Dubai: Dubai One, the Dubai government-owned English-language television channel, confirmed on Friday it is no longer producing content locally.
Gulf News reported on Thursday the channel had told staff it is shutting down production and axing 80 per cent of staff. Arabian Business was the first to report on the changes at the Dubai government-owned television station.
“Our In-house produced shows won’t be returning next season. New diversification of programming to be revealed soon!” Dubai One announced on Twitter. The channel posted the announcement at 10:35pm on Friday.
Changes at the television station were labelled as a “chore routine” in a statement issued on Friday by Ahmad Saeed Al Mansouri, chief executive of TV and Radio in Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI), the company that runs Dubai One.
Al Mansouri also stated that there had been “no such administrative decision taken regarding the closure of the channel or terminating the services of employees.”
A source confirmed the initial Arabian Business report to Gulf News that staff had been advised of the lay offs last week. The 20 per cent of staff not being laid off are expected to be moved over to the DMI’s Arabic-language channels.
Dubai One will be re-launched on Sunday September 14, according to the statement on the DMI website.
DMI could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
