Murdoch Marches Into Mideast

The mogul’s News Corp. is launching two English-language, free-to-air satcasters in the region before the end of the year in partnership with Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal’s regional media titan Rotana.

Prince Waleed holds a reported 5% stake in News Corp. and also has sizable stakes in Time Warner and Disney.

A 24-hour movie channel, tentatively dubbed Fox Movies, will launch in May. The second channel, whose sked will be largely filled with U.S. skeins, will launch in or around November.

Deal was pushed through by James Murdoch, head of News Corp.’s Europe and Asia operations. Murdoch Jr. jetted to Prince Waleed’s Riyadh office in January to complete the negotiations. Daily Variety understands the channels will be owned by Fox, which will supply most of the content. Rotana execs will handle regional sales for the satcasters. The two companies will share the ad revenues.
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* (Co) Daily Variety
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* (Co) Daily Variety

Fox Movies will be uplinked using Rotana’s facilities in Cairo. Its operational HQ will be in Dubai.

Rotana is one of the dominant media forces in the Mideast, with seven TV channels, the region’s most powerful music label and a film production arm.

News Corp. execs declined to comment on the deal, which Prince Waleed has been discussing with Murdoch Sr. for two years.

The Saudi prince has previously told Daily Variety that he was exploring ways to broker Murdoch’s entry into the Arab TV biz.

“The important thing is that Rotana is in discussions with the most important global media company,” said Prince Waleed at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival (Daily Variety, May 20, 2006). The deal marks Murdoch’s first serious move into the booming Arab TV industry.

There are more than 250 free-to-air channels across the region, plus paybox trio ART, Orbit and Showtime Arabia, servicing a population of some 300 million.

– By Ali Jaafar

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