Dubai: OSN subscribers will not be able to watch their favourite channels from Turner Broadcasting from January next year until unless they have TV packages from either etisalat or du.
TV channels like CNN International, Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Arabia and Boomerang will no longer be available on OSN packages.
“Turner Broadcasting, the owner of the channels, has decided that they no longer wish to provide the channels to OSN and its customers, despite our best efforts,” an OSN spokesperson told Gulf News.
Sources close to etisalat said that the operator will be showing the channels “as they have a good relationship with Turner.”
Du said they are also in a direct relationship with the content provider [Turner] “which has allowed us to secure these channels for our valued customers.”
Turner Broadcasting previously told online magazine Digiday that it is trying to streamline its business operations and help advertisers find the right audience across its entire portfolio.
Michael Strober, a former senior vice-president within Turner’s entertainment sales division who has been promoted to executive vice-president in charge of a new business unit called the client strategy and ad innovation group, told Digiday that it’s part of a client-first approach that Turner has undertaken over the past three years.
“If a client is interested in auto intenders, we shouldn’t be thinking about how much money they should be spending on CNN and TNT. We should find where the audience is across the portfolio first and map that back to how the investment should occur,” said Strober in the interview.
Following the lose of the channels, OSN said it is planning to strengthen its platform with new channels.
“While regretting the sudden decision of Turner to remove their services, we are launching several new channels — each with dedicated programming comprising exclusive and first-in-the-region content. This includes OSN Movies Family HD and a premium Arabic movie channel. OSN will also become the exclusive home of HBO and we will have another new channel dedicated to showing the very best of British drama and entertainment,” OSN spokesperson said.
