Sky on Sunday announced the end of its joint ownership of Sky News Arabia, transferring full strategic and operational control of the Abu Dhabi-based Arabic-language broadcaster to its UAE partner, International Media Investments (IMI). The British broadcaster will allow the channel to continue operating under the Sky brand through a multi-year licensing agreement. The announcement came amid sustained scrutiny over the channel’s coverage of Sudan’s civil war.
Under the new arrangement, IMI assumes complete ownership of the network’s operations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, according to Middle East Eye.
“The time is right for this change and we look forward to continuing our relationship in the next phase of Sky News Arabia,” David Rhodes, Executive Chairman of Sky News Group, said in a statement. Rhodes added that Sky was proud of what had been built through the partnership and described the restructuring as the next stage in the broadcaster’s development.
IMI said the agreement reflected the maturity of Sky News Arabia as a regional media organisation. The company said sole ownership would allow it to pursue further growth and innovation, Middle East Eye reported.
The exit ends a partnership that Sky and IMI launched in 2010. The channel began broadcasting in 2012 with the stated aim of competing with Doha-based Al Jazeera and Saudi-owned Al Arabiya for audiences across the Middle East and North Africa. IMI is an Abu Dhabi-based media investment company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Vice President and owner of Manchester City Football Club.
The restructuring follows months of criticism directed at Sky News Arabia’s coverage of Sudan’s ongoing civil war. Former Sky executives told The Telegraph in November 2025 that the channel had become a mouthpiece for the UAE’s rulers and had not accurately reported atrocities carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that international investigators have accused of targeting ethnic minority communities in Sudan.
The Guardian reported on May 31 that Sky executives had grown increasingly concerned about the channel’s editorial approach to the conflict. The newspaper also reported that Sky News Arabia had published reports questioning evidence cited by investigators and survivors of atrocities.
Sudan’s government banned Sky News Arabia from operating in the country in November 2025 after the channel aired a report from el-Fasher in North Darfur that described conditions in the city as stabilising. The report drew international condemnation from aid organisations and human rights groups who said it contradicted conditions on the ground.
The scrutiny intensified further after a United Nations-mandated fact-finding mission concluded in February 2026 that actions by the RSF and allied militias in parts of Sudan bore the “hallmarks of genocide.” Following that report, Sky News Arabia sent a correspondent to el-Fasher who, Middle East Eye reported, is married to a senior RSF official. The correspondent, Tsabih Mubarak Khatir, was filmed embracing a female RSF commander who had previously urged fighters to commit sexual violence against Darfuri women, and telling her “we are with you.”
In March 2026, a major report by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, conducted in partnership with NASA’s Harvest programme, found that the RSF had waged a deliberate starvation campaign against civilians in el-Fasher, razing dozens of farming villages and devastating crop production around the city.
The UAE has consistently denied allegations that it has provided support to the RSF. IMI previously stated that its discussions with Sky were commercial in nature and unrelated to editorial policy. A spokesperson for IMI declined additional comment beyond Sunday’s statement when contacted by Bloomberg News. Sky did not immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
Regional and Global Impact
The transfer of full ownership to IMI consolidates UAE state-linked influence over Sky News Arabia’s editorial direction at a moment when international scrutiny of the Sudan conflict is intensifying. The channel’s continued use of the Sky brand under license means it retains the reputational weight of the British broadcaster’s name in the Arab world, even as Sky holds no further ownership stake or operational control. The Guardian reported that Sky executives had found it increasingly difficult to reconcile the channel’s coverage with the broadcaster’s editorial standards, a tension the exit formally resolves on Sky’s side.
For Sudan, the ownership change does not directly affect the country’s existing ban on Sky News Arabia, which remains in force.
Background
Sky and IMI established their partnership in 2010, launching the channel two years later as an English-language branded Arabic news service targeting the MENA region. IMI is directly linked to the UAE’s ruling structure through its owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Sudan’s civil war broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, and has since displaced more than 11 million people, according to the United Nations. The conflict in el-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur not under RSF control, has drawn particular international attention due to reported mass atrocities against civilian populations.
What Happens Next
IMI will assume full operational and strategic control of Sky News Arabia under the terms announced on Sunday. The channel will continue broadcasting under the Sky News Arabia name through a multi-year licensing agreement with Sky. Sudan’s ban on the channel remains in place. The UN fact-finding mission’s genocide determination is expected to prompt further international discussions on accountability for RSF actions in Darfur, though no formal proceedings have been confirmed to date.
