Kuwait Television is the official state-run television broadcaster in Kuwait. The broadcaster runs eight channels.
Media assets
Television: KTV1, KTV2, KTV Sport, KTV Sport Plus, KTV Kids, KTV Ethraa, KTV Arabe, Al Qurain, KTV Al Majlis
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Kuwait Television is owned and run by the Ministry of Information in Kuwait. The station is literally part of the ministry, operating as a ministry division, fully staffed by people chosen by the ministry.
Source of funding and budget
Kuwait Television is funded almost entirely through state subsidies that are included in the Ministry of Information budget, according to local experts and journalists.
Editorial independence
As a ministry agency, Kuwait TV closely follows a set of editorial rules imposed on the station by the ministry. The Ministry of Information provides the station’s management with strict instructions on how to cover every possible theme, especially those related to politics, according to our own intel from academics based in Qatar. Notably, political talk-shows and news content are very harshly censored and monitored.
No domestic statute and no independent assessment/oversight mechanism that would validate the independence of Kuwait TV have been identified.
August 2023