Al Arabiya premieres its 2nd channel ‘Al Arabiya Al Hadath’ on Nilesat

Al Arabiya premiered second channel ‘Al Arabiya Al Hadath’ in a soft launch on Thursday, Jan. 12, as a 24/7 free-to-air news and current affairs satellite channel.

The channel will cover events from across the Arab world and beyond, including politics, breaking news, sports, business and finance, local news, and other types of news and information.

Al Arabiya Al Hadath may also air some content that originally appeared on Al Arabiya News channel.

The aim of launching Al Arabiya Al Hadath is to provide a wider follow-up on the latest regional and international developments, which require continual coverage, Al Arabiya General Manager Abdul Rahman al-Rashed said.

Rashed said that Al Arabiya Al Hadath will be different than other similar channels based on the fact that it will be managed by the same Al Arabiya team, with the same editorial policy but with wider capabilities.

Al Arabiya’s main aim is to preserve its wide base of viewership worldwide and to continue with its commitment of making the viewer “know more”.

Al Arabiya Al Hadath will kicked off its soft-launch phase by airing the three-part documentary series “Fleeing Carthage,” which tells the story of the last hours of the the Tunisian regime of former president Zine ElAbedine Ben Ali.

The documentary is based on classified documents as well as reports of interrogations with several Tunisian officials, including politicians and army officers.

“Fleeing Carthage” will be re-aired on Friday 0200 GMT. The documentary “The Bouazizi Slap” will be aired at 2100 GMT and will be re-aired on Friday at 0300 GMT. The documentary “Tunisia after Revolution: Continual Immigration” will be aired on Friday at 2100 GMT and will be re-aired on Saturday at 0300 GMT. Al Arabiya Al Hadath will also air special coverage from Tunisia starting Saturday 1500 GMT.

Dubai-based Al Arabiya News Channel was launched in March 2003. The channel rapidly gathered a wide viewership and has become one of the main news sources in the Arab world. Al Arabiya can now be viewed in all of the Middle East region, Asia Pacific, South East Asia, North Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australia.