Bahrain on Monday announced the closure of new pan-Arab news channel Alarab owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal just nine days after its launch.
"It has been decided to halt the activities of Alarab, the channel not having received the necessary permits," a statement from the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority said.
Inaugurated on February 1, the channel was on the air for only a few hours before programming was interrupted. It continued to show promotional material.
Until just after 1200 GMT Monday, Alarab was broadcasting a message that programming had been interrupted for "technical and administrative reasons, and we'll be back soon, God willing".
But at about 1204 GMT the promotional material stopped and the screen displayed only Alarab's green and white logo.