Content creators Image Nation has partnered with Discovery Communications, one pay TV programmer, to create and launch a new Arabic language TV channel for the Middle East and North Africa. ‘Quest Arabiya’ will be free-to-air and will go live in the final quarter of 2015.
The channel will focus on male-oriented factual and reality programmes and will be a combination of locally-produced original material and Arabized content from Discovery’s vast library of non-fiction shows. Aimed primarily at Arab men aged 16-44, but with material that will appeal to the entire family, key programming genres will include adventure and survival, motoring, engineering, wildlife, history and people and places.
Quest Arabiya, which will be broadcasting 24 hours a day, will be headed up by Carl von Doussa, General Manager of Channels at Image Nation, who brings over 19 years of experience in television and digital markets in Europe and the Middle East. He is joined by a growing team, including Eeman Al Ansari, Programming Executive, and Khalid Khouri, Project Manager.
The move means more stories from across the region will be brought to life through specially commissioned Quest Arabiya shows. The deal also state that Discovery Communications has the opinion to acquire Image Nation’s content for broadcast on its international channels, taking the region’s stories to around the world.
“In partnering with Discovery to launch a new TV channel in the Middle East and North Africa, we are doing what Abu Dhabi does best – marrying world-class expertise with regional knowledge. Quest Arabiya will provide a needed boost to the private media sector in the UAE as we will be commissioning more content than ever before and producing at the highest international standards,” commented Mohammed Al Mubarak, Chairman, Image Nation Abu Dhabi.
“Quest Arabiya will be a leading destination for men’s lifestyle entertainment in the Middle East,” shared James Gibbons, EVP for Discovery’s Emerging Business. “Discovery’s global success is based on building strong local teams and looking for new opportunities in key markets. We have a dedicated team based in the UAE and a track record of providing content and brands that meet viewer demands in the region for more than 16 years. Our partnership with Image Nation will help take our business to the next level, broaden the popularity of factual content and raise awareness of our seven channel brands in the region.”
The launch of Quest Arabiya will see Discovery grow and further localise its presence in the MENA TV market. Operating from a dedicated office in the UAE, the company currently offers a portfolio of TV channels, which includes free-to-air Fatafeat, the #1 food network in the Middle East, as well as pay TV channels Discovery Channel HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD, Discovery Science HD, ID: Investigation Discovery and Discovery World, distributed on OSN.
“Image Nation now has a proven track record of creating quality reality and factual programming, with an ever-growing slate of documentary feature films including He Named Me Malala directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim and Polio documentary Every Last Child. For us, Quest Arabiya is a significant step into the area of TV, which provides more opportunity for regional industry professionals to make their mark. Quite simply, the platform means more opportunity for local content to air, more production and more jobs,” said Michael Garin, CEO, Image Nation.
