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BeIN Media Group

beIN Media Group, LLC (/ˈbiːɪn/; Arabic: مجموعة بي إن الإعلامية, Majmū‘at Bī’in al-I‘lāmiyyah) is a Qatari state-owned global sport and entertainment network headquartered in Doha, Qatar. beIN distributes entertainment, live sports action, and major international events across 5 continents, in 43 countries, and 7 languages spanning Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

History

beIN Sports was first launched, as a brand, 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 an 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 were interested in purchasing Miramax.[11] On 1 March 2016, beIN Media Group announced its full acquisition of Miramax from Filmyard Holdings.[12] A 49% interest in Miramax was sold to ViacomCBS (now Paramount Skydance Corporation) in April 2020.[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

beoutQ

In August 2017 beoutQ was launched, illegally broadcasting premium sports and entertainment content worth billions of dollars via satellite and streaming over the internet. 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 Saudi-based pay TV provider 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

  • beIN Channels Network

External links

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, 5 November 2018^
  3. Michael Haynes. beIn Media Group to acquire Setanta Sports Australia Business and Leadership.com, 14 August 2014^
  4. Robert Briel. BeIn expands DTH bouquet for MENA, offers Euro2016 Broadband TV News, 2 November 2015, 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 Studios extends partnership with beIN MEDIA GROUP across Qatar, MENA & Turkey - Media Centre BBC, 2 August 2018, retrieved 2019-01-27^
  7. Nick Vivarelli. beIN Media Group Signs Major Multi-Year Pay-TV Deal With Warner Bros. Variety, 2016-10-18, retrieved 2019-01-27^
  8. beIN and CBS Studios International sign exclusive MENA deal – BroadcastPro ME 8 August 2017, retrieved 2019-01-27^
  9. DreamWorks channel launches in MENA via beIN Digital TV Europe, 2016-07-29, retrieved 2019-01-27^
  10. Discovery partners with beIN and OSN Broadband TV News, 2016-02-03, retrieved 2019-01-27^
  11. Tom Huddleston Jr. The Studio Behind 'Pulp Fiction' Could Be Sold Soon Fortune, 16 November 2015, retrieved 8 January 2016^
  12. Michael Cieply. Miramax Is Bought by the Qatari beIN Media Group The New York Times, 2 March 2016, retrieved 10 March 2016^
  13. Georg Szalai. ViacomCBS Closes Acquisition of 49 Percent Miramax Stake in $375 Million Deal The Hollywood Reporter, 3 April 2020^
  14. Digiturk beIN Media Group, retrieved 30 September 2016^
  15. beIN secures exclusive rights to Qatar's Fifa Club World Cup Sport Business, 28 November 2019, retrieved 28 November 2019^
  16. Agence Ecofin. beIN va licencier des employés en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient Agence Ecofin, retrieved 2020-06-30^
  17. Fifa, Premier League and La Liga pledge to cooperate on BeoutQ - SportsPro Media www.sportspromedia.com, 22 January 2019, retrieved 2019-01-27^
  18. Murad Ahmed, Ahmed Al Omran. Saudi Arabia faces legal action over pirated TV sport Financial Times, October 2018, retrieved 2019-01-28^
  19. FIFA to take legal action against pirated sports channel Reuters, 2018-07-11, retrieved 2019-01-28^
  20. WTO Will Investigate Saudi Arabia Over Piracy Operation beoutQ Bloomberg, 18 December 2018, retrieved 2019-01-28^