Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has announced that his upcoming Middle East cable news channel will be called “Alarab” and will launch in 2012. He also announced that Bloomberg News will provide five hours of programming a day for the channel, and would also provide analysis and expertise.
“Our alliance with Bloomberg and its credible source of financial and economic data, together with its extensive media experience, will provide the Alarab news channel with a strong and comprehensive economic platform to accurately cover Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the Arab world,” said Al-Waleed in a statement.
Alarab is the same channel that was announced in July 2010 with News Corp. as a financial backer. No mention of News Corp. is made in the release, instead there is a statement noting:
“The Alarab news channel is an independent venture from Kingdom Holding Company and the Rotana group and is privately owned by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.”
It is unclear whether News Corp. remains an investor in the network. Al-Waleed remains as the largest investor in News Corp. outside of the Murdoch family.