JEDDAH, 10 October 2006 — A New York-based television channel called Bridges TV, which started out as a pay channel around two years ago, is looking to attract $5 million worth of investment by offering a million shares costing $5 each. “It is like a private placement, but after two to three years we will get it listed as a publicly traded stock on the stock exchange,” said President of Bridges TV Muzzammil S. Hassan speaking to Arab News in an interview here this week.
“We are also open to a corporate or individual partnership, or a big amount investor from anywhere in the world. We are open to all sorts of possibilities,” Hassan said, adding that he was hopeful of raising all the $5 million from Saudi Arabia. He explained that the investment was necessitated because of the plan of moving Bridges, the American Muslim network, to a basic mainstream American TV network so that an average American home, ordering basic cable that gives about 200 channels, could get Bridges as well.
“The investment is sought in order to fund that growth or that migration from a pay channel to becoming a basic channel,” he said, adding that he expected to raise the $5 million in the next three to four months.
Asked whether being a Muslim channel would restrict the scope of people — in terms of region and religion - investing in the company, Hassan said people from outside Saudi Arabia, outside the Middle East, and in Asia had shown interest in the project.
“Yes, we are the only television network in America that is giving Muslims a voice on mainstream media. We started in 2006 with less than 10,000 homes and we ended the month of September with Bridges TV already being available in 1.1 million homes, of which 90 percent are non-Muslim homes. Our target is to each two million homes by the end of next year,” he said.
