UAE’s IMI takes full control of Sky News Arabia amid Sudan coverage scrutiny

Sky on Sunday announced the end of its joint ownership of Sky News Arabia, transferring full strategic and operational control of the Arabic-language broadcaster to its  United Arab Emirates-based partner, International Media Investments (IMI), while allowing the channel to continue using the Sky brand under a multi-year licencing agreement.

The move marks the end of a partnership that began in 2010 when Sky and IMI launched Sky News Arabia to compete with regional broadcasters across the Middle East and North Africa. 

Under the agreement, IMI will assume full ownership of the network's operations. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

"The time is right for this change and we look forward to continuing our relationship in the next phase of Sky News Arabia," David Rhodes, executive chairman of Sky News Group, said in a statement.

Rhodes said the company was proud of what had been built through its partnership with IMI and described the change as the next stage in the broadcaster’s development.

IMI said the agreement reflected the maturity of Sky News Arabia as a regional media organisation and would allow it to pursue further growth and innovation under sole ownership.

IMI is an Abu Dhabi-based media investment company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE vice president and owner of Manchester City Football Club. The channel began broadcasting in 2012 and aimed to compete with the Doha-based Al-Jazeera and the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya.

The restructuring follows scrutiny of Sky News Arabia's coverage of Sudan’s civil war.

UK-based former Sky executives told the Telegraph in November that Sky News Arabia had become a mouthpiece for the UAE’s rulers and had not accurately reported atrocities carried out by the  Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that has been accused by international investigators of targeting ethnic minority communities.

While the UAE continues to deny the allegations, Middle East Eye has reported extensively on its support for the RSF, citing evidence including satellite imagery, flight logs, weapons serial numbers and multiple sources.

Sudan's government banned Sky News Arabia from operating in the country in November after the channel aired a report from El Fasher in North Darfur that described conditions as stabilising.

The Guardian reported that Sky executives had become increasingly concerned about the channel's editorial approach to reporting on the conflict. The newspaper also reported that the channel had published reports questioning evidence cited by investigators and survivors.

In February, a United Nations-mandated fact-finding mission concluded that actions by the RSF and allied militias in parts of Sudan bore the "hallmarks of genocide."

Following the UN report suggesting genocide had been carried out in el-Fasher, Sky News Arabia sent a reporter to the city who is married to a senior official in the RSF.

Tsabih Mubarak Khatir was filmed hugging a female RSF commander who had previously urged fighters to rape Darfuri women and telling her “we are with you”.

In March, a major report by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) with Nasa’s Harvest programme revealed that the RSF waged a campaign of starvation against the people of el-Fasher in Darfur, razing dozens of farming villages and devastating crop production around the city.

IMI previously said that discussions with Sky were commercial in nature and unrelated to editorial policy.

A spokesperson for IMI declined additional comment beyond Sunday's statement when contacted by Bloomberg News. Sky did not immediately respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.