Showtime Arabia was

Showtime Networks Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship service Showtime. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks uni ...

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

service in the

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and

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. It was a

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between Kuwaiti

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KIPCO Kuwait Projects Company (Holding), known as KIPCO, is an investment holding company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with consolidated assets of US$34.2 billion as of 31 December 2018. The group has significant ownership interest ...

(79% stake) and American media firm Viacom Inc. (21% stake). The company was incorporated in the

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and had its headquarters at

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Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

. Showtime Arabia was one of three

pay TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

networks in the

and

, it offered motion pictures, sporting events and original content, some of which was localized. It had the exclusive rights to broadcast the

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in the Middle East and North Africa. On 12 July 2009 the company announced a merger with competitor

Orbit Communications Company Orbit Communications Company was a privately owned Pay TV network, operating in Bahrain. Owned by Saudi Arabia-based Mawarid Holding (via Digital Media Systems), it was the first fully digital, multi-channel, multi-lingual, pay television serv ...

to form Orbit Showtime Network (OSN).

Technical

When Showtime launched, it some of its channels were TMC, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Paramount, Style, Discovery and Hallmark. Gulf DTH F.Z. L.L.C. was the operating company behind the digital pay TV broadcaster, Showtime Arabia. Its broadcast facilities were based at

in the

and its

uplink In a telecommunications network, a link is a communication channel that connects two or more devices for the purpose of data transmission. The link may be a dedicated physical link or a virtual circuit that uses one or more physical links or sha ...

teleport station is Samacom, the monopoly uplink provider in the UAE. Showtime Arabia used Irdeto Access Conditional Access technology, to encrypt its DTH channels over satellite and the OpenTV interactive platform that runs on primarily UEC Multi-Media set-top boxes.

Showtime Arabia Channel lineup

: * 43 channels** + 1 promotional channel : ** 12 general entertainment channels, seven movie channels, five sports channels, five documentary channels, five kids channels, four pay-per-view channels, three music channels, and three news channels

Orbit Communications Company merger

On 12 July 2009 ''Showtime Arabia'' and ''

'' announced a merger that created the “biggest Pay-TV platform” in the

and

. The newly formed company is an equal partnership that would offer 70 exclusive channels featuring new

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

, series,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

content and international shows. New customers can subscribe to packages featuring Showtime Arabia's and '' Orbit Communications Company's'' programs, while existing subscribers will be able to either retain or upgrade their content. The company will offer HD channels,

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

and other

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

services.

Logos

Image:Showtime Arabia.png, Showtime Arabia's current logo, in use since 1 April 2007 relaunch

References

External links