58
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ISSUE 2 2014
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THE CHANNEL
NAME
Alla Salehian
JOB
CEO
COMPANY
TIMA
PRO
FILE
production, technical and
management. I was thrown into
every area of the broadcast process
including filming and two-machine
editing! Within a few years I was
promoted to the position of Managing
Editor, a position that I held until I
left MBC when the company was
relocated to Dubai. I have great
memories of my time at MBC and I
am still in touch with many of my
former colleagues.
I left MBC to join the Associated
Press (AP) as Manager of Middle
East Custom Coverage, a broadcast
production and services unit
specialising in producing customised
news reports for Middle East
broadcasters. The unit was going
through a challenging time and I
was tasked with restructuring it and
returning it to profit, which was
achieved in just over six months. We
went on to successfully cover all the
major world events for broadcasters
including 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan.
I later put together and executed a
plan to merge three other divisions
of the AP with the Middle East unit
to create the Global Media Services
department, which is responsible
for providing production and
broadcast services to broadcasters
around the world and contributes
significant revenues for the AP.
However after 10 years at the AP I
reached a stage where I had to
decide the next path in my career
and while it was not an easy
decision I decided that it was time
to take the plunge and go it alone.
After a short time as a media
consultant I set up TIMA in 2012.
Although I did not go into the
diplomatic service as my teacher
had suggested, my career in
international media has certainly
required a lot of diplomacy.
ABOUT TIMA
TIMA (The International Media
Associates) provides production
facilities, content production and
events’ coverage worldwide. Its
London headquarters opened in
spring 2012 and were swiftly
followed by bureaux in Washington
DC, New York and Paris. TIMA also
has operations across the Middle
East in Sanaa, Damascus, Baghdad
MY CAREER
As a teenager I was focused on a
career in Law after getting hooked
on
Rumpole of the Bailey
and, later,
LA Law
. My form tutor thought that I
should consider a career in the
diplomatic service but I didn’t think
it was a realistic option for me. I did
go on to study law, specialising in
corporate law and enjoyed it greatly.
My introduction into media
started when my girlfriend at the
time (now my wife) started work at
the news agency WTN, which a few
years later became APTN. It was so
different from the law and obviously
more interesting to all our friends
as they all wanted to hear about her
day and were not the least bit
interested in mine. A friend called
me one day to say that there was a
vacancy at a relatively new Arabic
language channel in London, MBC,
for a researcher on the Business
News desk. I applied for the job and
a few months later started my
media career.
As a young broadcast channel
that was starting to make its mark
in the global media landscape, MBC
was a great place to learn every
aspect of broadcasting – editorial,
and Tehran. In Tehran we have an
exclusive licence to cover news and
events and to provide services to
accredited broadcasters.
Our central London studios have
unparalleled 360 degree views of
London’s major landmarks and
provide single and multi-camera
studio facilities to suit all productions
and budgets. Our largest studio is
home to Africa’s global news channel,
Arise TV, which broadcasts 18 hours
of programming daily. Other clients
include CCTV and Al Jazeera. Video
content across all genres is at the
heart of TIMA’s work and guides the
services it offers, from filming and
studio facilities to producing news
and current affairs reports.
Everything TIMA does is aimed at
developing new ways of producing
and distributing content.
LATEST INITIATIVES
A growing area of our business is
producing long-form programmes.
This requires different processes
than the usual news report so we
are now looking at creating a
production unit within TIMA that
focuses on developing ideas for
studio-based programmes, feature
reports and documentaries across
all genres. We are also in the
process of expanding our global
presence, especially in the Middle
East where we have unique access
to cover news and events for
broadcasters.
FUTURE STRATEGY
Original and live content will be the
main drivers for growth in this
industry. Our strategy is to position
TIMA as a core content creator and
facilitator across all genres and
delivery platforms. To achieve this
we are working with key broadcast
technology companies to look at the
best way to utilise new and emerging
technologies in the field of content
creation, storage, retrieval and
distribution. We will also expand on
our current online video initiative
and will be working with certain
websites to provide relevant and
customised video content.
OUTLOOK
Very exciting and a lot of hard work!
THE CHANNEL
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PROFILE
