Al-Jazeera and beIN Sport satellite changes (Middle East)

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari, CEO of Qatar’s Es’Hail satellite operation, says that Qatar will shortly be shifting their portfolio of channels including news channel Al-Jazeera, and the beIN Sport channels from Arabsat to exclusive carriage on Es’Hail-1.

The impact will not be severe for viewers in the MENA region given that Arabsat’s ‘hot spot’ is at 26 degrees East and Es-Hail-1 operates from the adjacent 25.5 degrees East, and thus will appear to be co-located with Arabsat.

The initial changes will take place early in November, with the final switch happening during January 2016.