AMMAN - The government announced on Thursday that it no longer plans to purchase the ATV channel due to "differences" with its owner over the value of the deal.
Last month, the government said it was seriously considering the purchase of ATV and added that a connection between Jordan Television and ATV would be announced soon.
"The government will stop its effort to purchase ATV," Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Nabil Sharif told The Jordan Times on Thursday.
"We are paying close attention to public funds and how every penny is spent, and we cannot pay more than the amount that we consider logical and that reflects the real value of the channel... there was a divergence between the owner and the government in evaluating the price of the channel," Sharif added.
However, Talal Awamleh, CEO of the Arab Telemedia Group (ATG), which owns ATV, told The Jordan Times that no evaluation of the price of the channel took place.
"I think they have just changed their mind. I think the government announced its plan to purchase the channel in a rush and did not know what that entailed," Awamleh said Thursday over the phone.
The Audiovisual Commission halted ATV's initial broadcast in August 2007, citing incomplete paperwork. A week later, the launch faced a new hurdle when Jordan Radio and Television Corporation insisted that an agreement between the two establishments only covered terrestrial transmission.
Later in 2007, the ATV company, which was established by media tycoon Mohammad Elayyan, was sold for more than JD15 million to Al Ajayeb for Investments Company, owned by Mohammad Khalid Asfour and Mohammad Abdul Aati. In 2008, it was sold to the ATG.
© Jordan Times 2010
