Sharjah24: In celebration of the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, Sharjah Broadcasting Authority (SBA) has announced an impressive line-up of compelling premium content for all its radio and television channels, that adhere to the noble values of the religious period and caters to the interests of its wide range of audience segments.

With 137 programmes spanning a broad selection of religious, social, entertainment and cultural shows, the package announced for Ramadan 2021 is SBA’s largest and most diverse offering till date. 

The specially packaged content, designed exclusively for Ramadan this year, will also include soap operas featuring popular Arab TV stars and exciting competitions. SBA’s offerings for Ramadan 2021 will be broadcast by Sharjah TV, Sharqiya from Kalba, Wousta from Al Dhaid, Sharjah Sports channel, Sharjah Radio, Sharjah Quran Radio, and Pulse 95. 

Announcing SBA’s largest-ever Ramadan line-up, Mohamed Hassan Khalaf, Director General of SBA, said: “The carefully crafted content for this year is in line with the spiritual and ethical values of the religious month, and aligns with SBA’s commitment to offer a diverse selection of quality content for our audience as they spend more time at home during the holy month.” 

He added: “Despite the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, our teams have successfully navigated the health crisis with out-of-the-box planning to achieve their tasks in record time, and with utmost attention to detail and quality. The choice of programmes reflects SBA’s commitment to offer innovative and meaningful media content that both complements the values and traditions of the holy month and embraces the community spirit of this period, while also appealing to a larger audience with its global outlook.”

Integrated Ramadan package for Pulse 95

A special programme, “The Prophet of Mercy”, to be streamlined on Pulse 95’s social media platforms and designed to share simplified stories about Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) with a non-Arab audience, will be unveiled this Ramadan, said Saif Al Shalal, Head of Pulse 95 Radio (Frequency 95.00 FM). 

Sharjah's first English language radio station will continue to engage with its listeners through six programmes, of which five are live shows. The 'Morning Majlis' (8-10 am) presents an overview of the top local and international news stories, including business developments, while the “Evening Karak” (8-10 pm) focuses on youth talent, games, movies, and popular entertainment, among other topics.

Unique mix of social and cultural programming 

With refreshing local content, Sharjah TV will present 23 programmes in total for Ramadan this year including five dramas and 18 locally produced shows. Ramadan offerings from Sharqiya from Kalba includes 17 programmes comprising of four dramas, 12 locally produced content, and one outsourced programme while Al Wousta from Al Dhaid will entertain the audience with 18 shows.

Sports enthusiasts can continue to enjoy Sharjah Sports channel’s most popular competition, “One of the Three”, alongside two other programmes. 

Sharjah Radio will air 50 shows, the majority of which have been produced locally, while Sharjah Quran Radio will offer 20 new religious shows to enhance the spiritual experience of Ramadan. 
Digital offerings

In preparation for Ramadan, the Digital Media department at SBA recently launched a new website and unveiled a smart app. A Video on Demand (VoD) service also has been made available for smartphones and tablets running on iOS and Android, as well as for Apple TV and Android TV. 

Listeners and viewers can win thousands of dirhams every day by participating in any of the exciting competitions available on SBA’s Maraya app.

The Digital Department has also created a Snapchat account for SBA to facilitate the viewing of its programmes.  Live streaming of Isha and Taraweeh prayers will be available on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter in collaboration with Sharjah Quran Radio. Audiences can tune in to their favourite shows of any SBA channel on the entity’s social media platforms.