Doha - The two new channels of the Al Jazeera network, Sports Plus-1 and Sports Plus-2 will be telecast free-to-air from today on the Microwave Video Distribution System (MVDS) by Qatar Cable Vision (QCV), Mustafa J Al Qatami, head of public relations at Qatar Telecom, said. Such free telecasts will be available for a limited period only and until QCV reaches an agreement on telecast royalty for the two channels with the Doha-based network, he added.
Speaking to the media, Mustafa disclosed, QCV decided to air the two new channels on the MVDS to cater to the demand from the sports loving viewers in the country. The two channels, he said, would offer live coverage of some renowned football tournaments such as the Italian league and the Spanish league, for which Al Jazeera has procured telecast rights. However, subscribers might at a later date, have to pay additional fees to pay these channels, he noted. He revealed, QCV was currently negotiating with the Al Jazeera network on the royalty the cable TV provider has to pay for the rights to telecast them on its MVDS platform.
Mohammad Byouk, senior manager, QCV, said, some 9,000 subscribers are currently connected to the MVDS and an equal number to the older Microwave Multipoint Distribution System (MMDS). The response to the two new sports channels from the Al Jazeera network from such subscribers, he said, was expected to be excellent, due to the quality of programming offered.
The Al Jazeera network launches the two new sports channels today. The network was launching these channels to offer a wider coverage of regular as well as premium sports events held around the world to primarily Arabic speaking audiences. The network had said, its existing two sports channels were inadequate to offer such coverage and hence, the need for two paid channels that would offer live coverage of some topnotch sports events were required. The new channels also come in response to complaints by some western TV networks and cable TV providers, who claimed, the premium sports events aired on the Al Jazeera Sports channels were received by their viewers free-to-air, due to an overspill of the satellite signals. Such free telecasts had eaten into the subscriptions of these western TV networks. Mohammad Byouk
For cable TV and Direct To Home satellite TV viewers, the existing Al Jazeera sports channels will remain Free-To-Air while the new ones will be available on a variety of platforms. Viewers can opt to buy a $25 decryption card for their DTH systems which will offer the two channels for one year. Alternatively, they can buy a Conditional Access Module (CAM) for their DTH receivers for $ 50 which will offer these two channels, along with some others from the Arab Radio and TV (ART) network.
© The Peninsula 2005
