AMMAN - Mohannad Khatib announced on Monday that he was quitting as general manager of ATV, after the station was sold to Jordanian investors.
"On Sunday, the channel's former board chairman Mohammad Elayyan signed the transfer of ownership deal with a Jordanian company called 'Al Ajayeb for Investments' and I decided to terminate my contract and quit," Khatib told The Jordan Times yesterday.
He said the channel was sold to the company, owned by two Jordanians, Mohammad Khalid Asfour and Mohammad Abdul Aati, for more than JD15 million.
Khatib said the company was registered officially on August 2, a day after the channel's official broadcast was halted by the Audiovisual Commission (AVC).
Khatib said the station's approximate 330 employees were still on paid leave, adding that the transfer of ownership deal did not refer to the status of the staff.
On September 5, ATV, the first private TV station in Jordan, started its Internet-based broadcast after efforts to launch its broadcast faced several obstacles.
The AVC, the state regulatory arm, halted the official launch of the station's satellite transmission on August 1, citing incomplete paperwork. On August 9, the launch faced a new hurdle after the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation insisted that an agreement between the two establishments only tackles terrestrial transmission.
Last year, Jordan Television leased its Channel Two, a terrestrial channel, to ATV, which now owes the corporation JD2.5 million under this agreement.
By Mohammad Ghazal
© Jordan Times 2007