News Corp buys $70m stake in Saudi group (FNC)

Financial Times ^ | 2-23-10 | Lina Saigol in London, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson

[STARWISE]

Rotana Media, the broadcaster and music group owned by Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said it had agreed to sell a $70m stake to News Corp, Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire.

Rotana said on Tuesday that News Corp had agreed to buy a 9.09 per cent stake with an option to take this up to 18.18 per cent.

The move will mark News Corp’s most significant investment so far in the Middle East, where faster GDP growth, a young population and maturing advertising markets have begun to draw US and European media groups facing slow growth in their home markets.

”This is a qualitative leap not just for Rotana but for the whole Arab world,” Prince Alwaleed told a press conference. ”We are set to gain deep experience from News Corp ... on television, movie production and technology,” he said. ”They own MySpace ... We can learn from this, the new media field.”

The acquisition will also tie the Murdoch family closer to one of their most important shareholders.

Prince Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holdings owns 7 per cent, or 56m shares, of News Corp’s class B stock and is the largest shareholder outside the Murdoch family.

The prince is not on News Corp’s board of directors, but last month anointed James Murdoch, head of News Corp’s European and Asian operations, as his father’s eventual successor.

“If he [Rupert Murdoch] doesn’t appoint him, I’ll be the first one to nominate him to be the successor of Mr Rupert Murdoch, God forbid if something happens to him,” the prince told Charlie Rose, a US television interviewer.

Rotana, which owns a variety of media assets from an online music video on demand site modelled on News Corp’s Hulu joint venture to a large library of music from the region, already shows programming from News Corp’s Fox channels in Saudi Arabia through its free-to-air television network.

An investment in Rotana has been under discussion for some time and many expected a deal to be done last autumn. One person familiar with the deal described it as ”small but symbolic”.

The decision to invest follows meetings between Mr Murdoch and Prince Alwaleed in New York in January, when the pair discussed a “future potential alliance with News Corp”, according to a statement on the Kingdom Holdings website. The day-to-day relationship between News Corp and Rotana is likely to be managed by James Murdoch’s team, however.

News Corp declined to comment.

[genetic homophobe]

I want to like Beck too. Just can’t explain how he’s done a 180 on Islam. Can you?

[raybbr]

I want to like Beck too. Just can’t explain how he’s done a 180 on Islam. Can you?

I honestly don't remember him going after Islam. So I really don't see where he did a "180"? I just don't remember him doing it.

[Uncle Chip]

Rotana, which owns a variety of media assets from an online music video on demand site modelled on News Corp’s Hulu joint venture to a large library of music from the region, already shows programming from News Corp’s Fox channels in Saudi Arabia through its free-to-air television network.

I wonder what programs those are???

[justsaynomore]

2006 WASHINGTON — CNN TV host Glenn Beck tells NewsMax that he believes “Islamic extremism is the biggest threat to our way of life since World War Two and we’ll never be able to fight it – if we can’t see it.”
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/11/14/170416.shtml

2007 Glenn Beck : Radical Islam Exposed - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYXAWgY__1w

2008 Glenn Beck on Islam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjS_0mbKH7I

Feb, 2009 Glenn Beck interviews Geert Wilders on Islam and the Koran -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhwU4rvbxKY

I don’t know if he has done anything since then.

[raybbr]

Thanks for those. I will look at them later.

I'm guessing that Glenn has decided to build a case against Obama from the standpoint of Obama's radicalism and the people he surrounds himself with.

I have heard him recently talk about Obama's Islamic envoy in negative terms but, it does appear he's switched his focus to the the WH and Obama's subversive people within.

[genetic homophobe]

No, Glenn Beck is doing the best he can to slam progressives and commies, which he's still allowed to do. The Obama admin throws him bones like Van Jones all the time, in exchange for Beck slamming birthers. His boss told him to lay off Islam, so he did. He's doing very well for himself, too.

I used to love him, now I still watch/listen to him, but with some skepticism. Anyone who calls me a kook for suspecting Obo's COLB is either stupid, or corrupt. Beck ain't stupid.

[Frantzie]

He is a stooge for the Saudis. See Muslim Brotherhood about the Saudis global caliphate and the export of Islam to the west.

[SunkenCiv]

Lest we forget:

Prince Alwaleed's Kingdom Holdings owns 7 per cent, or 56m shares, of News Corp's class B stock and is the largest shareholder outside the Murdoch family.

Thanks STARWISE.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

I doubt that Mark Levin is part of some progressivive conspiracy— seriously. I’m fond of Glenn Beck, but darn.

” ... Beck is trying to remind people how great this country once was - and can be again.”

I agree with that.

But is WorldNetDaily part of the secret progressive conspiracy?
Meet kinder, gentler Glenn Beck: New ‘global warming’ believer [?????????]
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=125949
Finds common ground with George Clooney, his publicist is Democratic Party power player
[I’m hoping this is satire. Beck once mentioned polar bears using ice bergs the size of Texas to ram Australia. On the other hand ...]
“Beck’s personal publicist, Matt Hiltzik, is a Democratic power player who helped get Hillary Rodham Clinton elected to the U.S. Senate ...”

Is it true that he’s preaching about the dangers of CO2 now? Or is that shtick? Is it true that Beck has a former Hillary publicist?

I don’t mind people turning to good publicists and agree that might not mean a bad thing, but how on earth did such a patriot tick off WorldNetDaily? The place is as pro-life Christian conservative as you will ever find. Bachmann considers WND required reading, and so do I.

Beck needs to talk with Farah and Levin. He needs to make peace with them if he’s to ever have a chance of being the leader of the anti-leftists. At the same time, I hope he keeps his delightful sense of humor.

— FRegards ....

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

OK, since you really want to talk with me more [to the point of calling that immature], I’ll try to remain patient.

“LOL Okay, I get to hear Levin and you don’t know me at all yet you can make an over all judgment about me with one post.”

“Not speaking well of someone” is not a judgment. Trying to call Levin a “pest” in defense of Beck is something I find a little odd.

“I notice you don’t address the hypocrisy of trashing Beck for being emotional and NOT saying anything about Levin’s half hour sob stories about his dogs.”

Levin nearly retired after losing his dog. Yes, the flesh is weak. I agree it’s kind of pathetic, but I believe all good people are vulnerable in the “loved ones” department —even fictional Jack Baur. I’m a cold enough SOB that I could probably keep chugging if all people I loved died at once. But that doesn’t speak well of me, does it?

In case you didn’t know, Levin’s written another book since then. Right now he is trying to rally conservatives, and he sees Beck as a threat to unity. Even before Levin said something, I too was concerned that Beck was undermining unity by trying to make 58% of republicans sound fringe [as I understand it, he’s proudly after-birther]. Most birthers are pro-life, while most after-birthers are pro-death. I don’t remember Beck complaining when John McCain showed his birth certificate. Is it Beck’s opinion that no presidential candidate should do that?

What is the point in us debating more? Our arguments are circular. Basicly, you appear to give up on a guy when he goes a little overboard about dogs. That’s a pretty steep level of judgmentality, and yet you call me judgmental.

“Your “I’m going to take my ball and go home” because I don’t change my mind after one post is immature.”

I like to think of it as time management. When I conclude that someone is dug in on something, I’m trying to learn to let him have the last word.

“If you have a better line of reasoning - post it and we can have a discussion.”

I’m not God. I can only point out that Beck has ticked off two important conservative voices: Levin and WND. They aren’t part of any conspiracy against him. Why desn’t he just reach out and talk with him?

I do respectfully disagree with Levin about Beck’s sense of humor. It’s brilliant. But for whatever reason, Beck has ticked him off, and Levin is looking for weaknesses. Levin frequently mentions a need for unity and sees Beck as a threat to that. Unity sometimes requires whacking troublemakers over the head with a newspaper.

[swarthyguy]

ChooChoo, WooWoo(looks like I need one)ALL ABOOOAARD the Ultimate Gravy Train.

Next stop, the Tragick(for the rest of us) Kingdom!

Saudis Rock! First, the politicians, then the Academies, and now da Media.

And the Jihad will keep chugging on.

Inshallah.

[Wurlitzer]

I sent 2 e-mails to FOX with the first being ignored and the second bounced because of a full mail box. (see below)

The Prince’s claim that he had gotten FOX to lay off the riots in Paris, seems on the surface to be true as the rioting continued after the FOX coverage stopped.

I guess we are left with the Internet as our only answer to the LSM.

---

FIRST E_MAIL

I see that the Saudi Prince and News Corp have become more entwined (News Corp buys $70m stake in Saudi group
).

I now understand why you did not respond to my previous e-mail (below)

It is unfortunate for FOX and terrible for your viewers as it seems we now have the choice of Unfair & Unbalanced from the usual MSM and some significant leverage to not cover Islam in the negative light it deserves based upon the actions of a few and the complete silence of the remainder of the Muslim population.

The upside is I now have 4 extra hours every day to do something else.

A former loyal viewer.

SECOND EMAIL

I have been a loyal viewer since FOX News showed up on Dish Network. I refuse to miss the Glenn Beck show. It is DVR’d if there is any chance I’ll be out of the house. I watch Fox & Friends every morning.

I used to watch Bill O’Reilly but there has been a noticeable shift to the left this year (maybe longer). The USA has enough media on the left we don’t need FOX there also.

I have stuck with Glenn Beck since his announcement that the show would take a new direction but it looks like half the show belongs on the FOX Business Channel (I have demanded it but not received it). 2010 certainly has not been the MUST SEE TV that it was last year for Glenn.

Has the 7% investment of the Saudi Prince had any affect on News programming such as alleged by AIM and other sources? Please be honest as you always tell us you are. Was coverage of the Muslim riots in Paris suspended at his request?

Are we are losing our Fair & Balanced reporting during one of the most critical times in our nation’s history by because of external influences from, shall we say, a person who does not have the best interest at heart for Americans, Christians and Jews?

It seems the only on air personalities that still have a fire in their belly are the Judge (don’t ever lose him), Hannity, and Glenn (although the flame is dwindling)

[Islaminaction]

Is there ever any good news?

[swarthyguy]

Only two have been beheaded recently, or rather slowly decapitated by hacking at their necks and spinal cords severing the head from the torso.

Two Sikhs in the NorthWest of the Land of the Pure.