BSkyB's Sky in Talks With U.A.E. Investor on Starting Arabic News Channel

British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc’s Sky News channel is in talks with an Abu Dhabi-based private investor to set up an Arabic news service, its first foreign-language channel.

Sky News would run the free, 24-hour channel from Abu Dhabi as a 50-50 joint venture and could start broadcasting within 24 months if talks are successful, it said in an e- mailed statement today.

“This venture would build on our existing strengths as an international news provider and bring the Sky News brand to a new audience,” John Ryley, head of Sky News, said in the statement. “Discussions are progressing well and we look forward to bringing a new approach to Arabic-language news.”

BSkyB already broadcasts Sky News in English in the Middle East. The company, which rejected a 7.8 billion-pound ($11.9 billion) offer from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. for the 61 percent of the broadcaster that News Corp. doesn’t already own, aims to boost its brand and gain viewers outside the U.K. with the new channel.

The service would compete with Arabic channels including Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who has a 7 percent stake in News Corp., will also start a news television channel “in the near future,” Kingdom Holding Co. said last week.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Jonathan Browning at jbrowning9@bloomberg.net

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