MENA Ad Industry At A Crossroads

It’s about time we all grew up, writes Reda Raad, COO, TBWA\RAAD.

Sky News Arabia Has Lost Contact With Crew In Syria

At least 39 journalists were killed and 21 kidnapped in Syria last year by both rebels and government forces.

New MBC Bollywood Channel To Launch In October

The channel will feature series and movies from India’s movie hub.

Sheikh Mohammed’s New Book Highlights Leadership Strategies

Sheikh Mohammed’s latest book, Flashes of Thought, talks about time management, positive thinking and creativity.

Saudi Sees Strong Growth In Digital Arabic Content

The Kingdom accounts for more than half of the region’s active users on Twitter with 90 per cent preferring to tweet in Arabic.

Dubai Eye Unveils New Business Breakfast Presenter

Sarah Cocker will join Malcolm Taylor in hosting the award-winning breakfast show.

Web-Based Apps Pose Tricky Problem For Saudi Monitors

The number of Twitter users in Saudi Arabia nearly doubled in six months to 2.9 million in July 2012, amounting to a little over 10 per cent of the population

Dubai Eye To Broadcast Live Premier League Matches

Arabian Radio Network has secured the rights to transmit live online and radio coverage of all matches from the top English league.

New York Times, Twitter Hacked By Syrian Group

The Syrian Electronic Army, a hacker group supporting the Syrian government, claimed credit for the attacks.

OSN Acquires Pehla, Taps Into South Asian TV Content

OSN has announced full ownership of Pehla for an undisclosed amount while it awaits update on an IPO.

Saudi’s Prince Alwaleed Fires Celebrity TV Preacher For Brotherhood Links

The prince said Tareq al-Suwaidan, who has more than 1.9 million Twitter followers, had identified himself as “one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood”.

Two Journalists, Including One From Dubai, Killed In Cairo Violence

Habiba Ahmed Abd Elaziz, who worked with Xpress,had been on leave when she was shot dead.

Du’s Near Miss Twitter Moment

The benefits and dangers of social media are a package deal as companies continue to embrace social media as a tool for customer communication.

Bahrain Deports US Teacher For Writing Articles On Radical Websites

The woman was accused of violating the terms of her work permit and using Twitter to spread misinformation.

Saudi Activist Freed After Two Years In Detention

Mohammed al-Bajadi, a founding member of the banned Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, was sentenced to four years in prison last year.

Rights Group Condemns Lashing, Jailing Of Saudi Blogger

Raif Badawi, who started the ‘Free Social Liberals’ website to discuss the role of religion in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced on Tuesday.

Saudi Website Editor Sentenced To Seven Years In Prison, Lashes

Raif Badawi started the “Free Saudi Liberals” website to discuss the role of religion in Saudi Arabia.

Omnicom-Publicis Groupe Merge To Be Biggest Ad Firm

The merger of France’s Publicis and US-based Omnicom is expected to create a saving of $500 million.

Al Jazeera America Appoints ABC News’ Kate O’Brian As President

The network is due to launch on August 20.

Middle East Internet Users Addicted To Social Media

A majority of the internet users polled said they preferred virtual communication over face-to-face or telephone conversations.

Palestinian To Launch $10m Arabic Online Encyclopedia

Talal Abu Ghazaleh hopes to launch of Tagipedia, a free online Arabic encyclopedia with one million entries by the end of the year.

Five Marketing Tips For Brands During Ramadan

Marketers should focus on social media campaigns as residents spend more time on social networking platforms during the holy month.

New Arabic TV Series Hub Launches On YouTube

The new hub will feature over 500 shows and 25,000 episodes of popular Arabic content.

Al Jazeera Hires Hundreds As It Prepares To Debut In America

Al Jazeera America, with headquarters in New York, plans to launch in late-August this year.

Al Jazeera Director-General Resigns To Take Up Government Post

Ahmed bin Jassim al-Thani said he was leaving the network “to serve his country”, without indicating which government post he was taking.

Kuwait’s KIPCO Hires Rothschild To Advise TV Arm IPO

KIPCO owns 60.5 per cent of OSN and its Saudi-based partner Mawarid Group has 39.5 per cent.

Saudi Arabia To Block WhatsApp Within Weeks

Saudi’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) banned Viber this month with Skype also on its non-compliant list.

AMEinfo Website Acquired By Mediaquest Group

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

ME Digital Ad Spend Could Hit $1bn In 5 Years – Expert

Regional online advertising spend is growing at a rate of around 25-30 per cent every year.

Cohn & Wolfe Takes Minority Share In WPP Sibling BPG

The new agency, to be called BPG Cohn & Wolfe, is the latest move in the international company’s expansion plans to grow across the region, India and Southeast Asia.