On May 26,2004, Viacom's Sumner Redstone and Faisal al-Ayyar of Kipco (Kuwait Investment Projects Co) will perform a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Showtime's brand-new broadcasting centre at Dubai Media City. The two major shareholders in Showtime have much to celebrate. Showtime is, without doubt, the Middle East's most successful Pay-TV platform. …

A professor at Mohamed V University in Rabat (Morocco), Fatema Mernissi is currently a full-time researcher at the IURS (Institut Universitaire de Recherche Scientifique) where she splits her time between animating writing workshops for civic actors seeking to influence public opinion through publications and conducting her own field-work based analysis …

"The Far Side of the Satellite" is an occasional series of articles challenging the conventional wisdom regarding contemporary mass media. In this essay, delivered at IKIM (Institute for Islamic Understanding, Malaysia) conference on "The Impact of Globalization on Social and Cultural Life: an Islamic Response" held in Kuala Lumpur in …

Two hundred participants gathered at the Meridian, Amman, to discuss different developments and impacts of satellite broadcasting on the Arab Society. The conference was sponsored by the Center for the Defense of the Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ), the Jordanian Ministry of Planning, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and Jordan Television. The …

Discovery's has plans for a global high-definition TV channel. But there's much more to this multi-tiered company. Chris Forrester takes a detailed look at Discovery Communications. Discovery revenues 1997 $860m 1998 n/a 1999 $1.1bn 2000 $1.4bn 2001 $1.5bn 2002 $1.7bn 2003 $2.0bn Est Data: Discovery Communications Discovery's international distribution Discovery …

In a report submitted to the prime minister on 29 September, French deputy Bernard Brochand recommended that France's planned international news channel take the form of a joint venture between the private broadcasting group TF1 and the public television group France Televisions. According to the report, whose recommendations have been …

The Mipcom Market in Cannes (October 8-18, 2003) provides one of the best opportunities among the international TV markets to sell and buy television programming, according to most professionals in the television industry. Egypt TV has been attending for more than 20 years, but almost failed to take the Riviera …

One of the most prominent features of Arab satellite broadcasting lately, especially in news programming, is that channels are competing with each other to bring guests on the air. Hence, prominent "satellite faces" move from one channel to the other depending upon their specialisations. What is more, while the guest …

The latest Nilesat viewership research conducted in June 2003 in five countries, coupled with estimates based on 2002 statistics for a further four, indicate that the Egyptian satellite's transmissions now reach almost 7.1 million households in the Middle East, nearly double the number for 2002. According to Nilesat figures, in …

British coverage of the Iraqi conflict since the formal conclusion of hostilities in May has been dominated by three stories: the day-by-day progress (or lack thereof) of events on the ground in Iraq itself, and the role of the UK government in exaggerating or even distorting the case for war. …