[2] Established in 1983, the channel used to produce programmes focusing on cultural, political, and economic issues aimed at expatriates living in Saudi Arabia.

Following its conversion to a 24-hour channel it expanded its broadcasting to Europe and North America in the middle of 2007 and now employs a large network of news correspondents based in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States.

[2] Despite being the only English-language public channel for Saudi Arabian expatriates, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awwad Bin Saleh Al-Awwad has suspended the channel's transmission in December 2017 as part of a plan to suit the Saudi Vision 2030.

According to the Third Development Plan which oversaw the creation of the new channel, the new service would concentrate its efforts on "cultural programs, current events and features about national development, and public information campaigns", with the existing channel concentrating on entertainment and public information, with an "appropriate mix of programs" for both.

[4] The channel was the first in Saudi Arabia to carry commercial advertising in 1986, though in Arabic instead of English, the dominant language of the service.