Sky News teams up with Sheikh Mansour to launch Arabic TV channel
BSkyB joins forces with Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp to launch 24-hour Arabic news
BSkyB is to launch a Sky News-branded Arabic language service in a joint venture with Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
The Abu Dhabi-based free-to-air channel is to launch in 2012 and broadcast across the Middle East and North Africa, competing with Arabic language TV news channels including al-Jazeera and the BBC World Service's Arabic Television.
BSkyB has partnered in a 50/50 venture with Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp, a private investment firm owned by Mansour, to launch the 24-hour news and current affairs channel.
The venture will employ 180 multimedia journalists and will be based in Abu Dhabi's twofour54 media zone. The channel will be supported by a network of news bureaux across the region as well as offices in London and Washington DC. The venture will also have access to Sky News' wider network of international offices.
Adrian Wells, previously head of Sky News' international news operation, will work with the ADMIC team and a director of news will be appointed to lead the venture on a permanent basis.
"The Middle East and North Africa is a highly attractive region for media investment and Abu Dhabi is an excellent location from which to enter this exciting marketplace," said James Murdoch, chairman of BSkyB.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of ADMIC and of the new venture, said: "The new channel will be an important, independent voice for the Arab world. We intend to set a new standard for broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa."
