International Advertising Association

New 3D TV channel first to the Middle East

Admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:12:53 +0000

High TV 3D and UAE-based satellite broadcasting firm, YahLive have signed an exclusive satellite capacity agreement to provide viewers across the Middle East and North Africa with access to High TV 3D’s wide selection of 3D programming. Broadcasting at 52.5

Facebook, Google censor some religious content following court warning

Admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:58:28 +0000

Google Inc. and Facebook have removed content from some Indian domain websites following a court directive warning the two internet giants of a crackdown “like China” if they did not take steps to protect religious sensibilities, Reuters has reported. The two companies are among 21 companies ordered to develop a mechanism to block material considered religiously offensive after private petitioners took them to court over images deemed offensive to Hindus, Muslims and Christians. “(Our) review team has looked at the content and disabled this content from the local domains of (Google) search, Youtube and Blogger,” Google spokeswoman Paroma Roy Chowdhury said.

Iran detains relatives of BBC journalists

Admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:27:52 +0000

The BBC has said the Iranian government has arrested relatives of BBC Persian-language journalists working abroad for in a bid to silence them, AFP has reported. The sister of a BBC Persian journalist was arrested last week and held in solitary confinement on unspecified charges at Evin Prison in Tehran, before being released on bail, said BBC director general Mark Thompson.

Flip Media bought by Publicis

Admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:22:26 +0000

Dubai-based digital-media agency Flip Media has been acquired by Publicis Group, one of the world’s largest advertising groups, The National has reported. Publicis, which controls advertising agencies such as Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi, has been in discussions with Flip Media since last year. Flip Media was founded in 2003, and previously attracted investment from HSBC. The agency will be folded into Leo Burnett Worldwide and will retain its name.

OSN to add more high-definition channels

Admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:21:43 +0000

Premium pay TV platform, Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) has announced plans to add up to five high-definition (HD) channels in 2012, as part of a plan to make its network HD-only by 2015, The National has reported. OSN said last week it had added MBC’s seven high-definition channels, including MBC1 and the Al Arabiya news station. “I suspect we’ll have another four or five channels this year alone, and continue to expand. We’ll probably add another sports HD channel in the near future,” said David Butorac, the chief executive of OSN.

Hindi-language radio launched in the UAE

Admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:16:38 +0000

Hindi-language station, Radio Mirchi has been launched in the UAE as part of a global expansion drive by India’s largest FM brand, The National has reported. The new station is part of a collaboration between Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) and the Entertainment Network, a subsidiary of The Times of India Group. Radio attracts a small proportion of the $4bn (Dhs14.69bn) advertising spending in the Arab world, which is dominated by television and newspaper media. ADM

Transparency not censorship, explains Twitter CEO

Admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:12:49 +0000

Dick Costolo, the chief executive of Twitter has said the recently announced censorship policy was meant to be a transparent way to handle government requests for the removal of certain content, not a signal that the message site was proactively monitoring its

Google chief questioned by US lawmakers over privacy policies

Admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:08:35 +0000

Larry Page, the chief of Google has been asked by two US lawmakers to brief congress on changes to the internet search giant’s privacy policies, citing concerns about collection and sharing of personal data, AFP has reported. “We applaud the move toward a shorter, simpler, streamlined policy, and believe that easier-to-understand terms of service are in the best interest of consumers,” Republican Representative Mary Bono Mack and Democratic Representative G.K. Butterfield wrote in a letter to Page. “We are concerned, however, with other changes to Google’s privacy policy, particularly with how a user’s data will be collected, combined, archived, and used across services,” they said in the letter.

Now over two million Facebook users in Jordan

Admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:09:42 +0000

The number of Facebook users in Jordan has exceeded two million, Jordan Times has reported. Figures posted on checkfacebook.com website indicated the number of Jordanians using the social networking site reached 2.057 million last Saturday, up from 1.987 million last Thursday, the report said.

Twitter to block user content in some countries

Admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:07:28 +0000

A number of Twitter users in some Arab countries launched a 24-hour