Asiya Bakht
Apr 14, 2010

SingTel Mio TV drops Al Jazeera English

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean minister confirmed that the Arabic news channel, Al Jazeera, was dropped by SingTel's Mio TV due to low interest among viewers.

SingTel Mio TV drops Al Jazeera English
Ever since Al Jazeera was taken off the air on 1 April, there has been speculation in the market that the channel was taken off air due to the controversial nature of its coverage on Singapore. The channel carried stories on the socio-economic issues in the country including homelessness, prostitution and rising prices.

The channel started broadcasting on SingTel's mio TV two years ago.

A letter sent to subscribers in March stated the news channel would be dropped from 1 April as mio TV "strives to enhance our channel offerings".

The channels that are believed to have replaced Al-Jazeera include Euronews, Russia Today and CCTV 9.

Since its launch in 2007 SingTel has dropped less than 10 channels.

In an interview given to trade publication Content Asia, the Arabic news channel said that while they are disappointed to be pulling out of Singapore, it remains "hopeful that the values Al-Jazeera stands for will in time be welcomed by Singapore."

"As the region's media hub, we also hope that Singapore can in the future treat all international news channels equally."

Related Articles

Just Published

11 hours ago

Agency Report Cards 2024: We grade 25 APAC networks

The grades are in for Campaign Asia's 22nd annual evaluation of APAC agency networks. Subscribe to read our detailed analyses.

12 hours ago

Agency Report Card 2024: Initiative

After losing marquee clients Amazon and Lego, Initiative faces an uphill battle to rebuild its reputation, leaning on new tools, a "challenger" mindset, and a focus on e-commerce to stay competitive in a rapidly shifting industry.

13 hours ago

Global CEO of WPP Media’s Nexus departs

Bidon has been global chief executive at Nexus since April 2022.

13 hours ago

Mark Read: 'People are happier when they’re in the ...

WPP’s chief executive spoke at SWSW and touched on hybrid working, the future of the workforce with AI and whether brands will return to X.