Alhurra

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Alhurra

Type	Satellite television network
Country	United States (external consumption only)
Headquarters	Newington, Virginia (Springfield mailing address)
Programming
Language(s)	Literary Arabic (mainly), Arabic dialects, English (subtitled in Literary Arabic)
Ownership
Owner	Middle East Broadcasting Networks (funded by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees all U.S. government-funded foreign broadcasts)
History
Launched	14 February 2004 (2004-02-14)
Links
Webcast	www.alhurra.com/alhurra-live-stream
Website	www.alhurra.com

Alhurra (Arabic: الحرة al-Ḥurrah [alˈħurrah],^{[note 1]} "the Free One") is a U.S. government-owned Arabic-language satellite TV channel that broadcasts news and current affairs programming to audiences in the Middle East and North Africa. Alhurra is funded by the U.S. government^[1] and is barred from broadcasting within the United States itself under the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act.

Its stated mission is to provide "objective, accurate and relevant news and information" to its audience while seeking to "support democratic values" and "expand the spectrum of ideas, opinions, and perspectives" available in the region's media.^[2] The network has also tried to distinguish itself from its numerous regional competitors by providing access to more in-depth coverage of U.S. issues and policies and coverage of a broader range of opinions and perspectives than normally heard on other Arab television networks.^[2]

Alhurra began broadcasting on 14 February 2004 to 22 countries across the Middle East and North Africa. It has established itself as the third highest-rated pan-Arab news channel, surpassing viewership ratings for the BBC (English and Arabic), France 24 Arabic, RT Arabic, CCTV, CNNi, and Sky Arabia.

In April 2004, an additional channel called Alhurra-Iraq was launched, featuring most of the Alhurra content, with additional programming specifically directed at the Iraqi audience. It is also broadcast on satellite and is available on terrestrial antennas throughout Iraq, including in Basra, and Baghdad.

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