Moroccan public broadcasting company, SNRT, acquires a stake in Europes leading international news channel.
Moroccos SNRT (Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et Télévision) became the latest shareholder of euronews at a General Assembly of the channels shareholders in Paris on 22 September 2008. SNRT, a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), acquired a 0.33% stake in the holding company, SECEMIE*, to join the 22 existing shareholders from Europe and the Mediterranean on the euronews editorial board.
The catalyst for the arrival of the new Moroccan shareholder was the introduction of an eighth language to euronews, Arabic, on 12 July 2008. The Arabic language initiative is supported by the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and is a topic of great importance for SNRT and the channels other Arabic shareholders.
Launched in January 1993 in five languages, euronews broadcasts round-the-clock in eight languages simultaneously: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (1999), Russian (2001) and Arabic (2008). euronews is distributed to 250 million homes in 140 countries worldwide and leads its competitors in terms of audience in Europe.
Philippe Cayla, Chairman and CEO of euronews said: “I am pleased to welcome SNRT, whose Managing Director, Sir Ayad, was beside us when we launched in Arabic at the Arab World Institute in July, to the euronews fold. SNRT will be instrumental in promoting euronews in Arabic. Together with Morocco and our other Arabic partners, we will continue to develop the channel and contribute to strengthening the ties between Europe and the Mediterranean region.”
Fayçal Laraichi, Chairman and CEO of SNRT said: “We are delighted to join the other European and Mediterranean partners in the euronews group. Our presence will serve to enhance our promotion of international news in Arabic and we will use all the available resources to make this partnership a reference for excellence in the Mediterranean broadcasting world.”
* SECEMIE: Société Editrice de la Chaîne Européenne Multilingue dInformation euronews. Consortium comprising broadcasters from Europe and the Mediterranean countries.
In alphabetical order: CT (Czech Republic), CyBC (Cyprus), ENTV (Algeria), ERT (Greece), ERTT (Tunisia), ERTV (Egypt), France Télévisions (France), NTU (Ukraine), PBS (Malta), RAI (Italy), RTBF (Belgium), RTE (Ireland), RTP (Portugal), RTR (Russia), RTVE (Spain), RTVSLO (Slovenia), SNRT (Morocco), SSR (Switzerland), TMC (Monaco), TV4 (Sweden), TVR (Romania), YLE (Finland).