The last decade has witnessed the emergence of a group of presenters of political talk shows on Iraqi local satellite channels, and they have their own audience that goes with them in every transition between visual media.

But these transfers were not far from the political struggles between the owners of these satellite channels, who are leaders of political blocs and businessmen competing with each other not only in politics, but even between their institutions that they own.

Some program presenters have been used in these conflicts, and they have become one of the most prominent aspects of the conflict that unfolds to the public as soon as a program presenter moves from one satellite to another, and channel owners pay large sums of money for the prominent faces who want to move to their institutions.

In Iraq there are about 60 satellite channels owned by the government, politicians, businessmen, armed groups and religious institutions (Al-Jazeera)

Attractive salaries

He says - to Al-Jazeera Net - a program presenter who was part of this conflict, and on condition of anonymity, that "this war began in 2013, but it was not declared or clear, but it has grown and expanded in the last three years."

He adds, "The owners of satellite channels, who are politicians or businessmen who have political interests, know that their TV channels will not affect the audience without the presence of prominent programmers, so they do not care about high salaries and financial gifts either."

He points out that "the salaries of some program providers reach $ 15,000, and some of them got $ 400,000 just to agree to move to another channel whose owner is a political and commercial competitor for the owner of the channel in which he was, and the aim of that is blackmail and influence."

And active political programs with interactive dialogues that have a wide resonance in the Iraqi street, and often witness fights between guests amounting to insults and threats.

In Iraq, there are about 60 satellite channels owned by the government, politicians, businessmen, armed groups and religious institutions, and the rates of viewership in them and the salaries of employees also vary, and there is a small group of satellite channels whose salaries exceed the barrier of 10 thousand dollars.

Rinas Ali believes that some program hosts are being used in bone-breaking battles between satellite TV owners (Al-Jazeera)

Impact tool

Ahmed Al-Mulla Talal, who became a spokesman for Mustafa Al-Kazemi's government before he resigned from it, is one of the most prominent presenters in Iraq, as well as Adnan Al-Taie, Hussam Al-Hajj, Ghazwan Jassim and Saadoun Mohsen Damad. Iraqi women are absent from this competition except for well-known program presenter Sahar Abbas Jamil.

"Most of the presenters of political programs in Iraq have become tools in political disputes," says Renas Ali, who presents a political program on Al-Ahed channel and is one of the most prominent media figures in Iraq.

He adds - to Al-Jazeera Net - "Some of the presenters have become part of the political conflict or a tool in it. The transfer of famous presenters between competing and conflicting political and commercial channels is like breaking a bone between the owners, and in the end some presenters have benefited financially from these transfers."

Some of the owners of those satellite channels are trying to attract prominent broadcasters who have more views. Usually, a satellite audience decreases and another audience increases as soon as one of the prominent presenters moves from it, which makes the polarized satellite more popular and political influence.

Samer Jawad believes that the behavior of some channel owners affects the professionalism of the program hosts (Al-Jazeera)

Samer Jawad, who has been working in the media for 17 years and presenting a political program on the local channel Asia, says, "Some satellite TV owners deliberately made some of the hosts part of their political struggles, and then some colleagues used tools in this struggle."

Jawad added - to Al Jazeera Net - that "these behaviors affect the professionalism of the program presenters, and prevail over the political face over the professional. If there were work contracts and legal obligations on satellite channels, this would not have happened."

According to information obtained by Al-Jazeera Net, some political program providers in Iraq have become part of negotiations between political blocs, and have become godfathers for the arrival of some personalities to executive positions in the Iraqi state.