Delegation accompanying crown prince’s regional tour visits Egyptian media institutions
Updated 21 June 2022
Arab News
LONDON: The Saudi media delegation accompanying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on his regional tour visited a number of Egyptian media institutions over the past few days, including Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar and Youm7 newspapers and InfoTimes studio, where they were briefed on the services provided by these outlets.
The Saudi delegation and the leaders of Egyptian media institutions discussed ways to cooperate and exchange experience in media in order to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince arrived in Cairo on Monday for the first leg of his Middle East tour, where he was received by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The prince will then depart to Jordan for talks with its monarch, King Abdullah II.
Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract - Axios
Fox News accused Carlson of the violation in a letter to his legal team after he posted a clip of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday
Carlson was taken off the air by Fox last April following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud
Updated 08 June 2023
Reuters
WASHINGTON: Fox News on Wednesday notified Tucker Carlson’s legal team that the former prime-time host violated his contract with the network when he launched his own Twitter show on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing a copy of a letter obtained by the news website.
Carlson released the first episode of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday, weeks after being taken off the air by Fox following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud.
Fox News general counsel Bernard Gugar sent a letter to Carlson’s legal team saying Carlson “is in breach” of his contract agreement after he posted a clip of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday evening, according to Axios.
Carlson’s legal team could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters. His lawyer told Axios that any legal action by Fox would violate his First Amendment rights to free speech guaranteed by the US Constitution.
“Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds. Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events,” Carlson’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement cited by Axios.
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The letter quoted by Axios refers to Carlson’s contract, and said its former prime time star was “prohibited from rendering services of any type whatsoever, whether ‘over the Internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter devised.’“
Google’s flagship Marketing Live event comes to Saudi Arabia for first time
Executives from the company’s regional and global operations told business and marketing experts from the region about its latest consumer insights, products and solutions
Updated 07 June 2023
Arab News
DUBAI: Google announced new consumer insights, products and solutions on Wednesday in Riyadh, as the company’s flagship global advertising and commerce event, Google Marketing Live, took place in Saudi Arabia for the first time.
Executives from Google’s regional and global operations joined business and marketing experts from the region at the event to discuss the future of artificial intelligence in the business world.
“We’re excited to host Google Marketing Live in Riyadh for the first time,” said Anthony Nakache, the managing director of Google MENA.
“Google’s presence here today is a testament to our commitment to supporting businesses in the Kingdom and their digital growth.”
The company showcased its latest advertising products and new features on Google Search and Maps, along with a range of AI features and products that will be available in Saudi Arabia. It said the innovations include an enhanced experience on PerformanceMax, Automatically Created Assets, and Merchant Center Next.
PerformanceMax, which allows advertisers to access all of their Google Ads inventory from a single campaign, will now use generative media models and large language learning models to generate “professional grade creatives” across YouTube, Display and Search with minimal information, the company said.
Automatically Created Assets will enable advertisers to generate and adapt their adverts in real time, so that they are more relevant to customers, it added.
In addition, Google said, businesses of all sizes can now manage online and offline product and business information through Merchant Center Next, which includes a simplified process for onboarding and product upload and management, together with improved ad integration and comprehensive reporting.
“AI has long been the cornerstone of Google’s products and services and we’re excited to announce new AI-powered features, such as AI in PerformanceMax and Automatically Created Assets, for businesses in Saudi Arabia to help drive better performance and reach more customers,” said Nakache.
Google Marketing Live is an annual event during which the company showcases its latest advertising and product offerings.
Chris Licht steps down as CNN chief following series of grave missteps
The chief executive officer of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, informed CNN staff of Licht’s departure during the network’s daily editorial call
The departure of 51-year-old Licht came after The Atlantic recently published an extensive article headlined “Inside the Tremendous Meltdown at CNN”
Updated 07 June 2023
Arab News
LONDON: CNN chief Chris Licht on Wednesday announced that he would be leaving the network after a one-year tenure marked by serious programming missteps.
The chief executive officer of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, informed CNN staff of Licht’s departure during the network’s daily editorial call, according to CNN Business.
The departure of 51-year-old Licht, CNN’s chairman and CEO, came after The Atlantic recently published an extensive article headlined “Inside the Tremendous Meltdown at CNN,” highlighting the muddles and low ratings the company had experienced in the last year.
The most recent of his missteps, which attracted backlash, was the network’s town hall meeting with former US President Donald Trump, which the Financial Times described as “controversial.”
During the meeting, Trump’s supporters cheered as he insulted the event’s moderator Kaitlan Collins, who attempted to fact-check the ex-American leader. Although CNN journalists were angered, Licht said: “America was served very well by what we did.”
On Monday, Licht apologized to CNN employees, describing his experience as “tremendously humbling.”
But on Wednesday, Zaslav said: “For a number of reasons things didn’t work out and that’s unfortunate. It’s really unfortunate. And ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for that.”
Licht will leave his role within 48 hours, Puck News reported on Wednesday.
Three Middle Eastern brands make it onto YouTube’s global list of year’s top 10 adverts
Telecom Egypt, Orange Egypt and Qatar Airways earned places on the eighth annual YouTube Cannes Ads Leaderboard
Collectively, the commercials that earned places on this year’s list streamed in a total of 28 countries across five continents
Updated 06 June 2023
Arab News
DUBAI: Three brands from the Middle East appear on the eighth annual YouTube Cannes Ads Leaderboard, which was unveiled on Tuesday and features the top 10 most-watched adverts globally on the video-streaming platform over the past 12 months.
Collectively, the commercials that earned places on this year’s list streamed in a total of 28 countries across five continents.
Telecom Egypt’s “WE Summer Campaign,” featuring Akram Hosny, ranked second. Qatar Airways’ official FIFA World Cup song “C.H.A.M.P.I.O.N.S” featuring DJ Rodge and Cheb Khaled took fifth spot; and Orange Egypt’s “Crazy about Football” commercial was seventh.
“It’s great to see the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region’s diversity and creativity shine through on YouTube this year, which exemplifies the different formats on YouTube that allow brands to explore different styles and approaches to storytelling on the platform,” said Anthony Nakache, Google MENA’s managing director.
Mohammed Abutaleb, Telecom Egypt’s commercial vice-president, said that “agility is key to product success” in a “competitive technology marketplace.” The company is always ready to “test, adjust and reshape” its digital strategy, and “Google ad technology has been integral to our success on that front,” he added.
A spokesperson for Qatar Airways said: “YouTube is a great place for driving brand awareness and one of the key channels to communicate to a wide audience of football fans from around the world.”
Orange Egypt described YouTube as “one of the main platforms that help us increase top-of-mind awareness.”
The selection of the ads on the leaderboard was based on an algorithm that uses internal YouTube data to measure audience engagement and retention. Only one advert from each brand can appear, to “better reflect the broad range, quality and popularity of YouTube ads throughout the year,” according to YouTube.
Netflix took the top spot on the list with an advert featuring a prank in New York City to promote its “Addams Family” spin-off show, “Wednesday.” Apple’s “Introducing iPhone 14 Pro” was in third place, followed by the official trailer for the Max (formerly HBO Max) streaming show “The Last of Us.” The remaining brands that made the top 10 were Samsung, Bulgari, streaming service Peacock, and Burger King.
The ads on the list have cumulatively racked up 213.5 million views, 2.5 million likes and 70,000 comments.
Filmmakers invited to apply for Red Sea Fund grants toward movie production
3rd funding round offers financial backing to directors in Arab world, Africa
Updated 06 June 2023
Arab News
LONDON: Officials behind a fund offering grants to help toward the production of Arab and African films are inviting new applications for financial backing.
Red Sea Film Festival Foundation organizers announced on Tuesday the opening of a third round of Red Sea Fund support grants.
Running from June 6 until July 2, applications are being invited for flicks ready to go into production, with up to $500,000 per movie available for filmmakers.
Head of the fund, Emad Eskander, said: “We are truly impressed by the exceptional talent that aspiring and world-renowned filmmakers brought to the table in our second edition.”
The third round of funding will support projects from directors in Saudi Arabia, Africa, and throughout the Arab world, with the aim of helping launch a new generation of movie producers while supporting established filmmakers as they take their work from script to screen.
“It’s clear that the bar has been set high, but we have no doubt that the filmmakers are up for the challenge.
“Looking ahead to the third edition’s production cycle, we are confident that filmmakers will continue to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation,” Eskander added.
The Red Sea Fund has made a significant impact in the film world, supporting movies that have premiered and won awards at prestigious festivals such as Berlin and Cannes.
