Viewers’ complaints behind shift of Hala Sarhan from Dream TV to Rotana

Published March 1st, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

President of the Arab satellite television channel Dream TV, Dr. Ahmad Bahgat, has revealed the real reasons behind the elimination of Egyptian television Dr. Hala Sarhan from Dream and her shift to the music satellite channel Rotana. Ahmad stressed that Hala was kindly asked to lessen her appearance, which was requested for by viewers, and the request of the company that is in charge of the advertisements on the channel.

It was stressed that despite Hala’s success in the channel, she basically presented all the shows on the channel and always managed to involve herself in everything that took place. Ahmad added that before Hala left he had been abroad and upon his return he was shocked to realize that the channel had received warnings from government officials due to the fact that Hala had attacked governmental policies on her shows. Ahmad stressed that despite the fact that the channel enjoys complete freedom of press, there are certain limits one should not go over, especially since Dream TV has proved successful because of the support of government officials reported the Qatar based daily, Al Raya.

Dr. Sarhan has returned to the small screen with two new shows "Jana Al Hawa" and "Hala Show" on the new music channel Rotana, which she now has an executive position at after leaving Dream.

Hala realized that Dream had cancelled her contract and so she decided to look into the number of offers she had previously received from a number of local and satellite TV channels in order to protect her reputation. Hala revealed that until this point she does not know why the channel had fired her for she could recall no reason behind such a decision.

Hala added that despite the cruelty in the way she was laid off, she will continue in her career path and has in fact signed a contract to with the Music Production Company Rotana to be the Egyptian Regional Manager. Hala signed an agreement with Saudi Prince Al Waleed Ibn Talal in Saudi Arabia, after negotiations that lasted for weeks.

Al Waleed had stressed that he chose Hala for the position due to the fact that she has proved to be a successful woman who always strives to improve and introduce new ideas. He added that Rotana will sure witness progress and more success with Hala on board.

On her part, Hala expressed her honor to be appointed to such a position and has promised to do all she can to bring more success to Rotana. Hala has become to be one of the Arab world's most famous television personalities through her daring ways and issues she insists on tackling regardless of consequences. –Albawaba.com