Sky News Arabia To Start Broadcasting Today

Sky News Arabia, British Sky Broadcasting’s (BSkyB) first foreign-language news channel, will go live at 8pm local time Sunday.

The 24-hour Arabic channel, a joint venture BSkyB and Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp, will broadcast to an estimated 50m households across the Middle East and North Africa.

“Although not a direct replica of Sky News in the UK, Sky News Arabia will share our major principles: independence, impartiality and providing breaking news – first,” John Ryley, head of London-based Sky News, said in a statement.

The service, which is also available online, on smartphones and tablets, is supported by 400 editorial staff across 12 bureaus.

The channel in February unveiled the names of its six news anchors, including former Al Jazeera reporter Amr Abdelhamid and Fadila Souissi, who prior to her appointment hosted Mouthir Lili Jadal, a socio-political weekly show on Abu Dhabi TV.

Sky News Arabia will broadcast via Arabsat, frequency Badr 4, Transponder 15, and Nile Sat, frequency 201, transponder 14.