Zone Club Heads to the Middle East

LONDON, September 22:
Orbit Communications has struck a deal to air Chello Zone’s Zone Club in 23 territories
across the Middle East under the locally re-branded banner of The Hollywood
Channel.

The re-branded channel
will focus on offering lifestyle entertainment programming for women. Offerings
will be in both English and Arabic, with shows including Caribbean Work Out, Yummy Mummy, Saturday Cooks and Arresting
Design.

Chello Zone’s other
channels in the region include Extreme Sports, which launched with Orbit this
summer; Zone Reality, broadcast on ADD; and both Extreme Sports and preschool
network JimJam airing on Showtime.

Louise Cottrell, the VP of
affiliate sales at Chello Zone, commented, “The continued expansion of our
channels throughout the Middle East demonstrates the diverse range of
programming we can offer to all audiences and demographics. We are delighted to
have extended our channel deal with Orbit Communications in a way which is
highly tailored to the platform’s objectives; we look forward to the success of
Zone Club, re-branded locally as The Hollywood Channel, in the region.”

Khulud Abu-Homos, the
senior VP of western programming at Orbit, added, “The Hollywood Channel is the
first step in expanding Orbit’s channels catering specifically to our female
audience, and relating to them by addressing all their concerns ranging from day-to-day
challenges to their aspirations and ambitions through an offering of
strong-quality programming.”

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski