Radio During the Reign of King Abdulaziz

Radio during the reign of King Abdulaziz refers to one of the audio broadcast media outlets established during the reign of King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. He laid the foundations and rules for the inception of the first broadcasting system by issuing a Royal Decree on July 18,1949, establishing a radio system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and outlining its related tasks and duties. The city of Jeddah served as the first official headquarters for radio broadcasting in Saudi Arabia.

The inception of Saudi Radio

The establishment of the first radio broadcasting system in Saudi Arabia dates back to the reign of King Abdulaziz. On May 11,1949, the Saudi government signed a contract at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo with an affiliate of the International Arab Television and Telegraph Company to install and maintain a wireless radio station in Jeddah, aiming to broadcast religious and cultural programming in Arabic.

The broadcasting equipment was shipped prior to signing the contract, and work on the Saudi radio project began in Jeddah a week after the signing. The contract stipulated that construction work be completed by July 15, 1949. On the scheduled date, the first experimental program was broadcast from the Jeddah studio, while the Makkah Al-Mukarramah studio was delayed due to technical issues.

The first radio station was launched in Jeddah, and its regular transmission began on the Day of Arafah, October 1, 1949. It featured an address by King Abdulaziz, delivered on his behalf by his son, Prince Faisal (later King), which included congratulations to the pilgrims on performing the Hajj rituals and a warm welcome on their arrival in Makkah Al-Mukarramah.

Saudi Radio regulations

On July 18, 1949, King Abdulaziz issued a Royal Decree establishing the first radio regulations in Saudi Arabia. The decree specified the selection process for the director—who was responsible to the state for implementing broadcasting policy—along with the station's location, broadcast content, administrative tasks, and programming schedule. The idea of establishing the radio station originated with King Saud Bin Abdulaziz when he was Crown Prince; he presented the proposal to his father, who approved it, and Minister of Finance Abdullah Bin Sulaiman Al-Hamdan was tasked with executing the project under the supervision of the King's Viceroy in the Hejaz, Prince Faisal (later King).

Saudi Radio reported administratively to the Minister of Finance and his deputy, who operated under the directives of Prince Faisal, the Viceroy in the Hejaz at the time. Three directors headed the radio station through the end of King Abdulaziz's reign: Ibrahim Al-Shura, Muhammad Shata, and Ibrahim Amin Foudah. During that period, the station operated under the Ministry of Finance, as it served as a comprehensive ministry overseeing numerous public services and directly funded a portion of the radio station's budget.

Saudi Radio programs

Saudi Radio initially began broadcasting in Arabic with a single daily evening session, later adding a second morning session. On September 3, 1951, the station introduced an afternoon session as a third broadcast window, followed by a second evening session in October 1951. This expanded daily broadcasts to four sessions in Arabic, totaling three and a quarter hours per day.

Each broadcast session opened with verses from the Holy Qur'an, followed by religious programs offering sermons, cultural and social programs, and news bulletins. In its early days, Saudi Radio relied heavily on serious programs over entertainment and recreational content. Literature held a prominent place on air, with writers delivering talks on social, literary, historical, and cultural topics. Because most early employees were literary figures, poets, and storytellers, cultural and literary programs proliferated—featuring shows such as Masterpieces of Poetry, Selected Stories, Sayings of the Scholars, and Varieties of Arabic Literature, along with specialized programs on health, children, finance and economics, and science.

In its early era, Saudi Radio lacked typical international broadcast offerings such as variety shows, radio plays, entertainment, drama, and commercials. There was initially little awareness of the importance of sound effects, though vinyl records were later acquired to enhance production quality. These sound effects served several purposes: setting the scene, engaging listener attention and emotion, building the required psychological mood, signaling character entrances and exits, transitioning between segments, or indicating the program's nature. Music was also used during the early years, totaling twenty minutes across the four daily sessions, though it was strictly limited to military march music.

The station prioritized news gathering to keep listeners informed on local and international developments, with news accounting for 25 percent of total broadcast hours. To strengthen coverage, Saudi Radio imported a ticker machine specifically to receive news feeds from the Associated Press (AP). It also dispatched reporters across Saudi cities to record signs of modernization and development in Saudi society, alongside appointing correspondents within government departments to cover official news.

Development of Saudi Radio

Saudi Radio began with modest technical and human resources, utilizing basic antennas that covered a limited area around the transmission center in Jeddah. The listener base was minimal due to the scarcity of radio sets among the public, the complexity of operating radios to tune into required frequencies, and the insufficient electrical supply during that period.

Initially, the radio service was affiliated with the Bureau of Telegraphs and Posts until March 1950, when the engineering section was separated from the bureau and attached to the Directorate General of Radio Broadcasting. This led to the formation of a specialized engineering department for radio in 1952, dedicated to managing the technical aspect of transmitting broadcast productions.

Transmission stations and program recording studios subsequently expanded across Saudi Radio. While Jeddah served as the first official headquarters, transmission operations were completed at the Makkah Al-Mukarramah studio during the station's third year in 1951. It was officially inaugurated on October 2, 1951, at a formal ceremony attended by Prince Faisal Bin Abdulaziz, the King's Viceroy in the Hejaz. That same month, during its participation in the International Radio and Wireless Conference, the station registered the operating frequencies it used for broadcasting, secured new frequencies, and subsequently upgraded its equipment while increasing its network of stations and studios.

In March 1952, the station introduced an additional weekly Friday broadcast for the first time to air live Friday prayers from the Grand Mosque in Makkah Al-Mukarramah. Later that year, it successfully broadcast the Maghrib (sunset) call to prayer live from the Grand Mosque, followed by live transmissions of Fajr (dawn) prayers, Eid Al-Adha prayers, and the Eid sermon.

By May 1952, technical infrastructure for wired and wireless communications between the Grand Mosque and Makkah Al-Mukarramah studio was fully integrated, enabling the station to broadcast the Isha (night) call to prayer live from the Grand Mosque.

In July 1952, Saudi Radio linked with the BBC (Radio London) to relay a speech delivered by Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal. As technical, engineering, and programming enhancements progressed, the introduction of audio recording equipment enabled the station to conduct field recordings at royal palace ceremonies in Jeddah, Makkah Al-Mukarramah, and Riyadh.