Al-Arabiya, the Dubai-based newscaster set up last year to rival al-Jazeera, has renewed its distribution ties with the BBC, optioning a further 125 hours of content, writes Colin Robertson.
The 24-hour news channel, controlled by Arab satellite group MBC, has optioned 100 hours of documentaries and 25 hours of current affairs from BBC Worldwide.The documentary slate includes a number of shows about Middle Eastern issues such as Palestine - The First Intifada and Mohammed Reza Pahlavi - The Last Shah. The broadcaster will air the in-house-produced programmes, which also include BBC1 arts programme Leonardo and editions of Panorama and Correspondent.It is the second arrangement between the BBC and MBC, which struck the deal though its content arm, O3 Productions. O3 signed up for 200 hours of content two years ago in preparation for the launch of al-Arabiya, which went on air in February last year. O3 has also bought programmes from Channel 4 International.In December the Iraqi interim government closed down al-Arabiya's Baghdad newsroom after it aired an audio message supposedly from Saddam Hussein.