Satellite television has reached even conservative parts of the Arab world, where hundreds of programs are now available. The Middle East’s MBC-4 began airing The Oprah Winfrey Show more than four years ago, and the program now reaches about 6 million viewers in the Arab world each day.
Though aimed at an American audience, the program has brought formerly taboo topics — like reproduction or homosexuality — into discussion. Worldfocus correspondent Kristen Gillespie reports from Jordan on the Oprah effect in the Middle East.
Read her blog post about her reporting experience here – Watching Oprah in a Syrian refugee camp.