The Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera has launched a channel targeting the Balkans region.
Broadcast in the Serbo-Croat language, the news channel will be available across the former Yugoslavia.
Local-language broadcasts will initially go out from 6pm until midnight local time, with other programming taken from Al Jazeera English.
"As the first regional news channel in the Balkans, the channel fills a large gap in the market. News [until] now has been country specific," Al Jazeera sent in a statement.
The Al Jazeera Balkans channel is available throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Slovenia, the network said. It is headquartered in Sarajevo, with studios in Belgrade, Zagreb and Skopje.
Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, purchased an existing station in the Bosnian capital prior to the launch of the station, AP reported.
"We want Al Jazeera Balkans to truly be an open free platform for the people of the region to debate and have a free dialogue," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al-Thani, director general of the Al Jazeera Network, in a statement sent to The National.
Executives said the station was staffed by a wide mix of nationalities, in a region divided by years of conflict.
"Getting this diverse mix of people together to produce this broad news product has been a long cherished dream, not just for me, but for the peoples of this region," said Goran Milic, the head of news at Al Jazeera Balkans.
Al Jazeera also plans to launch Turkish and Swahili news channels in 2012, the broadcaster said.
Al Jazeera launches Balkans service
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