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Orbit Communications Company

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This article is about the old Orbit. For the company's current successor, see OSN.

Orbit TV
Company typeSatellite television
IndustryTelecommunication
Founded10 August 1994; 30 years ago (1994-08-10)
Defunct14 September 2009; 15 years ago (2009-09-14)
FateMerged with Showtime Arabia into Orbit Showtime
HeadquartersManama, Bahrain
ProductsDirect broadcast satellite and Satellite Internet
OwnerPrivately owned by Mawarid Holding [via Digital Media Systems]
WebsiteOfficial Site

Orbit Communications Company was a privately owned Pay TV network, operating in Bahrain. Owned by Saudi Arabia–based Mawarid Holding (via Digital Media Systems),[1][2] it was the first fully digital, multi-channel, multi-lingual, pay television service in the Middle East and North Africa and was also the world's first fully end to end digital TV network.[3] Launched in 1994, it was originally situated in Tor Sapienza, Rome, Italy as the location was considered entirely suitable to build a satellite farm.[citation needed][4] Orbit employed around 600 employees[when?] who were largely a combination of British and Italian staff with several Arabic speaking nations also represented.[citation needed] Orbit broadcast in several languages around the world including English, Arabic, French and Filipino.

Some of Orbit's Arabic channels including Bahrain TV, Al Safwa, Fann, Al Yawm, Cinema 1, Cinema 2, Mousalsalat and Mousalsalat +2 and are available throughout North and South America through myTV (Arabic).[5]

In 2009, the company merged with Showtime Arabia to form OSN, which is currently the biggest pay-TV provider in the MENA region.

Technology

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Orbit had launched four multi-function interactive decoders:

This allowed the following features:

  • 2-level parental control (Channel & Rating).
  • 7-day bilingual electronic program guide.
  • 22 radio channels of music & news & entertainment.
  • Arabic subtitles & multi-lingual audio on selected channels.

Channel lineup

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  • Promotional & Free go air:
    • Marhaba TV (it's closed)
    • TVMAX Promo (it's closed)
    • Orbit Promotional Channel (before Marhaba TV) (it's closed)
    • Orbit Express Shop (it's closed)
    • Osn Promotional Channel
  • Movies:
  • Arabic movies:
    • ART Aflam 1 (it's closed)
    • ART Aflam 2 (it's closed)
    • ART Cinema (it's closed)
    • Cinema 1 (after Al Oula)
    • Cinema 2
    • Rotana Cinema
    • Rotana Comedy
    • Rotana Classic
  • Foreign movies:
    • Star Movies
    • Super Movies (it's closed)
    • Super Movies +1 (it's closed)
    • Cinema City (it's closed)
    • Cinema City +1 (it's closed)
    • Cinema City +2 (it's closed)
    • MGM (it's closed)
    • Xtra Movies (it's closed)
    • Xtra Movies +2 (it's closed)
    • Cine TV (it's closed)
    • Film World (it's closed)
    • Turner Classic Movies
    • MBC 2
    • MBC Max
    • MBC Action
  • Sports:
    • Edge Sport
    • Bahrain Sports 1
    • Bahrain Sports 2
    • KSA Sports 1
    • KSA Sports 2
    • Al Riyadiyah 1 (it's closed)
    • Al Riyadiyah 2 (it's closed)
    • Al Riyadiyah 3 (it's closed)
    • Al Riyadiyah 4 (it's closed)
    • Al Riyadiyah 5 (it's closed)
    • Al Riyadiyah 6 (it's closed)
    • Al Riyadiyah 7 (it's closed)
    • Al Riyadiyah 8 (it's closed)
    • Abu Dhabi Sports 1
    • Abu Dhabi Sports 2
    • Abu Dhabi Sports 3
    • Abu Dhabi Sports 4
    • Orbit ESPN (it's closed)
    • Orbit Sports (it's closed)
    • Orbit Sports 1 (it's closed)
    • Orbit Sports 2 (it's closed)
    • Orbit Sports 3 (it's closed)
    • Orbit Sports 4 (it's closed)
    • Orbit Sports 5 (it's closed)
    • BeIN Sports
    • BeIN Sports News
    • BeIN Sports NBA
    • BeIN Sports Premium
  • Music:
    • MTV 2000's
    • MTV Live
    • Music Now
    • Fann
    • Rotana Music
    • Rotana Clip
    • Rotana Khalijiah
    • Wanasah (it's closed)
  • Pay per view:
    • TVMAX 1 (it's closed)
    • TVMAX 2 (it's closed)
    • TVMAX 3 (it's closed)
    • TVMAX Sports 1 (it's closed)
    • TVMAX Sports 2 (it's closed)
    • TVMAX Sports 3 (it's closed)
    • Showtime TVMAX (5 channels) (it's closed)
    • OSN On Demand (after Show On Demand)
  • Pinoy:
    • NBN Pinoy News (it's closed)
    • PBO - Pinoy Box Office (it's closed)
    • GMA Pinoy TV (it's closed)
    • GMA Life TV (it's closed)
    • Hollywood Star! (it's closed)
  • Lebanese:
    • LBCI (it's closed)
    • Tele Liban (it's closed)
    • Aghani Aghani TV (it's closed)
    • MTV One Lebanon (it's closed)
    • Alfa channels before:
    • Al Thalitha (before Al Yawm)
    • Al Oula (before Cinema 1)
    • Al Thania (before Al Safwa)
    • Music Now
    • The Series Channel
    • Al Qanat Al musiqeya
    • Alfa channels after:
    • Al Yawm
    • Al Safwa
    • Music Now
    • The Series Channel
    • The Series Channel +4 (it's closed)
    • The Series Channel +2
    • Cinema 1
    • Cinema 2
    • Fann
  • Radio:
    • Monawa't (it's closed)
    • Tarabiya't (it's closed)
    • Khalijya't (it's closed)
    • BBC World Media Service (it's closed)
    • Radio Rotana
    • GMA DZBB
    • Radio Mosaic
    • BBC World Service Arabic
    • BBC World Service English
    • Monte Carlo Doualiya
    • Al Jazeera Radio
    • Sky News Arabic
    • GMA DZBB
    • DWLS FM
    • Radio Bahrain Arabic
    • Radio Bahrain English
    • AFN Bahrain FM
    • BFBS Bahrain
    • The Voice Of Ummah
    • BBC Radio 3
    • BBC Radio 4
    • MBC FM
    • Panorama FM
    • Al Arabiya FM
    • Mood FM
    • Quran Kareem FM
  • Free-to-air:

Up to 500 and more Free-to-air television and radio channels (including Arabsat, Nilesat, Hotbird... – based on type of connection).

Orbit ESPN's disappearance

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On 1 April 2008,[6] after being on the air since 1994,[7] Orbit ESPN disappeared from the Orbit lineup. This left Orbit without coverage of the NCAA, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the National Football League, NASCAR, IndyCar Series, major golf and tennis tournaments, and the premier action sports franchise in the world, ESPN's X Games.

Fox Sports replaced Orbit ESPN on 13 January 2009.

One of the reasons that break the contract with ESPN is the severe financial problems happened at that time, since 1999-2000 the production graph line has been moved down. In 2009, a major delay in paying salaries for orbit employees in Egypt, Lebanon and KSA for more than 4 months.

BBC Arabic television

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BBC Arabic Television was originally transmitted via Orbit from 1994 until April 21, 1996, when it was taken off air by Orbit after the channel broadcast an episode of the BBC Panorama program critical of the Saudi Arabian government. Many of the BBC Arabic Television staff then went to work for Al Jazeera.[8] The BBC has since relaunched the channel autonomously in 2008.

Orbit packages

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(The Following Packages are Orbit's Main Packages) (Packages May differ from Country to Another)

  • Super Mega: Super Mega includes all Arabic and Western Orbit TV channels. Plus, 22 Radio channels and 4 TV MAX channels.
  • Super Prime: Super Prime includes only Orbits' Western channels, plus NBA TV, Al Riyadiyah, Music Now, MTV Arabia. Plus, 22 Radio channels and 4 TV MAX channels.
  • Alfa: Includes all Orbits' Arabic channels, plus CNN International and Music Now. Plus, 22 Radio channels and 4 TV MAX channels.
  • Family: The best in Family entertainment: Al Safwa, Al Yawm, Fann, Music Now, Arabic Series Channel, MTV Arabia, Fun Channel, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Playhouse Disney, Toon Disney, Disney Channel, Spacetoon, Nickelodeon, The History Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, CNN International, Bloomberg Television, Euronews, CNN International, Al Riyadiyah, NBA TV, Hollywood Channel (Zone Club), BBC Prime, Super Comedy, Discovery Travel & Living, 4 TV MAX channels. Plus, 22 Radio channels.
  • Pinoy Plus: The best in Filipino programming: GMA Pinoy TV, NBN Pinoy News, GMA Life TV. Plus, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, MGM Movies, Discovery Science, Animal Planet, Hollywood Channel (Zone Club), Fashion TV, Music Now, Trace TV, MTV Arabia, CNN International, NBA TV, 22 Radio channels and 4 TV MAX channels.
  • Kids: The package includes the best in kids entertainment, documentary channels and sports channels: Fun Channel, Playhouse Disney, Toon Disney, Disney Channel, Spacetoon, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Discovery Science, Animal Planet, The History Channel, NBA TV. Plus, 22 Radio channels and 4 TV MAX channels. (Kids package is only available as a second subscription only).

Showtime Arabia merger

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On 12 July 2009, Showtime Arabia and Orbit Communications Company announced a merger that created the “biggest Pay-TV platform” in the Middle East and North Africa.[9]

The newly formed company, which is called OSN,[9] is an equal partnership that would offer 70 exclusive channels featuring new movies, sports, series, Arabic content and international shows.

New customers can subscribe to packages featuring Showtime Arabia's and Orbit Communications Company's programs, while existing subscribers will be able to either retain or upgrade their content. The company will offer HD channels, video on demand and other interactive services.

References

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  1. ^ "Zawya - Mawarid Holding".
  2. ^ "Zawya - Orbit Satellite Television and Radio Network".
  3. ^ "Orbit plans TV service". www.telecompaper.com. 9 December 1993.
  4. ^ Fact Provided By Former Employee
  5. ^ "Products". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  6. ^ "Newlywed in Dubai - Year 2: Where the Hell is Orbit ESPN?!?".
  7. ^ Orbit and ESPN International renew programming distribution agreement Archived 2008-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Al Jazeera's BBC origins".
  9. ^ a b Chiba, Yushi (February 2012). "A Comparative Study on the Pan-Arab Media Strategies: The Cases of Egypt and Saudi Arabia" (PDF). Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies. 5 (1&2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
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