Sky News Arabia today said that it is on track for launch in Spring next year, having recruited 70 of the 370 staff it requires to run the 24-hour station.
The Abu Dhabi-based news operation, a joint-venture between BSkyB and the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (Admic), says an additional 100 staff are ready to join, with the remaining 200 to be recruited by the end of 2011.
The National asked Nart Bouran, the station's director of news, about the launch.
Q. What is the progress on establishing Sky News Arabia, and do you have an exact launch date yet?
Technical, IT and broadcast infrastructure is now being deployed at the Sky News Arabia's main studio, which was handed over in June 2011. The channel's network of international bureaus will come on-stream by the end of the year, in readiness for the channel's launch.
Q. How many staff have been recruited and what is the total number of people that Sky News Arabia will employ?
Seventy full time staff have been recruited in the in the past six months alone. A further 100 are under mobilization joining shortly. We are planning for another 200 people to be recruited by the end of 2011. As of today Sky News Arabia has received over 12,000 applications for 370 advertised vacancies.
Q. How does Sky News Arabia plan to compete with Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, as well as Alarab, another news station set for launch next year?
We believe that consumer media consumption is becoming more sophisticated in the Mena region, and consequently there is an increased requirement for truly independent, multi-platform news brands to deliver accurate, unbiased and fast coverage of regional and international news events.
Q. Has the confirmation that Alarab is definitely launching next year changed any of Sky News Arabia's plans?
Sky News Arabia and its parent companies, BSkyB and Admic, remain committed to the channel's launch in 2012.
Q. Do you see the launch of two pan-Arab TV-news stations prompting an increase in total advertising spending on Arab news stations? Or will it be a case of 'survival of the fittest'?
A more important question in our view relates to the commercial size of the advertising industry in the region rather than the number of media outlets. If the Arab news industry is worried about the further reduction of the commercial pie by further slicing, then our challenge will be how to expand the size of the pie instead of thinking of the size of each slice.
The TV advertising market in the whole Arab region is on par with a single country like Turkey with a population of 70 million. The Arab world has a population of 350 million from Mauritania to Bahrain, we should not feel we have to work according to an allowed quota of news channels
We believe competition is good and healthy. It ensures the best will survive. It also ensures that the winner ultimately is the audience.
Q. Alarab's Jamal Khashoggi tweeted that Alarab is going to be "to the left of Al-Arabiya and to the right of Al-Jazeera." Where will Sky News Arabia figure on this political spectrum?
Sky News Arabia aims to bring a truly independent approach to broadcasting the news which will culminate in an Arabic news channel that stands apart from its peers or political affiliations.
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Disposing of non-recycleable masks
Use your ‘black bag’ bin at home
Do not put them in a recycling bin
Take them home with you if there is no litter bin
- No need to bag the mask
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded