The Saudi Minister of Culture and Information, Dr. Auwad bin Saleh Al-Auwad, decided here on Wednesday to convert Al-Ikhbariya, a local TV satellite channel, into a limited liability company, under the name "Ikhbariya Network Company."

The company will be jointly owned by the Radio and Television Corporation and the Saudi Press Agency, SPA, on a fifty-fifty basis, according to the SPA. This is the latest step towards keeping abreast with the rapidly accelerated developments on the local as well as international media landscape.

The minister's decision aims to upgrade the Arabic-language news channel and launch an English-language news channel within the company, which will be able to develop experiences related to improving event coverage and news follow-up, in line with world-class standards through interaction with local and world variables. The aim is to provide a pioneer Saudi media with state-of-the-art facilities.

It will seek to excel through diffusion of exclusive content, based on sincerity, accuracy and objectivity, in addition to producing financial returns for investing in the media sector and launching new platforms for digital circulation to reach the threshold of competitive edges.

On the other hand, the minister pointed out that the step falls along the ministry's initiatives' package to actualise the Saudi Vision 2030, aspiring to empower various related institutions to cope with rapid world developments in the domain of the media industry all over the world.

He added that the final goal is to transmit the Kingdom’s message to the world, with a high level of professionalism, through use of up-to-date techniques and technologies, in order to compete, professionally as well as commercially.

Ikhbariya, the company in the pipeline, is set to be run by a seven-member board with an executive bureau, three of them representing the Ministry of Culture and Information, two independent members representing the private sector, and two members each from the Radio and Television Corporation and the SPA.

The nascent company is expected to function shortly as soon as required administrative procedures are completed.