Al Jazeera buys Bosnia's TV station Studio 99

Qatar-based Al Jazeera network has bought Bosnian TV station, Studio 99, as reported by Bosnia's Rapid TV News, an online daily news service for the television industry.

According to the report, the deal is in line with Al Jazeera's intentions to establish a regional TV centre for the Balkans based in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The Qatar-based broadcaster is expected to pay a compensation for failed government investment pumped into Studio 99.

Al Jazeera will take over the radio and television channel from the Sarajevo city government, which acquired it several months ago under a plan to establish a public broadcaster for the city, and with the station facing closure because of financial problems.

Sarajevo's mayor Alija Behmen said Al Jazeera will establish a regional office in Sarajevo and will pay the city some €163,000 (Dh808,397) in compensation for the amount the local government had already invested in the failed broadcaster.

"Al Jazeera will establish a regional office in Sarajevo which is expected to lead to the creation of new jobs," said Sarajevo's Mayor Alija Behmen.

Studio 99 was established as a private radio station in 1992 and gained recognition for promoting the values of multi-ethnicity and multiculturalism during the country's war between 1992 and 1995. It started television broadcasting in 1994.

Over the years it has won support from many international organisations, but with international funding drying up in late 1990s the channel has faced continual financial pressures.

Talks are under way about the sale of the Sarajevo-based broadcaster to the Al-Jazeera satellite network. City officials involved in those talks say they expect a final agreement to be reached early this month reported Radio Free Europe's Balkan Service.

Fuad Husic, a Sarajevo city councillor, told RFE/RL that a preliminary agreement on the sale of Studio 99 has been signed with Al Jazeera, according to the report.

"I have seen the preliminary pact. It is in English and in Bosnian. Before the beginning of negotiations, I saw how serious Al Jazeera's intentions are to take over Studio 99," Husic said.

Al Jazeera which launched in Qatar as an Arabic news channel has expanded widely with the launch of Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Children Channel, etc.

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