beIN Media Group

beIN Media Group (/ˈbiːɪn/ BEE-in; Arabic: مجموعة بي إن الإعلامية‎, Majmū‘at Bī’in al-I‘lāmiyyah) is an independent global sport and entertainment network founded on 1 January 2014, headquartered in Doha, Qatar. beIN distributes entertainment, live sport action, and major international events across 5 continents, in 43 countries, and in 7 different languages spanning Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Not to be confused with BeInMedia Agency.

beIN Media Group, LLC
Native name
مجموعة بي إن الإعلامية
Majmū‘at Bī’in al-I‘lāmiyyah
TypeLimited liability company
IndustryTelevision and cinema
Founded
  • 1 January 2014 (2014-01-01) (as beIN Media Group)[1]
Headquarters
Doha
,
Qatar
Area served
Middle East, Maghreb, United States, Canada, Hong Kong, South East Asia, Australia, France, Spain and Turkey
Key people
Nasser Al-Khelaifi (Chairman) Yousef Al-Obaidly (CEO) [2]
ProductsPay television, pay-per-view and new media
Brands
Number of employees
2,500+
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.beinmediagroup.com

History

beIN Sports as a brand was first launched in June 2012 by Al Jazeera Media Network in France. On 1 January 2014, beIN Media Group was established and became the new independent holding company of beIN Sports. In October 2014, it was announced that beIN Media Group had agreed to acquire pay-TV sports channel Setanta Sports Australia, with Setanta being rebranded as beIN Sports Australia.[3]

In 2015, beIN Sports launched a HD channel specially dedicated to football in Spain. The group declared in November 2015 that it would be expanding from sports-only programming to include entertainment and movies as well.[4]

It was announced in January 2016 that beIN Media Group secured an agreement with Turner Broadcasting System, allowing it exclusive rights to broadcast a number of Turner-licensed entertainment and news channels across the Middle East and North Africa.[5] beIN Media Group has since signed strategic partnerships with BBC Studios,[6] Warner Bros.,[7] CBS,[8] DreamWorks Animation,[9] and Discovery.[10]

It was rumored in November 2015 that beIN Media Group exhibited interested in purchasing Miramax.[11] On 1 March 2016, beIN Media Group announced its full acquisition of Miramax from Filmyard Holdings.[12] beIN announced they would sell at least 50% of the company in June 2019, with Viacom and Lionsgate as the front-liners.[13]

It was announced in August 2016 that beIN Media Group acquired Turkish pay TV service Digiturk.[14] In November 2019, beIN Media acquired exclusive broadcast rights for the 2019 and 2020 FIFA Club World Cup.[15]

Following the Covid-19 crisis, BeIN is implementing a layoff plan for its activities in the Middle East and North Africa.[16]

Anti-piracy campaign

In August 2017, beoutQ was launched illegally broadcasting via satellite and streaming over the internet premium sports and entertainment content worth billions of dollars. beIN Media Group has campaigned with leading sporting organizations and broadcasters from around the world to universally condemn piracy operations and call for decisive action to be taken to stamp out beoutQ and stop Arabsat from distributing the illegal broadcast channel.[17]

In October 2018, beIN Media Group launched a $1 billion international arbitration case against Saudi Arabia on the basis of beoutQ.[18] In July 2018, FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and other sports rights holders disclosed that they will be launching legal action in Saudi Arabia.[19]

In December 2018, The World Trade Organization agreed to launch a dispute inquiry to determine whether Saudi Arabia has failed to protect Intellectual Property rights because of beoutQ.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Key milestones in our history, through the dissociation from Al Jazeera Media Network, to our current position as a leading global and independent media group". beinmediagroup.com. beIN MEDIA GROUP. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  2. "BeIN Media appoints Yousef Al-Obaidly to CEO". Digital TV Europe.
  3. "beIn Media Group to acquire Setanta Sports Australia". Business and Leadership.com.
  4. Robert Briel (2 November 2015). "BeIn expands DTH bouquet for MENA, offers Euro2016". Broadband TV News. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  5. "Qatar's beIN inks Turner deal to expand entertainment channels". Arabian Business. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  6. "BBC - BBC Studios extends partnership with beIN MEDIA GROUP across Qatar, MENA & Turkey - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  7. Vivarelli, Nick (18 October 2016). "beIN Media Group Signs Major Multi-Year Pay-TV Deal With Warner Bros". Variety. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  8. "beIN and CBS Studios International sign exclusive MENA deal – BroadcastPro ME". Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  9. "DreamWorks channel launches in MENA via beIN". Digital TV Europe. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  10. "Discovery partners with beIN and OSN". Broadband TV News. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  11. Tom Huddleston, Jr. (16 November 2015). "The Studio Behind 'Pulp Fiction' Could Be Sold Soon". Fortune. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  12. Michael Cieply (2 March 2016). "Miramax Is Bought by the Qatari beIN Media Group". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  13. D'Alessandro, Anthony (7 June 2019). "BeIN Looking To Sell Share Of Miramax". Deadline. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  14. "Digiturk". beIN Media Group. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  15. "beIN secures exclusive rights to Qatar's Fifa Club World Cup". Sport Business. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  16. Ecofin, Agence. "beIN va licencier des employés en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient". Agence Ecofin (in French). Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  17. "Fifa, Premier League and La Liga pledge to cooperate on BeoutQ - SportsPro Media". www.sportspromedia.com. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  18. "Saudi Arabia faces legal action over pirated TV sport". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 January 2019.(subscription required)
  19. "FIFA to take legal action against pirated sports channel". Reuters. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  20. "WTO Will Investigate Saudi Arabia Over Piracy Operation beoutQ". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 28 January 2019.(subscription required)
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