MUMBAI: Television host, author and producer Sir David Frost is joining the Middle Eastern television company Al-Jazeera as a presenter for its forthcoming English-language news and current affairs channel - Al-Jazeera International.

Al Jazeera managing director Nigel Parsons says: “He’s a one-man international broadcasting phenomenon and our viewers can look forward to the substance and quality that have marked his distinguished career.”

Sir Frost says: “This is a great adventure – the first and perhaps the only brand-new international TV news network for the 21st Century. Most of the television I have done over the years has been aimed at British and American audiences. This time, while our target is still Britain and America, the excitement is that it is also the 6 billion other inhabitants of the globe. As someone said, a new show for a new channel for the new century.”

Sir Frost will also continue with his BBC work, the upcoming Frost Interview specials as well as Through the Keyhole.

Al Jazeera International, headquartered in Qatar, will launch in the Spring of 2006. With broadcasting centres strategically placed across the world in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London, and Washington D.C. and dozens of news bureaux worldwide, the channel will bring English speakers across the world a fresh perspective on world news and current affairs.

Sir Frost will broadcast from Al Jazeera International’s London broadcast centre. Details of his onscreen work with the channel will be revealed closer to launch, informs an official communiqué.