TV heavyweights clash over rights

Rivalry materialised on the back of sports franchises setting sights on the Middle East.

Satellite broadcasters in the Middle East are battling it out for the rights to air sports programmes, such as those provided by Fox.

Competition is heating up between the Middle East's satellite television broadcasters for the rights to air sports programming as major franchises, especially football, turn their attention to the region. In the latest volley, the Orbit Satellite Television and Radio Network, the pay-TV broadcaster based in Bahrain, snatched the exclusive rights to air Fox Sports from the Jordanian-based Arab Radio and Television Network (ART). The switch came on the heels of Orbit also taking Fox News from ART last month.

"It's a war out there between the channels," said Mustafa Tell, the general manager of ART Sports. "We took ESPN from Orbit, so I guess they want to take something back from us." ART officials knew for several weeks that the Fox Sports signal had stopped, but thought it was possibly a technical problem until Wednesday, when they found out they had been outbid. Ali Ajouz, the vice president of marketing and distribution for Orbit, agreed the move was in response to Orbit's loss of ESPN after carrying it for 15 years. "Having had ESPN for such a long time, we built an audience that is mainly into US sport," he said. "The only network that offers this is Fox Sports."

Fox Sports shows college football and basketball, sports that are popular among expatriates and the region's large American-educated population. Mr Ajouz said the National Basketball Association competition was the second most popular sport in the region after football. "Apparently, they had a better offer from Orbit, so they made the same mistake the English Premiere League did," Mr Tell said. "They went for better money but less exposure."

Orbit has between 100,000 and 500,000 mostly middle-income subscribers, according to Mr Ajouz, while ART had more than two million subscribers during its airing of the World Cup, according to Mr Tell. The English Premier League switched from ART to Showtime Arabia during the last tender process, completed in Nov 2006, and jockeying has already begun among Middle East broadcasters for the rights to the next three-year contract. Bloomberg reported last week that Al Jazeera may launch a bid to challenge Showtime for the rights to the next English Premier League contract.

Other sources in the industry said Al Jazeera would tender for the contract, although company officials did not respond to requests for comment. "People are queuing up their bids," said Mr Ajouz. "We have taken the position not to act stupid. That means there is no way that we will pay what others have previously paid." Showtime overcame competition from ART and Al Jazeera last time to win the regional rights to a deal understood to be worth US$120 million (Dh440.8m), according to industry sources. Ahmed Negm, the public relations manager for Showtime Arabia, declined to disclose the figure, but said it was "not that far off".

Philip Doward, a press officer for the English Premier League, said it was premature to comment on the next contract. The league was working on its domestic invitation to tender and would not begin its international tender process until later in the year, he said. Some industry watchers are expecting Showtime to fight hard to keep its prize after Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment's purchase of the English Premier League club, Manchester City, boosted interest in the league across the region. But others, including Mr Tell and Mr Ajouz, argue that the English Premier League does not generate as much revenue as it does interest, and is a money-losing proposition for the companies that win the rights.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday Fifa acknowledged the growing importance of the Middle East in international football by launching its full official website, Fifa.com, in Arabic. In the past, only parts of its site had been translated into the language, according to Jerome Champagne, the Fifa director of international relations. He said the move was in response to the fact that three upcoming Fifa events were scheduled for the Arab world: Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai and Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.

"The Arab countries are football-crazy countries," he said. "I lived in Oman 25 years ago, and everywhere in the Arab countries, people are crazy about the game." [e-mail]