Thursday, October 27, 2011

BREAKING. Al Jazeera to launch a sports news channel in November; will initially be in Arabic in the Middle East and North Africa.


Al Jazeera (TopTV 401 / DStv 406) will launch a new sports news channel in November although unlike the current news channel that has an English and Arabic version, the sports channel will start with a Arabic channel feed only and be available in the Middle East and Nort Africa initially.

In a press release the Qatar-based news network said today that technical and editorial teams are ''working around the clock'' to launch Al Jazeera Sports News on Tuesday, 1 November at 16:00 (South Africa time). The launch of Al Jazeera Sports News in the region co-incides with the 15th anniversary of Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera Sports News will broadcast hourly news bulletins and 20 sports news programs that will discuss various types of sports. The sports news channel will initially be available on Egypt's Nilesat platform.

''The news programs will cover all the major international tournaments and sports events, especially those exclusive to Al Jazeera Sports, such as the Spanish, the Italian, and the French and the European football leagues. The channel will also feature weekly programs presenting news about popular sports like basketball, athletics, tennis and motorsports.''

In December 2010 Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament.