Direct satellite broadcasting is considered to be a very important stage in mass media development. It is a way of sending television programmes from the earth to orbiting satellites, which then directly transfer these programmes by their converters to small dishes fixed to the roofs and outside walls of domestic buildings. Television sets inside the buildings are linked to these dishes and their owners can, thus, watch an almost unlimited number of programmes from all over the world. The only apparatus needed to do this is a receiver, a satellite dish and a television set. Libya's location in North Africa, and its proximity to southern Europe, makes it easy for Libyan audiences to receive satellite channels from many satellites in orbit. A visitor to any Libyan city, town, or village would notice the various types of satellite dishes, of different sizes and shapes, dominating the skyline above private and public buildings. The satellite channels started to spread in Libya at the beginning of the 1990s, increasing after the prices of the apparatus fell, especially after 1997. The introduction and spread of satellite broadcasting in Libya have, as a result, changed local television viewing habits. This study seeks to examine the response of Libyan audiences to direct satellite broadcasting. The effect the viewing of satellite channels has had on the viewing of local television channels is examined in this thesis. In addition, the effects of the spread of satellite channels on the Libyan television services are also considered. At the outset of this research, the researcher posed a number of questions to which he hoped to find answers. In order to address these questions, he adopted a survey study method incorporating a structured questionnaire and a series of interviews, to provide information about viewers' opinions on satellite television. The interviews were conducted with Libyan experts and specialists in the field of mass media. The respondents to the Questionnaire were 256 media students and 256 members of the general viewing public. The field study was conducted in Tripoli during the months of March, April, May and June, 2000. Some of the interviews with the media experts and specialists were conducted at the same time. The Questionnaire consisted of 36 questions designed to elicit information about satellite-channel viewing habits and other related points. The SPSS method was used to analyse the data. The results revealed the most popular days for viewing and the most popular viewing times of the sample groups; the most frequently watched programmes and the reasons for watching television in general. The satellite-channel viewing habit is widespread among Libyan audiences, which the results of this study have confirmed, with more than three-quarters of the sample groups possessing satellite dishes. The ten most frequently watched satellite channels are MBC, Aljazeera, Egyptian Channel, Dubai, Lebanese Future, Abu Dhabi, LBC, ART Channels, Nile Channel, and ANN.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:490058 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Al-Asfar, Mohamed Ali |
| Publisher | University of Manchester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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