Samar Akrouk appointed MD of MBC STUDIOS

4 April 2024

Samar Akrouk appointed MD of MBC STUDIOS

MBC GROUP, the largest and leading media company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), announces the appointment of Samar Akrouk as Managing Director of MBC STUDIOS.

A seasoned production veteran, Akrouk – who has dedicated nearly three decades of service to MBC GROUP – will also retain her position as Group Director of Production.

In her new role, Akrouk will lead MBC STUDIOS’ ongoing work in expanding the reach of its content to audiences around the world. She will be managing the entity’s mission to leverage the ongoing trend for non-English-language television content to reach more global markets.

Meanwhile, Akrouk will also continue her work as Group Director of Production where she leads a dynamic team of producers, directors, technicians, and creators, directly overseeing all of MBC GROUP’s non-scripted productions for MBC TV channels, Shahid, and social media – which comprises over 1,500 hours of original content production annually. This includes chat shows, social programming, game shows and competitions, comedy, as well as local adaptations of international franchises: “Arab Idol”, “Arab’s Got Talent”, “Project Runway”, “Top Chef”, “The Voice: Arabia”, “The Voice Kids”, “The Voice Seniors”, and “X Factor Arabia”. Samar Akrouk also headed the production team of the Arabic musical film “Sukkar”, inspired by the famous epistolary novel, “Daddy-Long-Legs” by American writer Jean Webster, which achieved unprecedented success and revenues for an Arabic musical film in Arab box office.

Commenting on her appointment, Akrouk stated: “I am absolutely delighted and thrilled to take on the responsibilities of my new role as Managing Director of MBC STUDIOS, building upon the exceptional achievements of the team so far. This role marks a significant milestone in my career, one which I have devoted to the MBC GROUP family since 1995.

She continued: “Our forthcoming endeavours in drama and film production arrive at an opportune moment. There’s no doubt that our region, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is in the spotlight, drawing considerable interest from leading international production studios focused on creating world-class content. I cannot wait to delve deeper, roll up my sleeves, and further contribute to this incredible organisation that I have called home for past 27 years.”

CAREER BACKGROUND

Joining MBC GROUP in 1995, Akrouk has played a pivotal role in establishing both MBC’s foundation and its exponential growth. Beginning her career with ARA Group International, MBC GROUP’s holding company, in its Washington DC office, Akrouk later moved to join MBC GROUP’s US branch of ANA Radio and Television as Assistant Director in 1996.

In 2001, Akrouk relocated to Beirut, where she was tasked with establishing the first main office for the Group in the Middle East, prior to MBC GROUP’s relocation from London to Dubai. The executive has not only been credited with playing a major role in building MBC GROUP’s in-house production powerhouse but has also led the transformation of production from solely linear TV broadcast content to a full, 360-degree multi-platform content operation.

Born in Amman and raised in New York, Akrouk received her bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and Law from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

MBC STUDIOS is the in-house premium content production arm of MBC GROUP, a media conglomerate that operates more than 13 free-to-air satellite TV channels, three radio stations, and Shahid – the world’s leading Arabic streaming platform – amongst other offerings.

[Source: MBC press release]

NHK WORLD-JAPAN Monthly Focus April

3 April 2024

NHK WORLD-JAPAN Monthly Focus April

Discover the magic of Kiyomizu-dera

The Perfect 2-Hour Guide: Kiyomizu-dera April 7 Sun. 1:10/7:10/13:10/19:10 (UTC) Take a journey through Kyoto’s historic Kiyomizu-dera Temple, from its iconic stage to its tranquil sacred spring. Explore this wondrous space and bask in springtime beauty in this two-hour program.
Documentary 360: Game Planet April 13 Sat. 0:10/6:10/12:10/18:10 (UTC) As growth in the game industry accelerates, game makers pursue increased global attention through new strategies. Japanese game companies, once undisputed champions, now face competition to survive.
Japan in Focus: Defending Fresh Starts April 12 Fri. 14:30/20:30/3:10/10:10 April 17 Wed. 19:10 (UTC) A drug-dealing yakuza member turned his life around and became a lawyer. Now he helps others start over.
Asia Insight Fridays 0:30/5:30/10:30/15:30/21:30 (UTC) Dynamic Asia. Stories behind the world’s largest continent as it faces political, economic, cultural and technological change.

VOA Launches New FM Station in Rwanda

28 March 2024

VOA Launches New FM Station in Rwanda

Voice of America launched its second FM radio station in Rwanda on March 28. Broadcasting to Karongi, a district of more than 375,000 people, the new station (93.3 FM) also serves the large refugee camp in Kiziba. VOA has successfully served audiences from an FM radio station (104.3 FM) in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali since 2004.

The new station will offer a mix of programming that caters to the many ethnic groups in Rwanda, offering translations in Kirundi, French, Swahili, and English as well as the Kinyarwanda language, which is spoken by the majority of Rwanda’s population.

“We are pleased to begin broadcasting directly to the Karongi district of Rwanda,” said VOA Acting Director John Lippman. “Our new radio station will expand our efforts to provide independent journalism and diverse perspectives, in many languages, to a fast-growing country.”

VOA operates more than 50 FM stations throughout Africa, Asia and Europe. The U.S. broadcaster reaches a weekly global audience of more than 354 million people in 48 languages in nearly 100 countries via radio, television, web and mobile media and a network of more than 3,500 affiliates worldwide.

[Source: VOA press release]

CNA’S 25th Anniversary: Mediacorp’s News Network Announces plans to scale up

25 March 2024

CNA’S 25th Anniversary: Mediacorp’s News Network Announces plans to scale up

Expansion strategy outlined at CNA’s Silver Jubilee includes the introduction of new editions in North America, UK and Indonesia, as well as plans for an increased presence in China

Mediacorp’s news and current affairs brand CNA will focus on reaching new audiences in regional and international markets like Indonesia, East Asia, US, and the UK, while continuing to serve Singaporeans by delivering trusted news and quality stories across its multiple platforms.

These plans were announced at CNA’s 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner, held on 19 March at Capella Singapore with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as Guest-of-Honour.

Addressing a celebratory gathering of 300 guests, Mediacorp Chairman Niam Chiang Meng affirmed CNA’s commitment to continue evolving to meet the demands of a changing global mediascape: “We aim to be present at every touchpoint in people’s lives, engaging them through a combination of our own platforms and third-party platforms. This multiplatform approach is anchored on our understanding of how people consume content today – across platforms and devices, languages, and genres.”

Since its launch in Singapore in March 1999, CNA has grown from a local news channel to a network consumed around the world, reaching more than 94 million homes and hotel rooms in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Digitally, CNA content is consumed by an average of more than 10 million unique visitors every month [1]. On YouTube, CNA has a combined four million subscribers and over 27 million views per month for its CNA and CNA Insider channels. Its strong presence on YouTube has introduced the brand to a growing international audience, with the US being one of the top three markets in terms of watch time for its content [2]. The brand has also earned recognition on the global stage, having garnered more than 500 international awards and accolades in the past decade. Please refer to the Annex for a list of key milestones since CNA’s establishment in 1999.

Fresh initiatives to expand audiences and enhance offerings

With an eye towards fostering further growth, CNA has embarked on developments aimed at building its existing base, meeting new needs, and engaging untapped audiences beyond Singapore:

Making inroads in the US, Canada, and the UK: The CNA brand will be introduced in North America, Canada, and the United Kingdom across a combination of platforms: television streaming services, YouTube, and a curated edition of the CNA website. The roll out will be conducted in phases over this year. This undertaking will cater to people in these regions who are looking for breaking news and insightful documentaries about Asia – in particular China, Japan, and Korea.

Strengthening depth of coverage on China: As part of its expansion strategy and to deepen its on-ground understanding and reporting of China-related news, CNA plans to augment its mix of TV and digital bureaus, with plans to open a new bureau in Shenzhen, and potentially station more correspondents at its Beijing and Shanghai bureaus.

Introducing East Asia Tonight: Audiences can also look forward to a new one-hour bulletin, East Asia Tonight. Airing on CNA every weekday at 6pm from April. Through a combination of ground reporting of the latest developments, original in-depth features and expert analysis, CNA will seek to help audiences around the world to better “Understand Asia”.

Adopting AI to debut a Bahasa Indonesia website: Tapping on a large audience profile closer to home, CNA has launched cna.id, a website in Bahasa Indonesia. To achieve this milestone, CNA’s first digital foray beyond English, CNA signed a research collaboration agreement with Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to build an English-to-Bahasa Indonesia AI translation tool. A dedicated team of Bahasa Indonesia editors then checks these translated as well as original news reports and features before publishing them.

Providing more engaging content experiences: Continuing to harness AI, CNA has introduced AI-generated summaries (FAST) for articles on the CNA app. Launched on 18 March, the FAST feature uses AI large language models to extract key sentences from stories. These are vetted by the CNA editorial team before publication, providing time-pressed readers with an option to sample content quickly and efficiently when on the go. This feature will be launched on the website soon.

Earlier this year, CNA also introduced a text-to-speech conversion to enable readers to listen to digital stories; and improved its personalised experiences with MyFeed, a feature which allows readers to select and receive more stories on topics of interest to them.

Mediacorp Editor-in-Chief & Chief Sustainability Officer Walter Fernandez said: “CNA’s Silver Jubilee marks a significant milestone in our journey as CNA goes global.”

Added Mr Fernandez: “In the past decade, CNA has won more than 500 international awards for its outstanding content; CNA was named ‘Channel of the Year’ by the London-based Association for International Broadcasting in November 2020; and two years later CNA was named the global winner of the ‘Best News Website or Mobile Service’ by the World Association of News Publishers. Building on this track record of high-quality content and engaging programming, CNA has set its sights on being the global news source to ‘Understand Asia’. The next leg of CNA’s growth will focus on expanding our coverage and sharpening the nuance of our reporting about China; while growing our global audience particularly in North America and Europe.”

[1] Source: Adobe Analytics, April 2023 – February 2024
[2] Source: YouTube Studio

Voice of America names new Director of Studio and Production Operations

25 March 2024

Voice of America names new Director of Studio and Production Operations

With more than 35 years of experience, Frantz is a seasoned television broadcast operations and engineering leader. He has a strong background in production, technology, infrastructure and management. His global production experience was particularly of interest to VOA, given its global reach.

“Broadcasting more than 2,000 hours of content each week to Voice of America’s worldwide audience, our Studio and Production Operations group is literally the backbone of our network,” said Acting VOA Director John Lippman. “I look forward to working with Rich in this critical role.”

Before joining VOA, Frantz was Vice President of Engineering and Operations for the remote production company F&F Productions. His other roles have included Vice President of Global Service Delivery for SES S.A., the Luxembourg-based satellite telecommunications company; head of Global Sports and Events at the media service company MX1; and Director of Operations and Engineering for both NBC/Comcast Sports and the Comcast Network. Frantz is a U.S. Navy veteran and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.

AIB Executive Committee for 2024-26 elected

25 March 2024

AIB Executive Committee for 2024-26 elected

In a significant reshaping of the global media landscape, the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) has announced the election of its Executive Committee for the 2024-2026 term, comprising a diverse and experienced group of leaders from some of the world’s most significant broadcasting organisations. The newly elected members are set to steer the AIB through a period of rapid change and challenges in international broadcasting.

Nesryn Bouziane, currently serving as Manager of ABC International Services at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, brings a wealth of experience in managing international broadcasting services and will play an important role in sharing knowledge of media markets both in the Asia-Pacific region and globally.

Craig Dale, the Deputy Chief Editor overseeing international news and business at CNA (Mediacorp), will bring his editorial expertise and contribute significantly to the committee’s strategic planning and content development initiatives.

The BBC World Service’s Director of Distribution, Nigel Fry, has extensive background in global broadcasting distribution and continues as a long-standing member of the AIB Executive Committee.

Carlson Huang, Manager of the International Language Division at Radio Taiwan International, and another long-standing AIB Executive Committee member, brings invaluable insights into broadcasting in multiple languages, essential for the AIB’s efforts in promoting global communication and understanding.

John Lippman, the Acting Director of Voice of America, who joined the Executive Committee in 2023, has extensive experience in U.S. and international media that will enhance the collective impact of the AIB’s work worldwide.

Serge Schick, Director of International Development and Commercial Resources at France Médias Monde, continues as a member of the Executive Committee, bringing his expertise in international development and commercial strategies that will be instrumental in driving the AIB’s strategic growth.

Ömer Faruk Tanrıverdi, the Deputy Director General of TRT, brings a unique perspective from Turkey’s broadcasting scene, further diversifying the committee’s expertise and helping to foster cultural and informational collaboration between the East and West.

This diverse mix of media leaders from across the globe will help the AIB as it navigates the complex challenges of modern broadcasting, including areas such as artificial intelligence, sustainability, digital transition, regulatory environments, media freedom and the ongoing need for credible, impartial news for audiences worldwide.

With this new Executive Committee, the AIB aims to strengthen its role as a pivotal platform for international broadcasters, fostering collaboration and innovation to better serve audiences worldwide.