2006
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Al Jaz signs Sky News producer
Former Sky News executive Tim Cunningham has joined Al Jazeera International as one of its three UK-based programme editors, according to the Guardian. The launch of the Doha-based English language channel has been put back a few times because of construction and technical difficulties, with November 2006 now a possible start date.
Camilla Al Fayed TV role
Camilla Al Fayed, daughter of UAE citizen Mohammed Al Fayed, will present a new fashion slot on the UK TV programme GMTV, RTE has reported. The 21-year-old will report from New York and Paris fashion shows. Al Fayed, who previously was interned at New York Vogue, will donate her television appearance fee to The Evelina Children's Hospital in London.
Media Gateway, Orbit deal
Media Gateway has signed an agreement with the Orbit Network's specialised content company, MediaGates, to distribute the network's channels and multimedia content on a worldwide basis outside of the Middle East. The deal will enable Media Gateway to provide the Arabic-language channels of Al Safwa, Al Youm and Fann as well as on-demand TV content services such as videos and news clips to telecommunications operators and ISPs throughout non-Mena territories.
Ryder Cup on Showtime Arabia
Showtime Arabia's Sportsnet World is to broadcast live coverage of golf's Ryder Cup which takes place at the K Club in Kildare, Ireland, from September 22-24, featuring the likes of Tiger Woods, Colin Montgomerie and Phil Mickelson. Two hours of highlights from the previous day's play will be shown the following morning.
KHC to buy into MMG
The Kingdom Holding Company, the Saudi Arabian investment group, is to purchase a stake in the Dubai based Millennium Millionaire Group, reported Gulf News. KHC is looking to buy up to 40% of the firm which publishes the quarterly magazine, Millennium Millionaire, which focuses on luxury lifestyles. MMG's President Mohammed Al Jaber agreed to the sale at a recent meeting in Riyadh.
Zee TV, Mideast quiz
Hundreds of schools from across the region including 700 from UAE, 75 from Bahrain, 50 from Qatar, 50 from Oman and another 50 from Kuwait have so far enlisted for Zee TV's Middle East School Quiz. The 13 episode quiz show will commence broadcasting on September 30. The quiz offers a range of prizes for both winners and also runners-up.
Siemens, Eutelsat BBC deal
Siemens Business Services has signed a three year contract with Eutelsat for satellite capacity over the UK, continental Europe and the Middle East on behalf of the BBC. The contract which extends an existing 12 month deal, guarantees Siemens a long term lease of 72MHz on Eutelsat's Atlantic Bird 1 satellite. The BBC will be able to gain up to 105,000 channel hours per year.
Dubai Property, 10,000 sign up
The number of subscribers to the AME Info Weekly Dubai Property Newsletter has passsed the 10,000 mark. This free newsletter contains the news of the previous week from the Middle East's best-read business website, as well as its main feature items such as the Dubai Property column and video coverage.
Al Arabiya, Iraq shutdown
The Al Arabiya news channel has been ordered to stop broadcasting for a month by the Iraqi government according to local state television reports cited by the AP. Jawad Hatab, the station's bureau chief in Baghdad, said that the reasons for the closure had not been given. In July, Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki warned stations about showing footage, mostly of terrorist attacks, that could undermine the country's stability.
Al Arabiya ups media training
Al Arabiya is running a two-week training course for its correspondents in a drive to raise the standards of media professionalism in the region. Local Al Arabiya correspondents, as well as redional staff from Morocco, Sudan and Iraq will be taken through training sessions on subjects such as Arabic language and chief editing.
Street Smarts 2 gets airing
Dubai-based Infinity TV will run a second season of its Middle East reality TV show Street Smarts. Contestants are placed in teams and judged on handling 15 assignments in business, entertainment and creativity. The winner gets $100,000 in prize money.
7Days gets Sevens rugby
Gulf News has lost out to 7Days as the newspaper sponsor of the Dubai Rugby Sevens tournament, according to Campaign Middle East. 7Days won the bid in a competitive pitch involving one other English daily, the report said. Gulf News had been associated with the annual international sporting event for more than seven years.
Orbit gets NFL rights
Orbit Communications Company has acquired the rights to show live American football from the NFL for the next four seasons, under a sports programming agreement with ESPN International. Orbit will show a minimum of four live weekly games; three on Sundays plus the popular Monday Night Football match.
DSG workshops for media heads
Dubai School of Government is running a series of workshops for media heads aimed at bringing about more efficiency and productivity in their organisations. The first of six workshops was held in Dubai Monday. It highlighted case studies of Dubai Holding, Dubai Police and Nissan. They are part of a one-year programme.
Al Aan TV launched
Al Aan TV, a 24 hour channel targeting the Arab market, was launched early last month from Dubai Media City. The channel's aim is to focus its programming on information, entertainment and style. Key markets for Al Aan include the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon; the channel is available on Nilesat and Arabsat.
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