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Discuss this article (6 Comments)Rupert Murdoch eyes stake in Saudi's Rotana
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Wednesday, 02 September 2009
IN TALKS: Rupert Murdoch is reportedly in talks to buy a stake of Prince Alwaleed's Rotana Media. (Getty Images)
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is in talks with Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to buy a 20 percent stake in broadcaster Rotana Media, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the deal.
The newspaper, citing a person involved with the deal, said it's not clear at this stage whether the deal will be for existing stock or new shares.
A formal bid valuing the stake is expected this month, the person told the paper, without giving specifics on price.
Related: IN PICS: Saudi's richest people
Kingdom Holdings, the investment vehicle for Prince Alwaleed, is already a major shareholder in News Corporation.
News Corp could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters out of regular U.S. business hours.
The WSJ said, Rotana, which hosts Fox channels in Saudi Arabia via its TV network, owns rights to more than 2,000 Arabic movies and a large music library.
But the venture that News Corporation might find most interesting, and to which it could add most value, is the online video and music on demand service, rotana.net, which is currently live as a beta site.
Rotana.net is modelled on hulu.com, a US-based television on demand service that allows the American public to watch popular television series such as Lost, 24, Family Guy and House in full screen high definistion over a broadband internet connection.
Hulu.com is currently free-to-view, but executives from the major US television networks, including News Corp's Fox, are mulling options to make the service more commercial.
Hulu.com has exploded onto the internet scene in the United States, rising from nowhere in 2007 to become one of the 40 most popular sites in the country, according to web ranking service alexa.com.
Viewers in the Middle East cannot access television on demand services such as Hulu.com, or Britain's BBC iPlayer, but Rotana.net has open access to its television, film and music archive throughout the GCC.
READERS' COMMENTS
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Agree with John and Adam!
Posted by Jediknight29 on Friday 4 September 2009 at 12:46 UAE time
I agree the deal should not go through on general principle. Fox News has been a propaganda machine for the far right and neo-conservatives. Watch 'Outfoxed' on googlevideo for how Fox News fostered the whole pro-Israel bias on US TV.
Posted by Jediknight29 on Friday 4 September 2009 at 12:46 UAE time
I agree the deal should not go through on general principle. Fox News has been a propaganda machine for the far right and neo-conservatives. Watch 'Outfoxed' on googlevideo for how Fox News fostered the whole pro-Israel bias on US TV.
Why?
Posted by Iqbal Tamimi, Bristol, UK on Friday 4 September 2009 at 09:48 UAE time
The question is why would Murdoch wants to buy shares in Rotana? he is usually interested in expanding in the news business not something like Rotana exclusively for entertainment.
Just lately Yahoo bought maktoob.com in Jordan and now Murdoch wants a share in Rotana, and in no time the Arab media will no longer be Arab, we are struggling already to have a voice of our own, selling them more is a grieve mistake, it's stripping Arabs of their platforms even though I do not see Rotana as something educational or positive, still even the kind of entertainment we will receive is going to be of foreign orientation and understanding which might not suit us.
Posted by Iqbal Tamimi, Bristol, UK on Friday 4 September 2009 at 09:48 UAE time
The question is why would Murdoch wants to buy shares in Rotana? he is usually interested in expanding in the news business not something like Rotana exclusively for entertainment.
Just lately Yahoo bought maktoob.com in Jordan and now Murdoch wants a share in Rotana, and in no time the Arab media will no longer be Arab, we are struggling already to have a voice of our own, selling them more is a grieve mistake, it's stripping Arabs of their platforms even though I do not see Rotana as something educational or positive, still even the kind of entertainment we will receive is going to be of foreign orientation and understanding which might not suit us.
mah!!!
Posted by John K on Thursday 3 September 2009 at 14:13 UAE time
Nop Paolo, without activisim from the people businesses will completly overrun people. Credit Card companies will charge insane rates, car manufacturers will save costs by not installing safty gadgets and many news orgs will incite hate..etc (i hope u get the point)
If Murdoch wants my $ then he has to respect me, my faith and my heritage, otherwise I will spend my money elsewhere. People should not accept the premis that business is business and should actively consider how they spend their fortunes in order to bring positive change.
Posted by John K on Thursday 3 September 2009 at 14:13 UAE time
Nop Paolo, without activisim from the people businesses will completly overrun people. Credit Card companies will charge insane rates, car manufacturers will save costs by not installing safty gadgets and many news orgs will incite hate..etc (i hope u get the point)
If Murdoch wants my $ then he has to respect me, my faith and my heritage, otherwise I will spend my money elsewhere. People should not accept the premis that business is business and should actively consider how they spend their fortunes in order to bring positive change.
mah!
Posted by Paolo, Manama, Bahrain on Thursday 3 September 2009 at 10:41 UAE time
I completely disagree.
Business is business and SHOULD have nothing to do with religion, colours, believes or nationality.
Posted by Paolo, Manama, Bahrain on Thursday 3 September 2009 at 10:41 UAE time
I completely disagree.
Business is business and SHOULD have nothing to do with religion, colours, believes or nationality.
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