Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed to launch news channel
27 Apr 2010
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has said he may start a regional news channel, borrowing from the business model of Rupert Murdoch's Fox and Sky News while broadcasting different content in the Middle East.
He said he wants the channel to compete with the Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera satellite channels. "It is something I will be doing personally because it needs a lot of investments up front," he said in an interview to Bloomberg TV.
Prince Alwaleed, who is the world's richest Arab with a reported fortune of $18 billion, said that the channel would not be produced through public company Kingdom Holding or Rotana - Arab world's largest entertainment company owned by bin Talal.
He added that he plans to sell a stake in media company Rotana Holding to the public within two years. "An IPO will be happening in the coming two years," he said, adding, "We need to brand the company very well before going into an IPO".
Rotana in February agreed to sell a 9.1 per cent stake to Murdoch's News Corp for $70 million as the company seeks television, movie, production and technology expertise.