The General Commission for Audiovisual Media confirmed that this sector will witness a qualitative leap in the near future, especially after the implementation of the Executive Regulations a few weeks ago.
This list contains materials that contribute to the transformation of the sector from a consumer sector to a productive sector, as it provides direct support to the private sector specifically to small and medium enterprises.
This came during a workshop that was hosted by Asharqia Chamber on Monday (December 24, 2018).
The legal adviser to the Commission, Dr. Turki Al-Nasser, and the Director of Registration and Information, Kamal Al-Nuaimi were the guest speakers in the workshop.
The "Regulations of the Audiovisual Media Regulations" were reviewed, including mechanisms, and the organization of a number of areas of work in this regard, including cinema, non-scheduled broadcasting, the radio station and so on.
Al-Nasser said that the list contributed to the creation of a fertile ground for the audio and visual media in various fields and categories.
He pointed out that the Commission has taken the initiative to improve and develop the media sector in the Kingdom by working on re-engineering licensing procedures and mechanism of irregularities and improve the requirements in order to stimulate investment in the media and participation in economic development, based on the Vision of the Kingdom 2030.
He added that the regulation is a turning point in the upgrading of the audio and visual media sector, which facilitated the entry of small and medium enterprises to the media market by allowing them to operate in different fields, in addition to canceling the prerequisites for a number of licenses such as university degree and bank guarantee.
Al-Nasser said that the list includes more than 16 licenses in various activities of audio and video, as it includes many activities such as cinema, broadcasting, radio and the like.
Regarding the irregularities, he said that they were developed to protect rights and preserve the content, and to prevent any exposure to national and religious constants.
He pointed out that the schedule of violations includes 27 violations, taking into account the submission of regulations and compliance with the dates of authorization and so on.
Al-Nasser said that these regulations contribute to the process of transforming the Saudi media market from consumer to producer through supporting the establishment of media facilities in order to be a strategic and active investment in the development of the national economy.
The Director of Registration and Information Department, Kamal Al Nuaimi, said Cinema is the main activity that is supervised by the Commission, which divided into two licenses, the first is (licenses to practice the activity, whether fixed or temporary cinema or for specialized needs) and the second is (licenses to run theaters).
He pointed out that the licensing of distribution of films are available to all who wish, according to the conditions set forth in the Regulations.
With regard to the broadcasting service, he explained that the operators of this service was only eight.
But, now, it is available to all for 100 thousand riyals to broadcast terrestrial waves and 2000 riyals to broadcast online.
