MBC announces plans for second Al Arabiya channel

Sheikh Walid bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, chairman of MBC Group, announced the imminent launch of a second Al Arabiya channel that promises to follow in the footsteps of the first one as far as keeping Arab audiences constantly updated, especially in the light of the latest events in the region

The idea of the new channel, which will be called Al Arabiya 2 al-Hadath (Arabic for “the event”), came into being with relentless changes that happened, and are still happening, in the Arab world and the dire need to offer a complete view of all their aspects.

“Those changes made it very difficult for one single channel to follow and report on everything,” Al Ibrahim said in an interview with the Saudi newspaper al-Jazirah.

“We also have to bear in mind the fact that many other important events are happening in countries in which there is no Arab Spring and we have to follow these as well, so we ended up racing against time,” he said

Launching a new channel, the MBC chairman added, was also important in the light of the increasing popularity of the channel even among non-Arabic speakers.

“The new channel will be specialized in following events and will complement the original Al Arabiya.”

No date has been set for the launch of the channel.

“We have all the major components of a news channel as well as the staff and the professional agenda we are to follow. It is only a matter of time before we launch.”

Al Ibrahim also unraveled a plan to launch another channel under MBC Group. This channel, he explained, will specialize in economic and financial news.

Al Arabiya 2 al-Hadath will offer in-depth analysis of news and live transmission of events as they happen.

The new channel will also air documentary films and economic, sports, and entertainment programs, in addition to detailed reporting on events covered on Al Arabiya’s original channel.

Al Arabiya News Channel began broadcasting on March 3, 2003, and is watched in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Southeast Asia, North Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Australia. Al Arabiya is headquartered in Dubai.

(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)