Syrian soap operas took off in the 1990s, when satellite-television access increased across the Arab world, and were watched by tens of millions of people from Morocco to the Persian Gulf. As a consequence of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian production companies have shelved new shows and viewers throughout the Arab world have called for a boycott of Syrian satellite channels. A tax break issued by the government has failed to revive the industry. In 2010, some 30 Syrian soaps were aired during Ramadan, some only in Syria, but most on pan-Arab satellite channels.
