DOHA: Al Jazeera's proposed Arabic documentary channel may go air next year, but planning is on to finalise the format and other details, according to the channel's newly appointed Director-General, Abdulrahman Obaidan.
"People are asking me all the time when we'll begin broadcasting, but I'm telling them all that no date has been finalised. We have a lot to do and I have not yet presented my report to the Al Jazeera Board of Directors."
According to Obaidan, "the channel will be entirely documentary, and it must be international - we are a satelite channel with a reputation to maintain."
It will have a mix of topics covering all areas of interests, and he is currently evaluating possible ways of sourcing programmes. That could mean, says Obaidan, a mix of in-house programmes produced by Al Jazeera and commissioned one made by other production companies, and bought in from other sources on the basis that they would be screened for the first time, anywhere in the world, by Al Jazeera. We would then have the rights to sell them in the Middle East. "But no decisions have been made yet", he said.
"There is a tremendous amount of work to do before I can even present my report to the board for consideration."
Abdulrahman Obaidan joined Qatar Television at the end of 1981, prior to the opening of the English language Second Channel (then called Channel 37) in 1982. In 1988 he was appointed head of co-ordination and production for the English channel, becoming controller of the channel in 1999. In December the same year, he was appointed controller of the Arabic channel. In 2001, he was appointed assistant director of Qatar Radio, and promoted to Director of Qatar Radio in 2003. He was appointed Director-General of the new Al Jazeera Documentary Channel on June 29th this year.
© The Peninsula 2004
