The Wall Street Journal reported today that Rupert Murdoch - the Australian media mogul (owner amongst other things of the Fox channels and a large number of US/UK and Australian tabloids) is negotiating with Walid Ben Talal to acquire 20% stake in Rotana Media Group (Rotana Channels + LBC Sat etc...)
Rotana is already the owner/manager of Fox Middle East (Fox Series and Fox Movies)
This come sin light of various rumors saying that Walid Ben Talal has lost a lot of money...and is in big need for fresh cash.
The interesting thing will be how Murdoch's entry into the Arab world will be perceived (his media were Georges Bush's best support...) expect some problems....
Showing posts with label LBC Sat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LBC Sat. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Something is changing in Saudi media
Saudi Minister of Information - Mr. Khoja - is starting to put his "reformist" touch to Saudi TV - and I am not talking about religious changes - but modernizing Saudi TV.
The first step was KSA 1's partnering with major media groups such as MBC.
The second step will be corporatizing Saudi TV: Instead of it being a department within the Ministry of Information, a company (fully Government owned) will be formed to run the Saudi channels.
This should bring about modernizing the processes, the organization and why not later on introducing advertisements...(to see)
This Government owned company, is exactly what Dubai and Abu Dhabi governments have successfully done:
- Dubai Media Inc
- Abu Dhabi Media Company
I'll be watching these changes and will keep you updated.
This modernization should also be read in light of the "crackdown" the Saudi Government has done on Saudi owned - but private - channels: such as the LBC Sat case (cf: my previous posts) Is Mr. Khoja playing a great equilibrium game? (give some there, to gain somewhere else???) Whatever the case, Mr. Khoja seems to be the right man for modernizing the Saudi TV!
The first step was KSA 1's partnering with major media groups such as MBC.
The second step will be corporatizing Saudi TV: Instead of it being a department within the Ministry of Information, a company (fully Government owned) will be formed to run the Saudi channels.
This should bring about modernizing the processes, the organization and why not later on introducing advertisements...(to see)
This Government owned company, is exactly what Dubai and Abu Dhabi governments have successfully done:
- Dubai Media Inc
- Abu Dhabi Media Company
I'll be watching these changes and will keep you updated.
This modernization should also be read in light of the "crackdown" the Saudi Government has done on Saudi owned - but private - channels: such as the LBC Sat case (cf: my previous posts) Is Mr. Khoja playing a great equilibrium game? (give some there, to gain somewhere else???) Whatever the case, Mr. Khoja seems to be the right man for modernizing the Saudi TV!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
LBC Sat and Saudi Arabia: the sex scandal
As most of the readers of this blog know by now, LBC Sat's office in Jeddah has been closed by the Saudi Ministry of Information and Culture. This happened after LBC's "Ahmar Bil Khat Al Arid" showed the "confession" of a Saudi man, recalling how he had numerous sexual encounters with many Saudi women. The witness, explained how to pick up Saudi women using Bluetooth etc...
The interesting thing is LBC Sat's reaction. Silence (what can they say, they rely on Saudi ad money and LBC Sat is partly owned by Saudi prince Walid Bin Talal),and most unexpectedly... reruns!
Indeed, LBC Sat has been rerunning a 3-4 month old interview with Saudi Minister of Information and Culture, Abdel Aziz Khoja, where he proclaims how he wants to work with private owned Satellite channels (such as LBC Sat) and how the freedom of these channels is good for Saudi Arabia.
That said, the interview itself is quite interesting. Mr. Khoja is very candid and talks openly about the media, internet, freedom, Saudi problems etc...
The interesting thing is LBC Sat's reaction. Silence (what can they say, they rely on Saudi ad money and LBC Sat is partly owned by Saudi prince Walid Bin Talal),and most unexpectedly... reruns!
Indeed, LBC Sat has been rerunning a 3-4 month old interview with Saudi Minister of Information and Culture, Abdel Aziz Khoja, where he proclaims how he wants to work with private owned Satellite channels (such as LBC Sat) and how the freedom of these channels is good for Saudi Arabia.
That said, the interview itself is quite interesting. Mr. Khoja is very candid and talks openly about the media, internet, freedom, Saudi problems etc...
Monday, June 15, 2009
Various Arab media news
Dear Blog followers,
Sorry for not updating the blog, but we have been busy preparing reports and studies on the Lebanese elections, Obama's visit and Ahmadinejad's relection.
Here is some of the "best" you missed this last period:
1) Rotana Music finally moved out of Beirut, destination...Egypt (we had announced Amman); it turns out Jordan was indeed in the short list, but Egypt was finally selected as Rotana already broadcasts some programs from there.
2) Lebanon's Al Akhbar announced that LBC's Pierre EL Daher and Walid Ben Talal had a fallout(to be followed)
3) CNN was voted the "favorite news channel" by a panel of Arab voters (from the top earners) followed by BBC, Jazeera, CNBC and then Euronews (Study by Sinofit)
4 ) The Arab Media Forum was held this year. We attended the debates in Dubai. I have to say it was quite interesting. Especially when Arabiya's Nabil El Khatib faced Jazeera's Ahmed El Sheikh and BBC Arabic team; to discus the Gaza war coverage. Debates were heated as to the content of the coverage. Unfortunately, the content experts that Comtrax Solutions is, we did not have time to provide the necessary data to show scientifically how the coverage was.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Rotana leaving Beirut
Rotana Music decided to leave its production facilities in Beirut-Lebanon and move to Amman-Jordan.
This big event (Beirut has been the historic base of Rotana) happens after important changes in Rotana, following the grouping of LBC Sat and Rotana's selling capacities (well actually a semi-merger, view my other posts on Rotana) Many of Rotana's most successful programs will actually be broadcasted on LBC (and probably produced in LBC's production facility in Adma-Lebanon) The rest (production wise) will move to Jordan.
The other reason is that Rotana's programs used to be produced at StudioVision's facilities. StudioVision's owners (Murr family) are reopening their own TV channel (MTV) and will also probably need a large part of the facilities.
To add spice to the issue, MTV is reportedly backed by Antoine Choueiri; Choueiri who lost the LBC media representation contract to...Rotana's RMS (Rotana Media Services) => Rotana had to leave StudioVision (MTV)'s facilities.
This big event (Beirut has been the historic base of Rotana) happens after important changes in Rotana, following the grouping of LBC Sat and Rotana's selling capacities (well actually a semi-merger, view my other posts on Rotana) Many of Rotana's most successful programs will actually be broadcasted on LBC (and probably produced in LBC's production facility in Adma-Lebanon) The rest (production wise) will move to Jordan.
The other reason is that Rotana's programs used to be produced at StudioVision's facilities. StudioVision's owners (Murr family) are reopening their own TV channel (MTV) and will also probably need a large part of the facilities.
To add spice to the issue, MTV is reportedly backed by Antoine Choueiri; Choueiri who lost the LBC media representation contract to...Rotana's RMS (Rotana Media Services) => Rotana had to leave StudioVision (MTV)'s facilities.
Monday, February 23, 2009
SMS messaging on TV
Last week Egypt based Melody Hits decided to stop broadcasting the sms (text) messages sent by its viewers (on the bottom of the screen)
The channel announced that it was responding to demands by viewers. Interestingly, Melody relies (besides the cash creator music management business) on advertising revenues. The channel probably decided that sms revenues were too low; by scraping them out, it can now sell this "clean screen" to advertisers. Rotana (its main competitor) gained LBC Sat in its advertising portfolio, Melody (whose advertising is managed by Antoine Choueiri, who also used to represent LBC) needs to respond to its competitor's improved sale capacity. If competing with Rotana, means stopping on-screen sms, then be it!
The channel announced that it was responding to demands by viewers. Interestingly, Melody relies (besides the cash creator music management business) on advertising revenues. The channel probably decided that sms revenues were too low; by scraping them out, it can now sell this "clean screen" to advertisers. Rotana (its main competitor) gained LBC Sat in its advertising portfolio, Melody (whose advertising is managed by Antoine Choueiri, who also used to represent LBC) needs to respond to its competitor's improved sale capacity. If competing with Rotana, means stopping on-screen sms, then be it!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Algerian Star Academy
Algerian TV (Canal Algerie) will broadcast this Ramadan a religious version of Pan-Arab hit TV show Star Academy (broadcasted by LBC)
The reality TV show entitled "The Knights of the Quran" will feature 16 candidates that will compete for their knowledge and capacity to "tell" the Quran, while living together.
People will vote for their favorite candidates, until the last "prime" where one "Quran Knight" will be selected.
It is interesting to note that Canal Algerie used to broadcast the Lebanese Star Academy (which features Arabic and western dancing as well as sexy girls) but stopped airing the program because it contained "scenes that are against the culture of Islam"
Canal Algerie is owned by the Algerian government. Prime Minister (now resigned) Abed Al Aziz Belkhadem had announced in June that the government would soon launch an Islamic religious channel.
The reality TV show entitled "The Knights of the Quran" will feature 16 candidates that will compete for their knowledge and capacity to "tell" the Quran, while living together.
People will vote for their favorite candidates, until the last "prime" where one "Quran Knight" will be selected.
It is interesting to note that Canal Algerie used to broadcast the Lebanese Star Academy (which features Arabic and western dancing as well as sexy girls) but stopped airing the program because it contained "scenes that are against the culture of Islam"
Canal Algerie is owned by the Algerian government. Prime Minister (now resigned) Abed Al Aziz Belkhadem had announced in June that the government would soon launch an Islamic religious channel.
Friday, July 11, 2008
5-11th July in the Press
- Wissam Hanna joined Future TV in Alam Al Sabah program (Hayat, 5th July 2008)
- Nadine Malah joined Rotana to present Sayidati program (Al Seyassa, 8th July 2008)
- KSA 1 announced its Ramadan 2008 Tv programs (Okaz, 9th July 2008):
- Nadine Malah joined Rotana to present Sayidati program (Al Seyassa, 8th July 2008)
- KSA 1 announced its Ramadan 2008 Tv programs (Okaz, 9th July 2008):
SERIES: Aasa Ma Char, Ya Nas Ya howa, Said oua Saida, Ghaltat Nawf, Ibn Kazman
GAMES: a new game presented by Rachad Fkaiha
COOKING: cooking program presented by Dana Nassif and Dana Hamdan
GAMES: a new game presented by Rachad Fkaiha
COOKING: cooking program presented by Dana Nassif and Dana Hamdan
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