(This story was published in the February 2001 issue of Digital Studio magazine and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the editors. For background on Dubai Media City, please see "The Dubai Digital Broadcasting Miracle," by Abdallah Schleifer, in our last issue.) An evening dominated by a spectacular firework display marked …

Al-Jazeera, the all-news channel broadcast from Qatar, has been the hottest, most popular satellite channel in the region for the past two years. But it has its critics; even its Ramallah bureau from where it has provided some of the most dramatic coverage of Intifada Al Aqsa was shut down …

CAIRO March 22, 2001: Showtime, one of the Middle East's main contenders in pay television, announced today that it is adding eight new premium sports, news, entertainment, and documentary channels to its bouquet. The network is now the exclusive regional carrier of the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, which covers both …

CAIRO, EGYPT  With its March launch of the Al-Awael bouquet, ART (Arab Radio and Television), acting through its platform management company Arab Digital Distribution (ADD), has positioned itself as an across-the-board competitor, rather than Arabic-language niche player, in the Middle East's pay-TV arena. In the words of ADD Chairman Sheikh Saleh …

Al-Jazeera, the all-news channel broadcast from Qatar, has been the hottest, most popular satellite channel in the region for the past two years. But it has its critics; even its Ramallah bureau from where it has provided some of the most dramatic coverage of Intifada Al Aqsa was shut down …

In the Arab world, satellite use is growing rapidly after a slow start. Despite the fact that many of the Middle Eastern countries share a common language, culture, religion, and geography, there are many social differences and diverse political ideologies; however, today almost all Arab countries allow the public to access …

MUMBAI, INDIA:  The new book "Satellites over South Asia: Broadcasting Culture and the Public Interest" (Sage Publications, India), authored by David Page and William Crawley, was released in India in December 2000. It sparked an involved discussion at a Mumbai panel on the role of Indian broadcasting within the South …

This article is based on a presentation at the conference "The Ethics of Journalism: Comparison and Transformations in the Islamic-Western Context," under the auspices of German President Johannes Rau (Bellevue Palace, Berlin, 29-30 March 29-30, 2001), organized by the German Institute for Middle East Studies (Deutsches Orient-Institut), Hamburg, and the …

This article is based on a presentation at the conference "The Ethics of Journalism: Comparison and Transformations in the Islamic-Western Context," under the auspices of German President Johannes Rau (Bellevue Palace, Berlin, 29-30 March 29-30, 2001), organized by the German Institute for Middle East Studies (Deutsches Orient-Institut), Hamburg, and the …

The president of Syria dies. The phones start ringing at the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) headquarters in Geneva. TV producers from around the entire globe are calling to find out if EBU has a satellite transmission operation at the funeral. EBU does. According to EBU Producer Youssef el Alfy, on large …