Comcast’s international news channel Sky News is pulling out of its Middle East news venture launched with the United Arab Emirates more than a decade ago.
The venture, called Sky News Arabia, will continue to use the Sky News branding and related assets through a multi-year licensing agreement with Sky Group, but the latter broadcaster will have no involvement in the editorial operations or the business moving forward.
“We are proud of what has been built through our partnership with IMI over the years and the significant presence built throughout the region,” said Sky News Group Executive Chairman David Rhodes in a statement. “The time is right for this change and we look forward to continuing our relationship in the next phase of Sky News Arabia.”
According to the Guardian, executives at Sky News became increasingly concerned with the editorial direction of Sky News Arabia in recent years, to include its coverage of ongoing conflict in Sudan, where a group backed by the United Arab Emirates has been accused of covering up mass atrocities. In turn, Sudan barred a Sky News Arabia reporter from entering the country last November after the channel produced a story that claimed the situation in the country had stabilized. (The reporter is married to a senior official with the group backed by the United Arab Emirates.)
Sky News Arabia is widely available across the Middle East and North Africa on free-to-air satellite television and via an online web stream, the latter of which is receivable around the world.
