mediaME reports that it’s already a good summer for MBC Group which dominated the competition at the Promax/BDA World 2007 Awards held in New York last week. MBC achieved a total of 27 awards and, by doing so, being the most awarded participant, winning even more than ABC, BBC, Fox and others.
The newly launched English news station, Al Jazeera English was awarded three bronze awards at the event. Also among the winners were Al Jazeera Sport, Dubai One and Dubai Sport. The Arab Radio and Television (ART) was absent of this occasion.
Promax/BDA is an international association for entertainment and promotion professionals, those marketers and designers specializes in promoting TV shows, networks, DVDs and other forms of television content.
Being part of this rewarding event is good for broadcasters in the Middle East. MBC which has been in the field for more than 15 years and has managed to grow into a group of channels that delivers the highest reach among households in the region.
Dubai Media City (DMC) has announced a 10 per cent increase in the number of new companies setting up their headquarters in the media cluster. During 2006, an additional 121 companies were established in DMC, bringing the total number of companies based there to 1,213, compared to 1,092 in 2005.
Also, Dubai Media City announced the launch of the third phase of the Media Business Centre, its flagship facility for independent media professionals. Over 366 media professionals, including small companies and freelancers, are currently based at the Media Business Centre.
DMC’s broadcasting community has achieved remarkable growth during the last two years. The number of DMC based broadcasters has mounted to 60 companies operating up to 150 TV channels. The free zone’s publishing segment includes more than 120 publishing houses issuing around 400 titles; most of which are exported to various markets in the region and beyond.
This is a call which must be heard. Why don’t more advertising agencies from the region participate in the Cannes Advertising Lions 2007 advertising awards?
Some agencies from Dubai and Lebanon have won awards in the past, and several pieces of work seen last year in various media are worth entering. So, why not more?
This impressive advertisement, by John Mani of The Classic Partnership in Dubai, was published in Campaign Middle East to promote the festival.
So, here’s a call from us at mediaME to all advertising agencies: “Save the Lions from extinction in the Middle East”!
Recognizing the importance of the User Generated Content revolution, and how users are controlling the digital age we live in, TIME magazine selected ‘YOU’ as the Person of The Year.
This comes following the massive successes, and buyouts, of YouTUBE, MySpace and others.
TIME says such companies have succeeded in “seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game.”
‘YOU’ beat some tough competition this year for Person of the Year from the likes of Iran’s President Ahmandinejad, China’s President Hu Jintao, North Korean’s Kim Jon Il, and President Bush.