Monday, Nov 29, 2010
(Adds ADMIC comments, background.)
By Lilly Vitorovich
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. pay television operator British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSY.LN) said Monday it has struck a joint venture with a private investment company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan to launch a free-to-air, Arabic-language news channel across the Middle East and North Africa region from 2012.
The new company--which will be jointly owned by BSkyB and Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp., or ADMIC--will operate under the Sky News brand as flagged in July, and be based in Abu Dhabi. It will have 180 multimedia journalists as well as a technical and operations team.
Adrian Wells, previously Sky News' head of international news, has been appointed to work with the ADMIC team to launch the new channel and a director of news will be appointed in due course to lead the venture on a permanent basis.
ADMIC is owned by Abu Dhabi royal Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and minister of presidential affairs, and owner of English Premier League soccer team Manchester City Football Club.
"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," BSkyB Chairman James Murdoch said in a statement.
"Both parties are committed to launching an independent, impartial news service," a BSkyB spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires. He declined to comment on speculation that an editorial advisory board may be set up.
A spokesman for ADMIC echoed the comments, saying "both parties are committed to launching a genuinely independent and impartial news organization, consistent with the reputation and values that Sky News has maintained since its own launch in 1989." The spokesman didn't provide any further details.
Sky News, which was launched in 1989, currently broadcasts in English to viewers in more than 90 million homes in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
James Murdoch, who is also News Corp.'s (NWS) chief executive for Europe and Asia, earlier this month dismissed speculation that the media giant may sell Sky News to secure regulatory approval for its proposed takeover of BSkyB.
He said the company hasn't considered selling media assets to secure approval, adding that it was very early in the regulatory process.
News Corp. in June offered 700 pence a share to buy the 60.9% stake in BSkyB that it doesn't already own, valuing the stake at about GBP7.8 billion.
BSkyB's independent directors have rebuffed the proposal, but said they would back an offer of more than 800 pence a share. The companies have already agreed to cooperate on securing regulatory clearance for the deal.
Earlier this year, News Corp., which owns Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of this newswire and the Wall Street Journal, reached an agreement to buy a 9.1% stake in Rotana Media Group, owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, for $70 million.
-By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com
(Oliver Klaus in Dubai contributed to this article.)
Copyright (c) 2010 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
29-11-10 1323GMT
