Wikipedia

beIN Media Group

Not to be confused with BeInMedia Agency.

beIN Media Group (/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).

beIN Media Group, LLC
Native name
مجموعة بي إن الإعلامية
Majmū‘at Bī’in al-I‘lāmiyyah
Company typeState-owned
Industry
Founded
  • 1 January 2014; 10 years ago (2014-01-01) (as beIN Media Group)[1]
Headquarters
Doha
,
Qatar
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ProductsPay television, pay-per-view and new media
Brands
OwnerState of Qatar
Number of employees
2,500+
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.beinmediagroup.com

History

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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 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

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beoutQ

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Further information: Qatar diplomatic crisis § Media ban

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 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

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References

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  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. ^ "beIn Media Group to acquire Setanta Sports Australia". Business and Leadership.com. 14 August 2014.
  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. Archived from the original on 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 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". 8 August 2017. 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. ^ Georg Szalai (3 April 2020). "ViacomCBS Closes Acquisition of 49 Percent Miramax Stake in $375 Million Deal". The Hollywood Reporter.
  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. ^ 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. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  18. ^ Ahmed, Murad; Omran, Ahmed Al (October 2018). "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. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  20. ^ "WTO Will Investigate Saudi Arabia Over Piracy Operation beoutQ". Bloomberg. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2019.(subscription required)
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