A Conversation with Michael Hudson and Jon Anderson,  Co-Directors of the Arab Information Project, The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University "Access to new information resources is shaping up as a major issue across the Arab Middle East," says Dr. Michael Hudson, Seif Ghobash Professor of Arab Studies and Professor of International …

With the enormous and ever-increasing number of TV programs being offered nowadays—it could soon reach 500 digital channels worldwide—viewers are in need of help in navigating this myriad of options, a solution that will provide them with more information on the programs and give them a simple, easy-to-follow guide. Perhaps nowhere …

This article first appeared in the May 2000 bulletin of the Society Suisse Moyen Orient et Civilisation Islamique and is republished with the Society's kind permission.  Dr. Naomi Sakr is a Research Associate of the University of Westminster in the UK. She specializes in aspects of media development in the …

CAIRO: When some of Al-Jazeera's commentators and talk show guests from Islamist and other Arab radical ranks criticized the Sharm al-Sheikh summit hosted by Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak as a failure, or worse, as "a shameful betrayal of the Palestinians" and their Intifada al-Aqsa, the honeymoon that had begun last …

TBS Senior Editor S. Abdallah Schleifer initially spoke with Al-Ali in Cairo about the development, philosophy, and new plans of the region's hottest, most controversial channel. With recent developments that have clouded relations between Al-Jazeera and Egypt, Schleifer and Al-Ali renewed the dialogue   S. Abdallah Schleifer: Al-Jazeera has an approach …

The second half of the 1990s saw advertisers queuing up to buy tickets to watch the pan-Arab satellite channels sprinting towards mass audiences across the GCC markets. The Arab general public responded in kind, especially in the more affluent states, where satellite dishes are found in every fourth home. The satellite …

In spite of its small size, Lebanon is a major player in transnational satellite television in the Arab world, so broadcasters and researchers alike are wondering about the implications of the return of Rafik al-Hariri to power. Hariri, appointed prime minister shortly before the publication of this issue of TBS, …

Sarah Sullivan: How is the relationship of MultiChoice Egypt to CNE, and to ART and Showtime, structured? Khalid Abu Nuwar: We specialize in different areas of the business. There's ART and Showtime as bouquet providers, CNE and NCN as pay-TV license holders for distribution in Egypt, and we work under their auspices …

S. Abdallah Schleifer: Is CNE seriously considering a move from the VHF analog retransmission that's now offered to CNE terrestrial customers to digital terrestrial? Abdel Rahman Hafez: Up to now we have not committed because of the expenses, and above all because of the price of the digital receiver, the decoders that …

CNE (Cable Network Egypt), after a long and troubling trip through the startup tunnel, has now emerged into the proverbial light that beckons those still stuck in there. To fill in that success story and find out where CNE is going now that it is in the financial clear, Senior …