Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sky News Arabia to launch in Abu Dhabi spring 2012

Sky News Arabia to launch in Abu Dhabi


Tuesday, Mar 15, 2011

Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: Sky News Arabia, a new Arabic-language news channel, is set to be launched in Abu Dhabi in the spring of 2012, executives announced yesterday.
The news channel is the result of a joint venture between the British pay-television broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB) and Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC).  The value of investment in the project remains confidential.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Chairman of the ADMIC, and James Murdoch, Chairman of BSkyB, revealed the new brand during a press conference in Abu Dhabi yesterday.


“The Middle East and North Africa is going through rapid change and development — economic, social and political and what happens here shapes the news agenda not just in this region, but across the world,” said Murdoch.
“Our joint venture with ADMIC brings together two partners sharing the same goal to bring a new voice to Arabic viewers.”
24-hour news channel
The 24-hour news channel will cover politics, entertainment and sports with a focus on breaking news and live reporting from location, said Nart Bouran, Director of News at Sky News Arabia.
It will also use multiple platforms such as the internet and the mobile phone to compete with other popular news channels in the Arab world.
John Ryley, head of news at Sky News, said that it’s going to be “ambitious” to launch the channel, but that he feels “confident”.
‘Different platforms’
“We’re not just talking about a TV news channel. We’re talking about a number of different platforms on which the content that Nart’s team introduce can be consumed by the Arab world. So we plan to put it online and on mobile applications and on tablets,” he said.
News Corp currently holds a controlling 39.1 per cent stake in BSkyB, which also owns Dow Jones and Co and the Wall Street Journal.
BSkyB announced the joint venture with ADMIC in November 2010.
— With inputs from agencies
By Samia Badih Staff ReporterStaff ReporterStaff ReporterStaff Reporter
© Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp
For More Information, Contact infoabudhabi@bskyb.com
http://campaignme.com/2010/11/29/11223/admic-and-bskyb-form-joint-venture/

In addition to its status as one of Europe's leading 24 hour news channels, skynews.com is one of the fastest growing websites on the continent. It is also available on mobile phones, on desktops, on UK rail platforms and Virgin Atlantic flights.
In 2010 Sky News won the prestigious RTS News Channel of the Year award for a record seventh time and an International Emmy award for its coverage of the Taliban in Pakistan. Sky News won a Golden Nymph at the 2009 Monte Carlo Television Festival for Best 24 Hour News Programme for its coverage of the Mumbai terror attacks. Sky News was also named Best News Service at the Broadcast Digital Awards 2009 and Skynews.com won the Association of Online Publishers award for website of the year, 2008.
In May 2010 Sky News launched Britain's first High Definition rolling news channel, Sky News HD, uniting first-class journalism with sharp picture quality, bringing HD customers closer to the news.
About Abu Dhabi Media Investment Company
Abu Dhabi Media Investment Company (ADMIC) is a private company focused on making strategic investments in the Middle East media sector.
For further information, please contact:
BSkyB  Robert Fraser  +44 7720 409339
             Anna Bifield  +44 207 032 2111
ADMIC  Fares Ghneim  +971 50 818 3191
About Abu Dhabi Media Investment Company
Abu Dhabi Media Investment Company (ADMIC) is a private company focused on making strategic investments in the Middle East media sector.
For further information, please contact:
BSkyB
Robert Fraser
+44 7720 409339
robert.fraser@bskyb.com
Anna Bifield
+44 207 032 2111
anna.bifield@bskyb.com
ADMIC
Fares Ghneim
+971 50 818 3191
fghneim@masdar.ae

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