New Sudanese satellite TV channel to start next month

September 24, 2007 (DUBAI) — A new Sudanese satellite channel will be launched next month from Dubai Media City. The new station will be devoted to Sudanese affairs in particular and Arab, African, and international affairs in general.

Sunrise Channel (Qanat Al-Shuruq) financing of the channel, estimated at $25 million annually, is provided by a number of Sudanese businessmen. Therefore, the channel will be independent. It will not represent a political party, an ethnic group, or a religious denomination but will represent the Sudanese public.

Speaking to al-Jazeera TV, Director General Mahmoud Abdelhadi denied any connection between the channel and the ruling Sudanese National Congress.

The channel is expected to transmit on the Arabsat and the Nilesat satellites and will later transmit on Hotbird. The station’s logo is: “The Sudanese Sun that Never Sets.”

It will transmit in Arabic for 24 hours starting from 15 October. The station’s test transmission began on one September.

The Channel deployed 23 correspondents in Sudanese provinces working through 15 news centers. The news will form 30 percent of the programs. The staff will be 260 employees, 155 of them from Sudan and the rest from Dubai.

The channel will devotes two programs to African affairs: “News of the Dark Continent” and “African Dialogue.” In view of the ethnic and cultural multiplicity in Sudan and the political struggles in the country, the channel raises the slogan: “With All for the Sake of All.”

(ST)