Outlet profile

Al Arabiya English

Saudi state-linked, pro-Gulf establishment

Owned byMBC Group (Middle East Broadcasting Center); Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired a 54% controlling stake in MBC Group in 2025, with businessman Waleed bin Ibrahim al Ibrahim retaining approximately 36%

FundingPrimarily advertising revenue; MBC Group also earns subscription income from its Shahid streaming platform; the parent company is now majority-owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

Al Arabiya launched on March 3, 2003, in Dubai Media City as an Arabic-language satellite news channel backed by MBC Group and other Gulf investors, explicitly intended as an alternative to Al Jazeera, whose coverage was seen as hostile to the Saudi royal family; its backers described the goal as providing 'balanced and less provocative' news. Al Arabiya English, the English-language digital service, launched in 2007 and was substantially relaunched in 2013 with a redesigned website and integrated video clips from the main Arabic channel. The channel's operations relocated from Dubai to Riyadh, with the move completing in July 2025. That same year, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund purchased a 54% controlling stake in MBC Group, formalizing sovereign state control over Al Arabiya's parent company. Media Bias/Fact Check rates Al Arabiya right-of-center and flags a pattern of selective, pro-government reporting—citing, for example, its partial coverage of Trump's statements on the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which omitted portions that would have reflected badly on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Academic research has characterized the outlet as a key instrument of Saudi soft power that promotes narratives favorable to Gulf stability, Saudi-led regional coalitions, and counter-Iranian positioning.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-10; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record