Sky is exiting its TV news joint venture with the United Arab Emirates, Sky News Arabia, which has been criticised for its coverage of the war in Sudan, with accusations of genocide denial.
Sky and its partner IMI – the investment vehicle controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the vice-president of the UAE and owner of Manchester City – have announced a new commercial deal in which the UK-based broadcaster will relinquish all strategic and operational ownership of the 24-hour Arabic language news and current affairs service.
However, Sky UK has struck a multi-year brand licensing deal that will allow Sky News Arabia to retain its name.
The Abu Dhabi-based free-to-air channel was created in 2010 as a rival to Arabic-language TV news channels including Al Jazeera and the BBC World Service’s News Arabic.
The joint venture began broadcasting across the Middle East and north…
