Key Facts

• Sky News Arabia is a 24-hour Arabic news channel created in 2010 and launched in 2012 as a competitor to Al Jazeera and the BBC’s Arabic news.
• Sky’s partner in the joint venture, IMI, is controlled by Sheikh Mansour, vice-president of the UAE and owner of Manchester City football club.
• Sky is withdrawing all strategic and operational control but will allow the channel to keep the “Sky News Arabia” name through a licensing deal.
• Sky executives were worried about the channel’s coverage of Sudan, especially reports that appeared to downplay or deny genocide accusations against the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
• Sudan banned Sky News Arabia in November 2023 after the channel reported the conflict situation as stable, despite other evidence showing ongoing atrocities.
• A UN fact-finding mission in February 2024 found that RSF’s actions in Sudan had features of genocide, which the UAE denies responsibility for.
• IMI will take full ownership of the news channel going forward and plans to continue investing in it as a major media outlet in the Arab world.
• Sky’s decision follows similar moves, including ending its news brand licensing in Australia and cancelling plans for a global news channel with NBC.