Update,,More detail on Tuesday's Arab Radio & Television's deal with Al Jazeera that sees all of ART's sports contracts trans
More detail on Tuesday's Arab Radio & Television's deal
The deal means more upheaval for Mid-East pay-TV viewers and follows on from the Showtime Arabia take-over of Orbit announced last July. with Al Jazeera that sees all of ART's sports contracts transferred to Al Jazeera.
In essence Al Jazeera is paying close to $2bn to pick up the ART contracts.Our business model is going to move toward the next stage where we will be a kind of platform, more than channels, Tamimi added. As a platform, we can provide our subscribers other channels through our receiver.
It is understood that Al Jazeera can sell its own so-called ‘smart cards' but will also see its programming sold through ART's new super-secure set-top boxes.
Nawaf Tamimi, the ART head of public relations, speaking in Doha, said the changed pay-TV landscape after the Showtime/Orbit deal combined with pressures from the recession helped create the conditions for the sale. It's a good time to sell, to be honest.
Tamimi said. "The competition has changed with new, strong players coming into the pay-TV market. You have the recession, which is a globally difficult time economically for everybody. And you have this content, the World Cup, which is very valuable, and a party who are interested to buy."
Tamimi said ART was planning to offer less expensive packages in the future. Currently, the basic family package on ART, which includes 24 channels of sports and entertainment, costs about $16 a month depending on the territory. Looking ahead, the company plans to offer basic packages, without World Cup access, for about $150 a year, he said. The price of packages with the World Cup has yet to be decided.