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Media & Advertising

Media and advertising news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Gulf states demand Netflix pull content deemed offensive

Gulf Arab states have demanded that US streaming giant Netflix remove content deemed offensive to “Islamic and societal values” in the region, Saudi Arabia’s media regulator said on Tuesday. It did not specify the content, but mentioned that it included content aimed at children. Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya TV, in a programme discussing the issue, […]

Advertisement, Billboard, Bird

Former Twitter employee is convicted in Saudi spy case

A former Twitter Inc manager accused of spying for Saudi Arabia was convicted on Tuesday on six criminal counts, including acting as an agent for the country and trying to disguise a payment from an official tied to Saudi’s royal family. Ahmad Abouammo, a dual US-Lebanese citizen who at Twitter helped oversee relationships with journalists […]

Machine, Atm, Cash Machine

Kuwait sovereign wealth fund invests in Italian ATM operator

Italian fund FSI, the main investors in which include state lender CDP and the sovereign wealth funds of Kuwait and Singapore, has signed a preliminary deal for an investment in payments card and cash machine operator BANCOMAT. FSI and BANCOMAT have agreed the terms under which FSI is set to invest in BANCOMAT “to sustain […]

Electronics, Person, Human

Netflix lost 770,000 users in Europe, Middle East and Africa

Netflix Inc on Tuesday averted its own worst-case scenario of subscriber losses, posting a nearly 1 million drop from April through June, and predicted it would return to customer growth during the third quarter. Shares, which have fallen roughly 67 percent this year on concerns about the company’s long-term prospects, rose 8 percent in after-hours […]

Shares in Twitter plunged after Musk pulled out of the deal to buy the social network

Twitter tells Musk no deal obligations were breached

Twitter Inc fired back at Elon Musk on Monday, accusing the world’s richest person of “knowingly” breaching an agreement to buy the social media firm, days after the Tesla Inc chief sought to back out of the $44 billion deal. In a letter sent to Musk, dated Sunday and filed with regulators on Monday, Twitter […]

Text, Credit Card

Twitter says it removes over 1 million spam accounts each day

Twitter removes more than 1 million spam accounts each day, executives told reporters in a briefing on Thursday, providing new insight into efforts to reduce harmful automated bots as billionaire Elon Musk has demanded more details from the social media company. The briefing comes after Musk threatened to halt a $44 billion deal to purchase […]

Phone, Electronics, Mobile Phone

Snapchat paid version launches in Saudi Arabia, UAE

Snap Inc on Wednesday launched a paid version of the Snapchat app in the US, priced at $3.99 a month, and a few other markets, in a major step away from a revenue model dependent mostly on advertising. Snap, which had teased the subscription version, Snapchat+, earlier this month, said it would be available in […]

BBC News controller heads for Saudi’s Al Arabiya News

A former senior news editor at the BBC left the corporation to take a position at Saudi Arabia’s state broadcaster. Jamie Angus stepped down from his role as BBC News’s senior controller of output and commissioning in April. He is expected to take a senior role at Al Arabiya News.  Sources were uncertain about Angus’s […]

How stars can impact a business

Prior to basketball legend Michael Jordan’s Nike association, which started in the mid-1980s, rival Adidas was 50 percent larger revenue-wise.  With about $100 million in sales from the first year working with Jordan, Nike now stands above competitors in basketball sneaker sales with player endorsements continuing to support the brand’s growth.  Jordan remains synonymous with […]

Person, Human, Book

25 years of Harry Potter: From rejection to 500m global sales

When Bloomsbury Publishing founder Nigel Newton brought home a manuscript for “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by a then unknown J.K. Rowling, his daughter Alice described it as “possibly one of the best books an 8/9 year old could read”. Twenty-five years later, it is one of the biggest selling novels of all time […]

Mobile Phone, Cell Phone, Phone

Samsung fined over ‘water-resistant’ smartphone ad

Australia’s competition regulator said on Thursday a court has ordered the local unit of Samsung Electronics to pay a penalty of A$14 million ($9.65 million) over misleading claims about a water-resistance feature in some of its smartphones. Samsung Australia admitted to misleading buyers of some of its ‘Galaxy’ phones about the water-resistance level, the Australian […]

Face, Person, Human

Naomi Osaka and LeBron James launch new media company

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka is launching a new media company in partnership with four-times NBA champion LeBron James aimed at telling stories that cross cultural barriers, the former world number one announced on Tuesday. Hana Kuma, which translates to “flower bear,” will produce stories that are “culturally specific but universal to all audiences” and […]

Internet Explorer gravestone goes viral in South Korea

For Jung Ki-young, a South Korean software engineer, Microsoft Corp’s decision to retire its Internet Explorer web browser marked the end of a quarter-century love-hate relationship with the technology. To commemorate its demise, he spent a month and 430,000 won ($330) designing and ordering a headstone with Explorer’s “e” logo and the English epitaph: “He […]

Disney’s ‘Lightyear’ ban expands to 14 countries

Walt Disney Co has been unable to obtain permission to show its new Pixar movie “Lightyear” in 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries, a source said on Monday, and the animated film appeared unlikely to open in China, the world’s largest movie market. A “Lightyear” producer told Reuters that authorities in China had asked for […]

Disney announces major leadership shakeup

Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Chapek announced a major leadership shift on Thursday, promoting Dana Walden to chairman of general entertainment content as the company works to build its streaming television efforts. Walden replaces veteran Hollywood executive Peter Rice, who is leaving Disney. Both executives joined Disney in 2019 when the company acquired entertainment […]

How I got to the top: Aidan Christofferson, co-founder, Flashy

What does your company do? We are a 10 month old startup tech company, based in Dubai, which provides a platform for scalable photography solutions for GCC customers. Whether you’re a sole entrepreneur looking to capture images for your product, or a multinational enterprise looking for thousands of images a week, our platform takes care […]

Remote working

Perimeter 81 joins the unicorns after $100m funding round

Perimeter 81 is now valued at $1 billion, the Israeli cybersecurity startup has revealed, gaining unicorn status after it raised $100 million to fund product development. The fundraising, led by B Capital, marked a jump in valuation from its last round in August 2020, when the company was valued at $200 million. ION Crossover Ventures […]

Saudi’s leading cinema group to make films for Arabs by Arabs

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced the lifting of its 35-year ban on cinemas four years ago. The industry has since seen exponential growth and Arabic language films have been the most popular among moviegoers. This trend has now prompted Muvi Cinemas, Saudi Arabia’s homegrown cinema brand and the country’s largest theatre operator, to launch […]

Streaming service Starzplay planning to go public

Starzplay Arabia, an Abu Dhabi-based streaming platform, expects to go public in the next two or three years, its chief executive said on Thursday. Starzplay is among the global and regional streaming players vying for a share of the burgeoning Middle East market, hoping to tap into the region’s large youth population and take advantage […]