CNBC Arabiya achieves a big honour

CNBC Arabiya, the Arab world's leading business news channel, has become the first Arab broadcasting organisation ever to be nominated for the prestigious New York Festival awards. Nominations for the 2004 New York Festival Awards were announced at a banquet at Ian Schrager's chic Hudson Hotel in Manhattan.

Chosen from a field of 14,200 entries from 62 countries, the Dubai-based business channel was recognised in the TV Programming and Promotion category for its 'Wealth of Information' launch campaign, which helped to put CNBC Arabiya on the map across the Middle East.

"Although we launched only 6 months ago, CNBC Arabiya has rapidly captured the leadership position in its category," said CNBC Arabiya Chairman and CEO Zafar Siddiqi. "This has been due to our ability to source, report on and make relevant business and economic news as it develops in the Middle East.

"When we started we knew that there was a wealth of untapped information on the commercial life of our region and we set about to make this business and economic news and analysis available to Arab audiences from an Arab perspective for the first time.

"The 'Wealth of Information' campaign successfully communicated this key message to our audiences and has helped to build awareness of CNBC Arabiya across the Arab world. The 2004 New York Festival recognition is an acknowledgement of the power of this striking and elegant campaign."

CNBC Arabiya is the Arab world's first and only 24-hour Arabic language financial and business information channel, presenting in-depth and up-to-the-minute coverage of regional and international affairs from an Arab economic perspective.

CNBC Arabiya began broadcasting in August 2003 from its studios at the Dubai Media City with ground-breaking programming generated by its Arab news team supported by CNBC Arabiya correspondents across the Middle East, Europe and America and drawing on the global newsgathering resources of Reuters, Dow Jones and its affiliate CNBC International.

For the first time Arab audiences have access to sustained financial and economic news coverage presented in Arabic from an Arab point of view. CNBC Arabiya's innovative daily programme schedule features the region's first early morning business news summary, the first daily market summary, the first programme ever to cover regional corporate news, and the first nightly news programme that covers not only the region's business and economic developments but financial news developments from Europe and America as they impact on the Middle East.

CNBC Arabiya has established bureaus in Beirut, Cairo, Manama and London and is the first international broadcasting organization ever to be permitted to open a news bureau in Saudi Arabia.

In 2004 CNBC Arabiya plans to launch a range of innovative programs to address special market sectors as well as to expand its network of news bureaus to other Middle Eastern and North African countries.