E-Vision, the cable TV arm of Etisalat, plans to boost its content base to 300 channels in the UAE by adding a wide array of movies, sports, news and kids channels.

AME Info reports that the company is in talks with channels and content providers across the globe to expand its current lineup of 220 TV channels and 15 premium packages.

Delegates to the Arab Media Transmission Forum in Abu Dhabi have criticised the Arab League’s new transmission charter, which calls for tough new measures to licence all TV channels and curb broadcasting excesses. 

Rapid TV News reports that under the new charter broadcasters could lose their licences should they be found responsible for criticising religious or political leaders.

The Arab League’s secretary general Amro Moosa, in his pre-recorded speech, asked the 300 delegates to discuss the Charter’s proposals, saying it was the right of every Arab citizen to live in an era of openness. This somewhat contradictory statement certainly generated plenty of debate, with a wall of negative comment: “a device to shut the Arab mouth” said one delegate, and “censorial”, “harshly restrictive” and a “sword hanging over Arab TV” argued others.

Kuwait's former Minister of Information Sa'd Bin-Tafla al-Ajami called for freedom for the Arab media regardless of any considerations. The Arab media must be free from all fetters whatever the justifications might be, he asserted.

Egypt, which proposed the Charter, is on record as saying the plan was not to restrict freedom but to organise media and curb some channels which were “spreading ignorant messages and illegitimate religious edicts,” as reported by local press.

Work on the Charter started last June and was enthusiastically endorsed by the Arab world’s broadcasting and information ministers early in February.

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The first free-to-air branded Hollywood movie channel is to be launched in the region by a partnership between Fox International Channels and Rotana Media Services, reported Gulf News. Fox Movies started airing last Thursday, with content targeted at the Arab population.

Fillers between movies will be tailored to the local niche market and movies will have Arabic subtitles.