Al-Arabiya launches Poll on Air programme

Presented by Ahmed Hosni, Poll on Air will be aired on Fridays at 11:00 GMT, 14:00 KSA time and for two hours. Questions will be displayed following a brief introduction and the audience will be asked to express their opinion by telephone and e-mail and register their votes through the website. Plans are also underway to introduce SMS in the near future.

The two-hour programme will be the only one on Al Arabiya that offers viewers the chance to comment directly and freely on the topic of the week. This will allow the public voice to be heard and will expose opinion writers and governments to the thinking of the average Arab on the street.

Nakhle Al Haj, Director of News and Current Affairs at Al Arabiya, claimed: "Poll on Air is designed to allow viewers to express their opinions on the news and events of the week and how such events have affected them, negatively or positively. It will also provide us a unique and important opportunity to examine public opinion and become familiar with the issues that matter most to them," Al Haj added.

"Arab viewers are constantly bombarded with information, news, events, declarations and all sorts of communications and we thought that a live Poll on Air will be a good idea for them to set the agenda and tell us what they think is news. As a station we need to establish a durable and trustful relationship with our viewers which means being on the receiving end. Poll on Air is an excellent medium in accomplishing this goal," Nakhle explained.

He said that the question for each Poll on Air programme, which will vary from one week to another touching on a wide range of issues from politics to economics, social and culture, will be promoted through Al Arabiya screen and website, a number of days before the time of the programme to grant viewers the maximum time for participation. Nakhle stressed that although the results are not scientific, they help formulate a general idea on the most important topics that affect the Arab audience.