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| Industry | Pay TV |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Defunct | May 2012 |
| Fate | Under administration |
| Headquarters | Sydney |
Area served | Australia and New Zealand |
UBI World TV was an Australian satellite based subscription television broadcasting service catering ethnic communities. The service offered language-based packages and a limited set of free-to-view channels to supplement the offer. The service was also operational in New Zealand. It closed in 2012, after going into administration.
The company emerged from the ashes of TARBS World TV, a similar television platform, which had fallen into administration in 2004. The new company was founded by Mike Boulos, founder of TARBS, alongside philantropist Gerry Lenfest, who was the key funder of the defunct Australis pay-TV company, which operated Galaxy. [1]
UBI World TV started operating in 2005. On 2 May, it started carrying a community television channel from Wollongong, available free-to-air to its subscribers. [2] Later that month, it started providing Televisa Networks' package of four channels, De Película, Galavisión Europa, Ritmoson Latino and TL Novelas. [3] By 2006, Arab content had the most representation on the platform, with 25 channels, one third of the total amount. Most of the channels were government-owned or light entertainment channels, ruling out 24/7 monitoring. When the Lebanese Al-Manar channel, backed by Hezbollah, was investigated by the authorities, it was removed. By then, it had 30,000 subscribers, roughly half of TARBS' 60,000. [1]
In a rare coup, UBI gained the rights to Al-Jazeera English at the time of launching. [4] In September 2007, Chilevisión signed a contract with the company to carry Chilevisión Internacional on its platform. [5] On 15 February 2008, it launched in New Zealand. [6]
In June 2012, UBI World TV ceased trading and shut down its website. All of its contents were replaced with a message concerning the sale of its assets, especially the provision of ethnic television channels, and thanking its subscribers. [7] Some of its channels, including the Macedonian language channels Best of Macedonia and K-15, were later given to TV Plus, a like-minded satellite television service. [8]
