News Corp. these days are humming a different note as it has decided an agreement to clutch upon a 9.1% stake in Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Rotana Media Group for $70 million, which marked its first major investment and beginning in the Middle East.

According to the Saudi-based entertainment firm, News Corp. has alternative either to raise their holding to 18.2% in the following 18 months with a completion of the current prospective deal.

As per earlier reports, Zawya Dow Jones in September was in talk with News Corp. and the Saudi prince to get a stake in Rotana Media.

In the current environment, News Corp. is searching out new markets as the advertising revenue in the U. S. and Europe are getting pressurized due to the economic crunch. However the stake in Rotana will help stretch arms to News Corp.'s with a population of more than 300 million people in the Arab world.

As per the Web site, the company has the Arab World's most popular artists on its books, including Egyptian pop star Amr Diab and Lebanese divas Elissa and Haifa Wehbe. Over the past 20 or more years, Prince Alwaleed, with his Riyadh-listed conglomerate Kingdom Holding Co., has targeted his investments on banks, hotels and media firms, building with a hefty stakes in many companies.