Saudi prince, Fox to start Arabic news channel
Last Updated: Monday, July 12, 2010 | 12:38 PM ET
CBC News
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has announced plans to launch a 24-hour Arabic-language news channel in partnership with Rupert Murdoch's Fox network.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, former editor in chief of Alwatan newspaper and a media adviser to Prince Turki Al-Faisal at Saudi embassies in London and Washington D.C., will head the station.
Khashoggi is a controversial choice because he has clashed with Saudi authorities over religious police and women's rights and resigned from his newspaper position earlier this year over an editorial questioning Salafism, a form of Islam at the heart of the conservative state.
Prince Alwaleed's new channel will compete for Arab viewers with well-established networks Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera. He did not name the channel, which will build a network of Arab correspondents.
"We no longer have a void in the Arab world as it is now heavily occupied," Alwaleed acknowledged in the statement.
'An alternative for viewers'
"Therefore the new news channel is going to become an addition and an alternative for viewers. Our personal aim is to achieve this."
The new channel "will focus on development in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world on the political, economic and social fronts," he added.
News Corp. and Prince Alwaleed's Rotana already have a relationship with News Corp. buying a 9.09 per cent stake in Rotana for $70 million US earlier this year. Alwaleed already held seven per cent in News.
Fox channels are carried on Rotana's conventional TV platform and Rotana and Fox co-operated last year on a four-year deal for content from the Walt Disney Company.
Rotana also owns radio stations, a magazine, a digital media group and other broadcasting interests. However the new network will not be held by Rotana, but by Kingdom Holding, another of Prince Alwaleed's companies.
No date was given for launch of the channel.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Lisa Raitt closer to ending CP Rail strike
- Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is prepared to end the Canadian Pacific Rail strike if necessary, after both CP Rail and the union rejected a proposal for voluntary arbitration by the government-appointed negotiator on Sunday. Raitt tells CBC News she is "extremely disappointed." more »
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian regime at an emergency meeting Sunday, holding president Bashar al-Assad's military responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children younger than 10 years old. more »
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria, B.C., native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years were found in Mexico after a man raised concerns about his neighbour, according to a private investigator. more »
Latest Business Headlines
- Bankia asks Spain for €19B
- The board of directors of Spain's troubled bank, Bankia, has asked the Spanish government for €19 billion ($24.5 billion Cdn) in financial support. more »
- EI reforms aim to boost employment, Flaherty says
- Finance Minister Jim Flaherty defended his government's proposals to change employment insurance, saying the aim is to remove "disincentives to employment." more »
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
- Ottawa moves to limit foreign investment reviews
- The federal government is raising to $1 billion the amount of foreign money that can go into a Canadian company before the investment is reviewed. The review has been used in the past to block foreign takeovers of MDA and Potash Corp. more »
Lang & O'Leary Exchange
Markets
| Index | Last Trade | Change |
|---|---|---|
| TSX COMPOSITE | 11576.47 | 10.4 |
| DOW | 12454.83 | -74.92 |
| NASDAQ | 2837.53 | -1.85 |
| SP 500 | 1317.82 | -2.86 |
| NYSE COMPOSITE | 7534.32 | -18.01 |
| AMEX | 2227.37 | 1.45 |
| TSX-VENTURE | 1309.27 | 26.8 |
The data on this site is informational only and may be delayed; it is not intended as trading or investment advice and you should not rely on it as such.
Business Features
- Teen struck by lightning in Ottawa dies
- Missing Winnipeg children found in Mexico
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- Quebec tornadoes cause millions in damage
- Montreal protesters march in peaceful defiance
- Remains found in bag on Cape Breton river ID'd
- Woman's remains found in hockey bag on Cape Breton river
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Accused in blast that killed Alberta mom handled her funds
