Monday, March 15, 2010
CNBC to open regional editorial hub in Bahrain
CNBC will create a regional editorial hub in Bahrain to cover the Middle East, the company said yesterday at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The facility is expected to be operational in the second quarter of the year.
The hub will coordinate and produce business and financial newsgathering from the Middle East, with a studio and production facility linked to CNBC's global network. CNBC is in the process of recruiting an on-air presenter, reporters and production staff in the region.
The hub will contribute to CNBC's pan-regional programme Capital Connection, which will become tri-anchored live from London, Bahrain and Singapore, four days a week.
The show's remit will be to help global viewers understand the impact of market movements across European, Asian and Middle Eastern borders - on their portfolios, investment strategies and business decisions.
The Capital Connection will broadcast from London, Bahrain and Singapore from Monday to Thursdays.
Mick Buckley, Managing Director – Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea) at CNBC, said: "Bahrain offers the ideal location for CNBC's hub, as the country's infrastructure and location enables us to effectively cover the news from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other major centres in the region.
"We are now well positioned, working with CNBC Arabiya our local-language affiliate channel based in Dubai, to tell the Middle East's business story to regional and global viewers in Arabic and in English," said Buckley.
Across the region, CNBC reaches more than 640,000 viewers a day and seven million viewers a month (EMS 2009), making it the leading business and financial news channel.
emirates24/7
also an older article
19 February 2010
CNBC to launch on Freesat
LONDON - Business and financial news channel CNBC is to launch on the subscription-free satellite platform Freesat next Tuesday as part of a free-to-air strategy to widen its distribution.
CNBC has been available on Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk since January and the addition of Freesat means the channel will now be distributed to 12 million UK households. The company said it has no plans at present to launch on Freeview.
Mick Buckley, president and chief executive EMEA of CNBC, said the decision to become a free-to-air channel in the UK, is part of CNBC's strategy to "aggressively grow" its distribution across EMEA in 2010.
CNBC broadcasts seven hours of live programming every business day from its studio in the City of London including the hour long Strictly Money targeted at UK retail investors, small business owners and people looking to build and protect their investments.
Buckley said business and financial news remains "very pertinent" in today's economy and last year CNBC "significantly grew its upscale and affluent audience, as more viewers wanted to keep abreast of the dramatic changes in the economic environment".
Chris Haywood, head of trading at ZenithOptimedia, said becoming free to air will add "incremental revenue in terms of increasing CNBC's ad potential" and could extend the number of brands suitable for the channel.
Haywood said: "It probably makes a lot of sense because it will give CNBC access to a wider audience. Outside the world of business, normal UK viewers don't see the existence of the station. I can see why it makes sense in the long term."
Also ...April 1, 2010 the launch of FLN ~
Fine Living Network Debuts April 1 As Home of Quality Lifestyle Programming Throughout EMEA
