision - http://www.evision.ae/STAR pay TV is available in Dubai through:
Firstnet - http://www.firstnettv.net/
Pehla - http://www.pehlatv.net/However, if you don't want to pay for satellite, you can still get a fix of English-language programmes from the following terrestrial, free to air channels:
Dubai One (formerly Channel 33) - www.dmi.ae/dubaione
MBC 2, 4 and Action - www.mbc.net/portal/site/mbc-en
City 7 - www.city7tv.com/news.asp
They show English and American programmes, but they tend not to be brand-new. Also, reception can be poor in some parts of Dubai.
As mentioned above, satellite and cable companies tend to change their programming frequently, so if you're only choosing a certain package because of one or two favourite shows, you should commit for as short a time as possible. Showtime and Star are popular, but there are others, and their number is certain to grow.
One important thing to remember about Dubai TV is that there is a certain amount of censorship, although debate rages wildly about the extent of that censorship. Some claim that news-gatherers are in the pocket of the Government, while others claim things are almost as relaxed as in the West. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but don't expect the regional news to cover any anti-Government protests with a sympathetic angle.
It is a balancing act between press freedom and preserving cultural values. At Dubai Media City, the broadcasting hub, there are a few rules: no broadcasters owned by political parties, no preaching of religions other than Islam and no defamatory content. But broadcasters are expected to self-regulate.
You may think that the growth of the Internet has helped Dubaians to circumvent the restrictions of Dubai TV, but Dubai's monopoly ISP, Etisalat, has a proxy server designed to block content of which the Government would not approve.
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