ART BECOMES ADD

Middle East platform Arab Radio & Television (ART) has started to call itself Arab Digital Distribution (ADD) and last week relaunched its Arabic bouquet (Firstnet) with additional channels for ArabSat and NileSat viewers.

Firstnet subscribers now receive B4U Music, MCM, CNN, Bloomberg Television, TCM, Cartoon Network, Reality TV, Fashion TV, Man United TV, ART Sport and Eurosport News.

Additionally, Nilesat viewers in Egypt and the Levant can also enjoy watching Eurosport, while Gulf viewers tuned in to the Arabsat satellite will also receive Fox News and Pehla Plus.

The Nilesat service will be available from November 15. ART/ADD has to date struggled to sell its mainly Arabic-language bouquet in the Middle East (although it has been successfully sold in Europe and North America) largely because of the free-to-air choices that exist locally, and to card piracy.

John Tydeman, an industry veteran who worked at SES/Astra and Star TV in their early days, was appointed CEO earlier this year to beef up Firstnet’s consumer offering and to tighten up operations generally.