Arabian Television Network (ATN) said today it and MTV’s parent company Viacom would launch MTV Arabiya in the second half of 2007. ATN said in a statement the new 24-hour satellite station would tap the youth market in the Middle East where about half of the population is under 25 years of age.
The new free-to-air channel’s programming will include both MTV’s international shows and local programming, said ATN, a subsidiary of the newly launched Dubai-based Arabian Broadcasting Network. ATN said its partner in the project was MTV Networks International, a unit of Viacom Networks Europe Inc.