Arab television drama or Arab soap opera (also known as "مسلسل", musalsal, plural musalsalat) is a television form of melodramatic serialized fiction. The musalsalat are similar in style to Latin American telenovelas. They are often historical epics about Islamic figures or love stories involving class conflict and intrigue. The word musalsal literally means "chained, continuous". In 2012, YouTube has announced a new online channel specifically dedicated to showing Ramadan shows.