Sky News Arabia Available in the U.K.

LONDON: The 24-hour Arabic-language news channel Sky News Arabia has been brought to the U.K. on Sky.

The channel was created through a 50-50 joint venture between Sky and HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp (ADMIC). It launched last year in May, and now joins BSkyB in the U.K.

“The availability of Sky News Arabia on the Sky platform marks an important step in reaching one of the Arab world’s most important overseas communities,” said Nart Bouran, the head of Sky News Arabia. “When we launched nearly a year ago, our priority was to target our core markets in the Middle East and North Africa, which we have done successfully. We have taken a number of key steps to expand our distribution since then—making our feed available on Hotbird for European audiences for example—and the U.K. is one more milestone as we continue to find new ways to reach Arabic speakers wherever they may be.”

John Ryley, the head of Sky News in the U.K., added: “Launching on the Sky platform is a significant step for Sky News Arabia. It brings Arabic speaking viewers in the U.K. a fresh independent perspective on Arabic news and builds on Sky News’ strong reputation for impartial and innovative coverage.”