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 A new TV channel is vying for the title of “strangest new broadcaster” after opening up over Eid Al Adha with broadcasts of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s speeches and poetry.
The channel currently appears to be off the air, but in an interview with the Associated Press, the main who claims to head the station, Mohammed Jarboua, said its systems were being upgraded.
“We're opting for a more advanced technology and we asked for the broadcast to be cut in the meantime for four days,” Jarboua told AP (which also has some screenshots
from the channel).
Jarouba, an Algerian, spoke to AP from Syria, and has apparently worked hard to hide the location of his broadcast facilities, along with his sources of funding.
Broadcasts on “Saddam TV” (in reality called both “Al Arab” and “Al Lafeta”) started on the first day of Eid, the third anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s execution, going by the Hijri calendar.
Saddam Hussein being something of a controversial figure, Questions are being Asked about the channel’s funding, motivations and general raison d’etre – it apparently not being enough of a justification to think that there might be a market for watching old speeches by a hanged dictator.
Should Saddam TV resume transmission, we can safely say it will take its place as one of the strangest minor stations broadcasting in the Middle East. Given that there are 500 or so of these channels knocking around, we wouldn’t write off the competition just yet.
Advertisers looking to take advantage of the channel’s newfound fame and popularity should get in touch with a psychiatrist.
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