2007
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OTV for Lebanon
Lebanese opposition leader Michel Aoun, who heads up the Free Patriotic Movement party, has launched his own television channel called Orange TV, reported the AP news agency. Aoun leads the largest Christian bloc in Lebanon's parliament and he has established the channel to set 'new standards of objectivity'. OTV went on air late on Friday with a news bulletin, followed by an interview with Aoun himself.
SRMG chooses Booz
The Saudi Research and Marketing Group has appointed global consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton as the management consultant for the development of its growth strategies, reported Arab News citing an SRMG statement. BAH will initially make an extensive study on SRMG's short and medium term initiatives.
Digital threat to Mideast TV
A senior figure in the Middle East's media sector has admitted that new digital technology such as the Internet and mobile TV will impact on traditional television audience levels in the region, reported Gulf News. Mazen Hayek, Group Marketing Director at the MBC Group in Dubai, said the firm will launch new 'genre related' stations later this year, or early in 2008, to keep in tune with its viewers.
Dow Jones board endorses sale
The board of Dow Jones has endorsed a $5bn takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. The offer will now be evaluated by the controlling Bancroft family members, who control 64% of Dow Jones' voting shares, Reuters reports. The Bancrofts are expected to meet next week to consider the deal.
Dubai advert festival appointment
Steve Lane, currently sponsorship manager of the Cannes Lions, has been appointed festival director of the Dubai International Advertising Festival. The new three-day event will be co-managed and staged by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and Motivate Publishing. The Dubai Lynx Awards will round up the festival which is being staged in March 2008.
Dow considers $5bn News Corp bid
Dow Jones' board will consider a $5bn takeover offer by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Bancroft family - which controls voting rights to the firm - would need to back the deal. No other bidder has come forward to top the $60 a share offer by News Corp.
SRMG looks to grow
The Saudi Research and Marketing Group will invest the proceeds of an initial public offering by a subsidiary to strengthen its leading position in the local publishing industry, Arab News reported. Saudi Printing and Packaging Company raised $105.6m through the IPO. SRMG is the publisher of Arab News, Asharq Al Awsat, Al Eqtisadiah newspapers.
Spin doctor to visit Dubai
Alistair Campbell, a controversial former aide to ex-UK prime minister Tony Blair, will visit Dubai for the IIR Middle East PR Congress 2007. Campbell served as Blair's Director of Communications and Strategy from 1997 to 2003. He recently published his diaries from the Blair era.
Moore denies UAE film
Actor Roger Moore says he is not involved in The Sangraal film project due to be filmed in the UAE, Gulf News reports. Nickleson, the company behind The Sangraal, is also developing a film and media free zone in Ras Al Khaimah.
Amwal takes 25% of Right Angle
Saudi-based private equity firm Amwal AlKhaleej has bought 25% of Right Angle Media, a Dubai-based outdoor media firm. Right Angle recently won a contract from the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority to install over 1,000 air-conditioned bus shelters in Dubai with the rights to sell advertising on them for 10 years, Amwal said.
NYT reporter killed in Iraq
A New York Times reporter was shot and killed while driving to work on Friday in Baghdad, just 24 hours after two Reuters staff were killed in the city, the Guardian reported. Khalid Hassan, 23, was one of the longest-serving local journalists for the New York Times' Baghdad bureau. Iraq is the most dangerous place in the world for media workers.
Iran rejects paper's Bahrain claim
Iran has distanced itself from claims by a conservative Iranian newspaper that Bahrain was part of Iran and should be returned to the Islamic republic, according to Gulf News. The foreign ministers of each country met in Bahrain on Saturday to defuse a potentially damaging diplomatic row. The editor of Kayhan newspaper triggered protests in Bahrain after making the territorial claim about the kingdom.
Iraqi Reuters photographer killed
A Reuters photographer and his driver were killed in Baghdad on Thursday. The US military said 22-year-old Iraqi photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, died after a clash between its troops and insurgents. The incident was under investigation, it said. Six Reuters employees have been killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Europe online advertising boom
The value of online advertising in Europe will reach $22bn by 2012, more than double that of 2006, according to research firm Forrester, cited by the BBC. Forrester said online adverts would account for an 18% market share by then, up from 6% now. European internet users spend 14.3 hours a week online, compared with 11.3 hours watching TV, and 4.4 hours reading newspapers or magazines, Forrester said.
Media savage Iran land claim
Bahrain's press condemned claims by Iranian newspaper Kayhan that the country is an Iranian province and should be returned to the Islamic republic, according to AFP. Bahrain's Al Ayyam daily said the claims 'represent an outrageous interference in the affairs of and independent and sovereign state.' Kayhan also said that the three UAE islands Iran currently occupies also belong to Iran.
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