Showtime Arabia

Showtime Arabia
Former type	Private
Industry	Telecommunication
Fate	Merged with Orbit Communications Company into OSN
Founded	1996
Defunct	2009
Headquarters	Dubai Media City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Egypt
Key people	Faisal Al Ayar (Chairman); Marc Antoine d’Halluin (CEO)
Products	Direct broadcast satellite
Parent	KIPCO (79%); Viacom Inc. (21%)[1]
Website	ShowtimeArabia.com

Showtime Arabia was Showtime Networks' pay television service in the Middle East and North Africa. It was a joint venture between Kuwaiti holding company KIPCO (79% stake) and American media firm Viacom Inc. (21% stake).[1][2][3] The company was incorporated in the Cayman Islands and had its headquarters at Dubai Media City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[4]

Showtime Arabia was one of three pay TV networks in the Middle East and North Africa,[5] it offered motion pictures, sporting events and original content, some of which was localized. It had the exclusive rights to broadcast the Barclays Premier League in the Middle East and North Africa. On 12 July 2009 the company announced a merger with competitor Orbit Communications Company to form Orbit Showtime Network (OSN).

Technical

When SHOWTIME launched, it some of its channels were TMC, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Paramount, Style, Discovery and Hallmark. Gulf DTH F.Z. L.L.C. was the operating company behind the digital pay TV broadcaster, Showtime Arabia. Its broadcast facilities were based at Dubai Media City in the United Arab Emirates and its uplink teleport station is Samacom, the monopoly uplink provider in the UAE. Showtime Arabia used Irdeto Access Conditional Access technology, to encrypt its DTH channels over satellite and the OpenTV interactive platform that runs on primarily UEC Multi-Media[6] set-top boxes.

Showtime Arabia Channel lineup

**Showtime Arabia Channels**^* [7]
Category	Channel(s)
Promotional Channel	ShowToday
Documentary Channels	Animal Planet	Discovery Science	Discovery World	Nat Geo Wild
Documentary Channels	Nat Geo Adventure
General Entertainment Channels	ShowComedy	ShowComedy Extra	ShowSeries	ShowSeries Extra	ShowShasha Extra
	ShowShasha	BBC Lifestyle	BBC Prime	Super Comedy	ShowDrama	ShowMosalslat
	America Plus	E!	Universal Channel	Syfy Universal	MBC+ Drama	Style Network
	Fashion TV	Travel Channel	Showtime Maghreb
Kids Channels	Boomerang	Cartoon Network	Disney Channel Middle East	Toon Disney	Playhouse Disney	ShowKids (KidsCo)
Kids Channels	JimJam (04–16 UTC)	BabyFirstTV	Nickelodeon
Movie Channels	ShowMovies 1	ShowMovies 2	Super Movies	ShowMovies Action	ShowAflam	ShowCinema
Movie Channels	ShowMovies Comedy	ShowMovies Kids	Hallmark Channel	Turner Classic Movies
Music Channels	MTV Music	VH1
News Channels	Bloomberg Television	CNN International	CNBC Europe	Sky News
Pay-Per-View Channels	ShowCinema TVMAX 1	ShowCinema TVMAX 2	ShowCinema TVMAX 3
Sports Channels	ShowSports 1	ShowSports 2	ShowSports 3	ShowSports 4
Sports Channels	Extreme Sports Channel
High Definition	SHOWTIME HD

* 43 channels** + 1 promotional channel

** 12 general entertainment channels, seven movie channels, five sports channels, five documentary channels, five kids channels, four pay-per-view channels, three music channels, and three news channels

Orbit Communications Company merger

On 12 July 2009 Showtime Arabia and Orbit Communications Company announced a merger[8] that created the “biggest Pay-TV platform” in the Middle East and North Africa.

The newly formed company is an equal partnership that would offer 70 exclusive channels featuring new movies, sports, series, Arabic content and international shows.

New customers can subscribe to packages featuring Showtime Arabia's and Orbit Communications Company's programs, while existing subscribers will be able to either retain or upgrade their content. The company will offer HD channels, video on demand and other interactive services.

Logos

Showtime Arabia's current logo, in use since 1 April 2007 relaunch

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References

Benjamin Birkinbine, Rodrigo Gomez, Janet Wasko (2017). Global Media Giants. New York: Routledge. p. 282.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
"About Showtime". Archived from the original on 19 April 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
"Company Profile (Showtime)". Retrieved 30 March 2008.
Showtime Arabia Channel Line-up with channel number!
K.S. Ramkumar. "Showtime Arabia Introduces New Attractive Platform". Arab News. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
UEC
"Showtime Packages". Archived from the original on 7 July 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
Chiba Yushi (February 2012). "A Comparative Study on the Pan-Arab Media Strategies: The Cases of Egypt and Saudi Arabia" (PDF). 5 (1&2). Retrieved 13 February 2014. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Giants-1] Benjamin Birkinbine, Rodrigo Gomez, Janet Wasko (2017). Global Media Giants. New York: Routledge. p. 282.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[2] "About Showtime". Archived from the original on 19 April 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2008.

[show-3] "Company Profile (Showtime)". Retrieved 30 March 2008.

[4] Showtime Arabia Channel Line-up with channel number!

[show2-5] K.S. Ramkumar. "Showtime Arabia Introduces New Attractive Platform". Arab News. Retrieved 30 March 2008.

[6] UEC

[7] "Showtime Packages". Archived from the original on 7 July 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008.

[8] Chiba Yushi (February 2012). "A Comparative Study on the Pan-Arab Media Strategies: The Cases of Egypt and Saudi Arabia" (PDF). 5 (1&2). Retrieved 13 February 2014. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)