GATINEAU – Rogers Cable has asked the CRTC to add two Arabic channels to the list of eligible foreign satellite services that can be carried in Canada on a digital basis.
The cableco wants to be able to carry Al Arabiya, a 24-hour “niche news service” based in the Middle East, carrying news and current affairs programming from the region and the world. It broadcasts primarily in Arabic and offers content from news, documentary, lifestyle and human interest, business, and sports. It also wants to carry MBC Channel (America), which it describes as “a general interest service offering programming primarily in Arabic. Broadcasting from Dubai, it is a leading free-to-air, pan-Arab service” operating 24/7.
Rogers made the requests in late May, before events flared in the Middle East that could make interest in the services high.
The commission revised its approach in 2004 to how it assesses requests for foreign services in a language other than English or French, with a goal to improving the diversity of third-language television services.
The CRTC is calling for comments to be filed no later than Aug. 18.
