[3][4][5] An early funder, the production company Middle East News (then headed by Ali Al-Hedeithy), said the goal was to provide "a balanced and less provocative" alternative to Al Jazeera.

[13][14] On 24 April 2020, Al Arabiya introduced a new graphics and audio package, new studios, and a new modified logo in the network's first major rebrand since its launch in 2003.

[15][16] The following year, the network moved operations from Dubai to Riyadh, with the stated goal being to "produce 12 hours of news programming from the Saudi capital by early January".

[23] Al Arabiya was founded through investment by the Middle East Broadcasting Center, as well as other investors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the Persian Gulf states.

[44] In 2009, Courtney C. Radsch lost her job the day after publishing an article about safety problems on Emirates airline, a move Al Arabiya described as restructuring in the English department.

Citing financial problems stemming from low oil prices, the dismissed individuals were offered salaries and benefits for six months as a severance package.

Ofcom concluded that it infringed on the privacy of imprisoned Bahraini opposition leader and torture survivor Hassan Mushaima, when it broadcast footage of him obtained during his arbitrary detention in Bahrain.

[54] Due to post-coverage of assassination of Rafic Hariri, as of 2007, Syrian politicians have criticized al-Arabiya for anti-government and perceived pro-US and pro-Israeli bias.

[56] The Algerian Ministry of Communication released a statement on 31 July 2021 saying that it withdrew Al Arabiya's operating accreditation in Algeria, due to what it termed "the non-respect by this channel of the rules of deontology and its recourse to disinformation and manipulation".

[57] The Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement's Arabic-language account published a call to boycott Al Arabiya and some other arabic language channels what they called "the mouthpieces of the Israeli enemy that speak Arabic"[58] In September 2003, Al Arabiya reporter Mazen al-Tumeizi was killed on camera in Iraq when a U.S. helicopter fired on a crowd in Haifa Street in Baghdad.

[64] In 2020, The Daily Beast identified a network of false personas used to insert opinion pieces aligned with UAE government policy to media outlets including Al Arabiya.

The English website of Al Arabiya[citation needed] was relaunched in 2013 and now features automated subtitles of the news and programs that appear on the channel.