Orbit Communications Company

Orbit Communications Company was a privately owned pay television network headquartered in Bahrain and owned by Saudi Arabia–based Mawarid Holding through Digital Media Systems. Launched in 1994, it was the first fully digital, multi-channel, multilingual pay television service in the Middle East and North Africa, and it was also the world's first fully end-to-end digital TV network. The company originally operated from Tor Sapienza, Rome, Italy, a location chosen for its suitability for building a satellite farm. Orbit employed around 600 employees, largely a combination of British and Italian staff, with several Arabic-speaking nations also represented. It broadcast in several languages around the world, including English, Arabic, French, and Filipino. Orbit offered a broad multi-channel lineup that included movies, sports, kids and documentary programming, news, music, series and lifestyle channels, pay-per-view services, and radio. Its Arabic channels—including Bahrain TV, Al Safwa, Fann, Al Yawm, Cinema 1, Cinema 2, Mousalsalat, and Mousalsalat +2—were available throughout North and South America through myTV. The network carried major international brands such as Disney, Nickelodeon, CNN, BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, and beIN Sports, alongside regional broadcasters. In 2009, to better compete with the growing popularity of free-to-air channels and online videos, Orbit merged with Showtime Arabia to form OSN (Orbit Showtime Network). The merger marked the end of Orbit as a standalone brand. Prior to the merger, the company faced financial difficulties, including a major delay in paying salaries for Orbit employees in Egypt, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia for more than four months in 2009. Orbit also made headlines in 1996 when it took BBC Arabic Television off air after the channel broadcast an episode of the BBC Panorama program critical of Saudi Arabia.

Orbit Communications Company launched in 1994 as a privately owned pay television network headquartered in Bahrain. It was owned by Saudi Arabia–based Mawarid Holding (via Digital Media Systems). At launch, it was the first fully digital, multi-channel, multilingual pay television service in the Middle East and North Africa and the world's first fully end-to-end digital TV network. The company was originally situated in Tor Sapienza, Rome, Italy, a location considered entirely suitable to build a satellite farm. Orbit employed around 600 employees, largely a combination of British and Italian staff with several Arabic-speaking nations also represented. It broadcast in several languages around the world including English, Arabic, French, and Filipino. In 1996, Orbit took BBC Arabic Television off air after the channel broadcast an episode of the BBC Panorama program critical of Saudi Arabia. The channel had been transmitted via Orbit from 1994 until 21 April 1996. Over the years, Orbit built a broad channel lineup spanning movies, sports, kids, documentaries, news, music, series, lifestyle, pay-per-view, and radio. It carried major international brands such as Disney, Nickelodeon, CNN, BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, and beIN Sports, alongside regional broadcasters. Some of Orbit's Arabic channels—including Bahrain TV, Al Safwa, Fann, Al Yawm, Cinema 1, Cinema 2, Mousalsalat, and Mousalsalat +2—were available throughout North and South America through myTV. On 1 April 2008, after being on the air since 1994, Orbit ESPN was dropped from the Orbit lineup. This left Orbit without coverage of the NCAA, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the National Football League, NASCAR, IndyCar Series, major golf and tennis tournaments, or ESPN's action sports franchise, X Games. Fox Sports replaced Orbit ESPN on 13 January 2009. One of the reasons for breaking the contract with ESPN was the severe financial problems at the time; since 1999–2000 the production graph line had moved down. In 2009, there was a major delay in paying salaries for Orbit employees in Egypt, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia for more than four months. In 2009, to better compete with the growing popularity of free-to-air channels and online videos, the company merged with Showtime Arabia to form OSN (Orbit Showtime Network). The merger marked the end of Orbit as a standalone brand.

• 2009

  Fox Sports replaced Orbit ESPN on 13 January 2009.

• 2009

  Orbit merged with Showtime Arabia to form OSN (Orbit Showtime Network).

• 2008

  Orbit ESPN was dropped from the lineup on 1 April 2008.

• 1996

  Orbit took BBC Arabic Television off air after it broadcast a BBC Panorama episode critical of Saudi Arabia.

• 1994

  Orbit Communications Company launched as the first fully digital, multi-channel, multilingual pay-TV service in MENA and the world's first end-to-end digital TV network.

First fully digital, multi-channel, multilingual pay-TV service in MENA and the world's first end-to-end digital TV network.

• Orbit pay-TV subscription packages

• Arabic channel bouquet (Al Safwa, Fann, Al Yawm, Cinema 1/2, Mousalsalat)

• TVMAX pay-per-view

• Orbit ESPN (until 2008)

• Radio channels

• 2026.10.13

  Reported2026.10.13

  Orbius unveils StarEDGE edge cloud solution integrated with Armada edge computing[2]Orbius发布集成Armada边缘计算的StarEDGE边缘云解决方案prnewswire.com

  Orbius Communications announced on October 13, 2026 a new edge cloud solution that integrates its StarEDGE Multi-LEO satellite platform with Armada's edge computing infrastructure, offering a unified connectivity-and-compute stack. The solution is available now to customers across maritime, energy, government, telecommunications and enterprise markets, with Orbius positioned as an official partner in Armada's ecosystem.

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1. 1Orbit Communications Companyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Orbius发布集成Armada边缘计算的StarEDGE边缘云解决方案prnewswire.com