Orbit has added a range of time-shifted channels that offer viewers the same programs, only a few hours later on a separate channel. America Plus +2, Super Comedy +2, Cinema City +1, and Al Musalsalat +4 are identical versions of their parent channels, with an adjusted schedule that airs the same run of programs up to four hours later. “The aim of this is to give the viewers a second chance to watch,” says Khulud Abu-Homos, Orbit’s Senior Vice President of Western Programming. “It is more viewing choice and convenience.” Time-shifting, also called multiplexing, is done to accommodate differences in time and prime viewing time across the region. Orbit schedules movie premieres on Thursday evenings – a weekend primetime in the Gulf. “But we understand that there is a difference in weekends across the region,” says Abu-Homos, “and we try in our scheduling strategies to offer quality programming throughout the weekend that caters to the various lifetimes trends.” Orbit has also added the Discovery group of channels, including Discovery, Discovery Science, Discovery Travel and Living. In addition, Orbit is set to introduce wide-screen on most of its movie channels, and will launch three high definition channels and its video on demand platform by the end of the year. The most original of these, says Abu-Homos, is Orbit’s new Western programming offer, set to provide major Hollywood blockbusters and entertainment series three years before any provider in the region. According to Orbit, these three-year exclusivity deals with Hollywood studios will ensure that only Orbit subscribers will be able to watch the newly-released American hits.