THE GUARDIAN: BSkyB in talks to start free-to-air competitor to al-Jazeera, run as 50/50 joint venture with investor from Abu Dhabi
BSkyB is in talks about launching a Sky News-branded 24-hour Arabic language service in conjunction with an Abu Dhabi-based private investor.
It would compete with the Qatar-based al-Jazeera and other Arabic language news services in the Middle East and North Africa.
Sky said that the channel will launch within the next two years if the discussions are successful.
The new channel, which would be a 50/50 joint venture between the two parties, will be based in Abu Dhabi and have bureaux "in most major regional and international news centres". >>> Mark Sweney | Wednesday, July 14, 2010