A submission from british audio:
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It's been a while since the state of radio in the UAE had a severe blogging - and so it is with regret that we have to announce the sad demise of decent radio in the region - after a long and painful illness.
Many questions spring to mind: why is the blogosphere devoid of commentaries regarding the future of ARN (what will they re-brand Virgin as now that the name is to disappear) ... and what has happened at Coast FM? Are ADMG/The National really going to launch two or three new stations (and if so, what formats/frequencies/etc.?) and why oh why do the powers that be at Gulf News Broadcasting (Radio 1 and 2) allow their presenters to be so bad at everything they do (with the possible exception of Fadi, but then again, only on occasions)?
I listen daily with interest to the most appalling murder of the English language (pronunciation, word/syllable stress, grammar etc.) from both announcers and supposedly highly paid voice-over specialists with my head in my hands and my hands hovering over the off-switch. You'd have thought that the Gulf NEWS would have a NEWS reader who could pronounce GULF ... instead of GOLF. Who approves the most mindlessly atrocious copy for commercials (which manage to be both patronising and irritating in equal measure - Marks and Spencer lingerie, anyone?) Or any ad. that tells you an offer is only good "'til stocks last" instead of 'while stocks last'?
I am in danger of exacerbating a heart condition every time I swith on - am I the only one, or is this just an anti ITP/Motivate site?
At least help me out and point me in the direction of some decent radio....
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92 comments:
Radio in this country is the worst I've heard anywhere. When I first arrived, I thought I couldn't do any worse than CatBoy and GeordieBird. Now I prefer them over any of the other gooses, particularly on Dubai92. Idiotic Ben & Sarah in the afternoons, Tom Bushell who sounds like he's got a gob full of rice bubbles and the DJ from 'Live at Barasti'... bloody hell.
As for the advertising... Please someone explain to me how it works in this town. Is it just the one company writing these atrocious scripts? It is beyond my comprehension how they get signed off on. Examples: Dubai Dolphinarium, Du's Raamadan Quiz Promo, RTA street sign campaign.
Radio commercials here ARE atrocious. That's because agencies a) treat radio as the bottom of the rung work, so the scripting usually ends up getting thrown at the office tea boy or fresh off the street noob, and b) agencies as we all know will bend over the preverbial barrel and allow the client to dictate copy because they're the ones signing the cheques, rather than the other (and proper) way around.
Let's not even discuss the fact there are hardly any decent copywriters (FOR RADIO) in the country. Writing radio copy is a completely different animal compared to writing for print.
It's quite simple, if you sell oranges for a living, go do that. Let the radio experts sell you on the radio.
Many times, people (usually the client and quite often the agency) think that if they put as much information into their radio ad, they've done the rigth thing. Just like that full page print ad, verbatum, just squeezed into 30 seconds of air time. The only thing that encourages though is to bore the listener to tears or confuse the hell out of them. Eventuallity??... listener switches stations or gets to the point they submlimally "switch off" when commercials come on.
Like I said, radio advertising is completely different to any other form of advertising. They are NOT interchangeable.
Finally, remember where you are. I can count on one hand the amount of big name companies who in the past (last 17 years I've been here) have been willing to 'push the boat out' and put something really good or edgy on air. People here are too scared and conservative and they really lack the knowledge of how to make radio work for them while keeping the listener entertained.
just listen to the bbc world service and download podcasts. easy!
anon 15.41 what a long, boring and pointless comment. next time, keep it short. or better still, fuck off.
anon 21:28 - er, when you say 'pointless', did you read your own invaluable contribution?
Strewth!
anon 18:49 - BBC World only on air from 09.00 to 18.00, so listening to CDs and mp3s is the way to go - podcasts from BBC rdaios 2/4/7 help me out as well. Regarding original post, don't hold your breath - radio here has always been crap, even in the old Capital Radio days of the 80's!
@21:28..lol...hahhahaha. That guy must have written it with so much interest and you s crewed him.
@21:28 lol...hahahaha That guy must have wrote it with so much interest and you s crewed him.
Well anon 15:02, how would you like radio to sound out here then? Just like home?? We all know the answer to that one, don't we?
anon 15:41. Shhhh...run along now little boy.
I bet if ITP launched a new radio station it would be shit.
As a complete outsider to the industry, I get the impression there must me no money in print/radio/advertising for a western audience and that's why the quality is so bad. @15.02 - I agree, the Barasti guy (Max Metcalf?) does my head in. Podcasts for me thanks.
Anyone seen the Mediaweek sample issue from ENG Media? Deserving of a new thread, methinks.
can anyone post the Mediaweek sample? will it last longer than Campaign? i for one am looking forward to it!
It's all part of a political conspiracy. Traffic jams are made longer and longer through deliberate mismanagement of the road system....meaning we all have to listen to more radio....while the radio output is cunningly designed to brainwash us into believing the visionary/iconic/world's biggest (delete as applicable) image of the state.
Up the workers.
mediaweek looks half OK. There has been a gap since ITP and Haymarket 'threw the toys out' and cancelled Campaaign licence. Motivate have done nothing since.....
Withh Ashley running the sales side, they should do alright..
I work in radio in the UAE and i am coming to the end of a three week vacation - my recent absence might account for some of the slip in quality :)
ITP cancelled its Campaign license? That's an interesting take on it. Campaighn will be back. Probably soon.
Campaign relaunches at the end of October
anon 13.32
Of course there's plenty of profit to make in print, radio, advertising, etc. All you have to do is hire monkeys, that way you only have to pay peanuts. Keeps the overheads down and profits up.
are there any decent jobs going in radio or tv broadcasting in dubai.
i'm thinking of moving from london and have a lot of experience with bbc and other major international broadcasters. on and off air.
can anyone point me in the direction of someone i could talk to - agency or iindustry bigwig/ talent scout
I bet if ITP were an Indian, he would be shit.
of course dahhling , it is those dam Indians. stinky bastards. Those curry eating buggers.
responsible for everything thats wrong in the country.
u said it mate.
look what they did to good ole blighty
buggered the bloody place up
good gosh
yeah yiu said it mate, those dam subcons, those pakis , those sri lankans , gawd they are all over the place yeah yeah . those dams ayrabs . oops sorry
Can we have a topic about things we rate, think are good, have been surprised about...
There must have been something.
The good things may be few and far between, but we learn as much if not more by acknowledging something as good and analysing it, as we do tearing things down.
Go on. Let's try. A thread where we do not publish anything negative.
There are indeed some shockingly bad people employed by the radio stations here. Where do they find these people?
And what is going on with reception of Coast fm? Why is the reception and coverage so bad? It really is appalling.
The standards here are bad but the best of the bunch is Channel 4 FM...that is until "Wacky" DJ Mo comes on.
so what was the take on Campaign and ITP that caused them to lose the licence the night before the inaugural awards?
To anon 15.08
I have reported your comment to the TRA. Hopefully they will find you - I am told by my contacts at Etisalat that you used a work server.
If you are smart (though clearly you are an ignorant dickhead), you will get on the plane before you get tapped on the shoulder. Because that will happen by Sunday.
As for DMO I am amazed you are openly promoting racism on your wesbsite. Pathetic but not surprising - I know one moderator and he is definitely racist.
There is a new news reader on Dubai Eye, Preeti Malik. Her voice is so annoying and is not a news reader's voice at all! Who did she bang to get the job I wonder?
And the adverts on the radio.... could the people advertising the stuff at least PRETEND to sound enthusiastic.
There are so many radio stations here that they crowd the FM band; yet at times, the quality is better if you just listen to dead air.
To anon 15.08
I have reported your comment to the TRA. Hopefully they will find you - I am told by my contacts at Etisalat that you used a work server.
I don't know how that one got through - probably when I mass approved a stack of comments. It's now deleted.
But reporting it to the TRA? For fuck's sake, what are you, the school hall monitor?
For the record, the 15:08 comment basically blamed "Indians" for the state of the media in the UAE, as well as everything else in the UAE.
Personally I'd blame useless proprietors hiring crap journalists and fucking up the journalists they have got, the majority of these journalists are probably Indian but that's only reflective of labour/population patterns here.
Read any of India's main newspapers and they shit on most UAE publications, whoever is writing them.
And while we're at it, Anon @ 22:38, people who say things like "my contacts at Etisalat tell me" in the context of getting information on someone to have them thrown out of the country are pure assholes. If anything is wrong here it's the idea that if you know certain people you can screw anyone, or have them punished on your behalf if they happen to annoy you. Like the kid at school who was always telling everyone his big brother was going to get them.
The comment about Indians being the cause was out of line but trying to scare someone by suggesting you can track them down and they better run is shameful Stalinist bully tactics.
So, anyway, could we have a poll allowing us to vote for the worst FM station in the region? (Let's not forget our poor friends in Qatar who have to listen to QBS...)
To moderator:
You are asking me not to report this to TRA yet you let this stuf through:
yeah yiu said it mate, those dam subcons, those pakis , those sri lankans , gawd they are all over the place yeah yeah . those dams ayrabs . oops sorry
Its clear that DMO is actively spreading racism.
As for the posting deleted whom I reported to TRA and tracked down the server address, its not bullying. As far as Im concerned people like that are parasites in our society and deserve what they get.
As for the posting deleted whom I reported to TRA and tracked down the server address, its not bullying.
You're absolutely illiterate, so if you do work for the media, then you should be sacked.
And server address? Well that will narrow it down to probably the entire workforce at some organisation. Best of luck!
14:33 how exactly did you 'track them'? Do you have access to google's servers?
Who cares about the TRA, they can't do anything except press the block button. big deal.
for all this furore - the original poster was right...Indians are to blame. John Wayne had a terrible time with them back in the 60's and 70's. General Custer had some issues too from what i gather :D
your missing the point - why is DMO openly encouraging racism?
is it because the moderators were such failures in the UK they had to come here?
And you have no understanding of the principles of individual free speech.
Revvinjohn or wahtever his name is on virgin has to be the worst although its a close call between him and steve johnson on radio 2.
Journalists celebrate 1st anniversary of Mohammed Bin Rashid's decree not to imprison journalists.
Dubai Press Club in association with UAE Journalists Union organised yesterday a Ramadan Majlis to celebrate the first anniversary of the decree by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The Majlis was addressed by Mohammed Yousef, Chairman of the Journalists Union, Abdul Hamid Ahmed, Chief Editor, Gulf News and Abdul Hamid Kamiyati, Attorney and Legal Expert.
The participants praised the decree and said it was a major step forward. They demanded to go slow in approving the draft law and to discuss it with concerned sections before issuing it.
Go slow what?
This is indeed a city of celebrations.
I don't think you can tar journalists with the company brush. I've read Time Out and I've read Viva. Same company (ITP) and while Time Out is formuiaic and fairly useless, Viva has some inspired, decent writing and looks the part. I've read IQ and just seen the new Mediaweek dummy (both Emirates Neon). IQ looks seriously good, Mediaweek looks seriously tired. My point is that there are some good writers/editors/designers out here, but they vary within company. Maybe the editorial directors of Viva/IQ are better than those on Time Out/Mediaweek? But to say ITP are rubbish overlooks some of the talent there. Then again, Motivate... not sure there's any talent there any more!
To Anon at 14.33 - it is blindingly obvious that you have failed to grasp the concept of:
a) free speech
b) irony
c) sarcasm
d) spell-check
As such, I agree with other posters that you do not deserve to participate on this site. Are you really in 'media' and if so, why???
Yep, radio sucks here. But nothing, NOTHING, is as bad as G*Nice's column in Friday magazine. I can't bear to read it, but I can't bear not to.
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Environment/10247938.html
More parody from Gulf News...priceless
to anon 2.07
I'm all for free speech but I don't believe that should be an excuse for racism. You are obviously too thick to understand that. Prick.
Anon 14:28 - Neither do I. However, the posting you orginally replied to has been pulled, and your subsequent rantings have missed the deliberate sarcasm of other posters. Perhaps you are too wraped up in your own self-importance to think that anyone else is entitled to an opinion. Resorting to juvenile name-calling is hardly the action of a reasoned mind, and I must confess that being called a 'prick' hardly has me quaking in my boots.
I have just one question for you guys, if you think you are so good then why are you working in Dubai?
Anon @ 14:28
I'm sure you are "all for" free speech when it provides you the right to call people pricks. The point is, you need to be all for it when pricks are saying things you don't like, or don't agree with.
Ostensibly, to avoid sanctimonious cunts like you. Truthfully, for the sunshine and the opportunity to wear linen suits all year round. Also, waking up is easier knowing that tonight I don’t have to catch the 11:10 Vomit Express from Charing Cross sat across from a dead-eyed, corporate desk-ornament festering inside a Next Directory suit.
Anon @ 21:42
We don't think we're that great, and like most people we work for pay. There are a lot of challenges working here of course but if you can take a broad view and not see it as all about you or your particular publication you can deal with it. Some better than others. But "if you're so good why are you in Dubai" seems like a childish and churlish statement. Probably from someone who came here and had a bad experience.
Forget the linen suits, the sunshine and the 'broader view', all of you - and i mean all of you - are here simply because you all failed to make it in even your own villages. You all are here because only in this region you will get a proper job in a proper company - and that my friends is a fact which everyone knows.
28/09/08@23:04
makes a true point. The fact that none of you can hold an intellectual debate according to the thread shows that in every post all you want to do is churn out your sanctimonious bile. Have you now realised that even this country sees you as being crap? Is it so bad for you that you can't even cut the mustard here so you keep on firing missiles against ITP. Oh my god, if you wanted to show how bad you are just keep going in your pathetic jobs rather than pretend you have an ounce of intelligence and came to this country to 'save' it from the crap. We all know that everyone in this field of work is getting away from 'something' in their lives back home...so lets be honest....we came here and we saw that actually these guys don't have a clue either, so why bother. Even if you really did care you probably wouldn't be able to do anything anyway so , heh, what's the point? However, on a personal note, I would have thought anyone with an ounce of a brain in this country would look after themselves because it would appear that is all you need to get to a higher status in any company
Anon @ 23:04
You must have been really trampled here. To spend so much time on this blog always saying the same thing - "you couldn't make it in your own countries" - suggests you have some scars from your time here. I hope you get over it soon and move on. Don't feel so bad that you couldn't cut it here, it's only because you were too good. I'm sure you're a big star in your own village.
And "my friends"? You sound like John McCain. Only less in touch with reality.
I was a very proud village idiot at home but now I am very successful at AMG
Christ! How fucking empty does your life have to be to write something like that?
What's wrong with having a proper job in a proper company anyway?
Just to re-cap there 'Anon 23:04', by all of us, did you mean ALL of us?
You sad fuck.
"...Also, waking up is easier knowing that tonight I don’t have to catch the 11:10 Vomit Express from Charing Cross sat across from a dead-eyed, corporate desk-ornament festering inside a Next Directory suit.
28th Sept 10:06..."
LOL!
Forget about that idiot - he gets on every thread and posts the same thing, no matter what the topic. Then he says "must have touched a nerve" when everyone calls him a cock.
Anon at 7:21 is right, he must have got his heart broken here and can't get over it.
And this bit (same guy I think): "The fact that none of you can hold an intellectual debate according to the thread shows that in every post all you want to do is churn out your sanctimonious bile."
An intellectual debate? DMO 'aint pretending to be intellectual.
And what's your post if not sanctimonious bile?
So what you guys are saying is that you left your cushy, high paying City job to come here to work? You all were so good back home but you decided to come to this region? Somehow, it doesn't look that way. Anybody who is even slightly good will never ever come here to work. Only average or below average come to this part of the world because they have no other option. Do yourself a favour and accept this fact.
So what you are saying is that YOU are shit at what YOU do,got fired from your cushy job in the city, not welcome anymore in the village you grew up in?
I just came here because I was bored.
18:11 - you are wrong.
I was going to explain why, but I got bored just thinking about it.
So cut to the punch line: you really are a very sad little man.
Radio journalism:
Urban Madness
I came here because I thought the job ad said Dublin. I'm now a top proofreader...
I love how you all have such great knowledge of the radio industry and make such great comments.
We all came here for different reasons, some failed,some bored, some to follow others, some to take time out etc etc etc.
All I know is I love my job and have done for quite a while here now.
Some have made bad and good comments about my shows and thats great, any feed back good or bad is taken on board.
The Radio Industry overall is in a mess all over the world not just here.
Ppl think that we get paid with huge amounts of cash, I can tell this is not true.
Anyone with children who works for a radio station doesn't get school fees paid and some don't get living allowance.
At the moment we have 7 English speaking stations and more to come.
So I say continue to put your post your points, it keeps me in a job.
Have a nice day now !!!
Hmmmm, 05:42, that's early - you must be a Breakfast Show presenter. One question: if there are seven English language stations AND more to come, where is the advertising revenue going to come from to pay you your pittance (without school fees/living allowance - what, you mean just like the real world)?
A station that is well managed, well staffed and aimed at the aspiring professional (i.e. intelligent radio - not this self-promoting, idiotic juvenile style of broadcasting with presenters continually vomiting up a diet of patronising crap that we have now - on all 7 stations) is the only one I would listen to - BBC World anyone?
One that doesnt say "how cool is that?" every link would be enough for now.
Apparantly the breakfast dj has re named radio 2 prizes fm !!!
I could come up with a few more appropriate suggestions.
Ok so lets break down who you like and dislike and then we can maybe move forward and fix the problem.
And don't just say DJ XXXXXX because he or she is stupid.
At least give a good reason why you like or dislike this person or their show
OK, with the benefit of the 'anonymous' button firmly switched on: Steve Johnston's return to the airwaves has reminded me how much I dislike presenters who: can't pronounce the capital city's name/can't complete a sentence without mentioning themselves/can't play tracks all the way through/can't remember to tell the listeners the names of the songs played/can't read English... shall I go on?
Podcasts and BBC World Service will do fo me thanks :)
His voice pitch is up and down alot,like someone is squeezing his nuts.No idea what he is saying though as its usually over the top of a song and likely to be about himself.
I'd hazzard a guess that radio is the one industry in the UAE where those twats who constantly post things like "You're only here 'cos you couldn't get a job in the UK" are probably right.....
08:19, I'd hazard a guess you're a duke...
You guys are seriously bitchingly funny! I even read the papers differently since I found this blog, trying to spot some high quality writing that I could tag "DMO-contributor." Or just some IRL bitchiness, shining through reports on the next iconic landmark.
What is so special about IQ, I wonder.
Ok so only one person mentioned, hmm I wonder why.
Ok lets break it down a bit more:
Radio 1 I don't always like the music but some presenters are ok and sound good to listen to.
Radio 2 I love the music but find the presenters a bit cheesy at times.
Virgin well seems to be run with a very tight formatt but needs more personality.
Dubai 92/ FM Is all over the place at the moment with a Breakfast duo husband and wife who just seem to out to blagg for anything they can and pull down Dubai.
Channel 4 FM always sounds good with tight sounding presenters, I like Neil and Vicky and Josh.
Coast needs to fix the reception, but I think it will sound great once that is fixed, they have a new line up with Chris Rose and Chris Fisher joining from Dubai FM, and already have Rick and Daniel doing the Breakfast show.
Dubai Eye needs to decide if it wants to be a profesional talk station or re think its output.
Thats my opinion on all the english stations, so what's your thoughts now
ok my rundown.
Radio 1.Dont like the music so never listen.Great if you like hip hip and R and B. Reminds me of?Choice in London.
Radio 2. Presentation very poor. Music nothing special.Please stop saying "classic hits" and then play mika.Reminds me of?Light fm Lebanon (sometimes).
Virgin.A nice addition to Dubai if you are 13 years old and like hearing Rianna (sp?) every 10 minutes.Presentation very poor.Reminds me of?Drivel.
Dubai Eye.Has it's good and bad days. Recommended listening is the James P guy at night.I think I will pass on the rest. Reminds me of?Nothing.
Channel 4fm.Somebody said the best of the bunch earlier.Seconded.Very listenable station with adventurous music.Ch4 have pulled their socks up in the last few years. Only criticism is can be too many commercials but a private station has to survive in the market.Reminds me of? Nova Australia and Virgin London.
Coast.Some familiar names but simply cannot listen with such poor reception.Suffers from an identity crisis.What happened to deano?Reminds me of?Hospital radio.
Who will go next?
Re: Anon @ 14:46 ...." they have a new line up with Chris Rose and Chris Fisher joining from Dubai FM, and already have Rick and Daniel doing the Breakfast show "
That's the problem, right there:- all these names have been going round and round the stations for years now. It goes like this: Get a job on the radio in Dubai/realise it sucks/go to another station/realise it sucks... continue ad nauseum from Channel 4 to Radio 1 & 2 to 92FM to Free FM to Coast. And then they do the same show. Over and over again. With the same records. We need new fresh intelligent blood out here!
92.00 – Awful, there’s room for a station like this but they need to drag themselves out of the 80s.
Dubai Eye 103.8 – Biz Breakfast is excellent and hampered only by terrible advertising (but then so are all shows on all stations). Jessica and Akhtar should call it a day, the lack of research or knowledge on seemingly any subject makes for painful listening and should be replaced by the James Pico-whatssit show or something similar. The evening sport show is pretty good, Tom pulls in some good pundits and Peter Redding is nicely articulate.
Coast: Has potential to be a really popular station, currently sounds like a 15-year olds’ pirate radio station broadcast from the spare bedroom.
Anon @ 9:32 - That's not fair ... most pirate stations created in bedrooms by 15 year-olds are much better :)
radio 1 - vastly improved since jeff price ran it into the ground. it would appear the jocks are picking most of the non-billboard 100 tunes. slowly carving out a niche
radio 2 - bland, but what would you expect from a 'classic hits' station: its easy to sell a top ten station to advertisers so hey ho, whatever. steve johnson is very annoying in a presenters role however.
92 - i've heard that mid-nineties throwback andy hosie has left for pastures unknown. not a bad thing as 92 needed direction - not sure if the change in music policy is the right direction but at least that terrible newsum left.
virgin - yaaaaaawn. i didnt think so many boring people could be found to work in the same place - quite an achievement. virgin is lucky to be able to trade on its name. playlist radio for those who dont care.
dubai eye - lacks quality throughout. good breakfast show, good late night show - nothing else really works if you ask me. i agree with the guy above: it needs to decide how serious it wants to be
coast - waste of time really. we have radio 2 and now 92 going the same way. what's the point in the coast?
channel 4 - my radiio preset only has 6 options so i dont listen to channel 4.
Problem with getting fresh talent on the radio here is simple:
Back a number of years ago it was considered a backwards career move to come here to do radio. Now, everyone wants out of their home countries and Dubai is firmly 'on the map' but, as someone mentioned earlier the money in radio is very poor, so the ones who are pretty decent and would come - can't afford to.
If the UAE had listening data and the stations were forced to sell on 'cost per thousand' then the situation would improve very quickly!!
To anon at 18:14 :
That has to be the most bizzare comment!
"my radiio preset only has 6 options so i dont listen to channel 4"
But right before it you said "coast - waste of time really. we have radio 2 and now 92 going the same way. what's the point in the coast?"
You also diss Virgin and Radio 2. How about replacing one of those presets with channel 4fm so that you can draw a conclusion?
anon @ 8.56
"firmly on the map"?as what?
@anon 15:26
i wasnt aware this was an offical critique of the UAE's english language stations - i was under the impression it was a thread for people to complain about stuff they dont much care for. if you want to pay me a few dirhams thus commisioning my time i would gladly listen without interuption and deliver to you (upon recipt of said dirhams) a full dossier detailing output across the board.
until such time that we have drawn up a contract i suggest you shut the hell up and let people have thier opinions.
When I am in US listening to Sirius XM Radio has such a diverese selection of music and even better talk radio:
That has spoiled terrestrial radio for me. I just tolerate regular FM radio now. The Satellite Radio So damn nice on long road trips or even on the hellish commute. Have learned of so many new comedians and new bands with songs & artists displayed on the screen. Don't have to depend on the idiot DJ to tell me that info. Also it has Crystal clear more than CD quality sound not like here they one of station say “clear across the Emirates” and u cannot listen even near SZH road. I miss my Sirius XM Radio.
@anon 18:52
here's an opinion, you sound like a wanker.
Thing is with working in Dubai - sure some people will be pushed into wage brackets and positions they could only dream of back home.
However, that doesn't mean they are useless humps. There is certainly some talent in Dubai.
But, what is clear in Dubai is that standards are pretty low and 'competition' for jobs stilted in favour of white, english speaking, heterosexual westerners. Then think of who would be attracted to Dubai. If you are a successful intelligent media worker who has made it in the West why would you want to live in Dubai? To rub shoulders with Jim Davidson and his constituency? I think not.
Most media workers will find, upon return to the West, that they are far off the pace. That they've deskilled themselves, de-talented themselves, working for idiot or spiv proprietors.
The ones that don't return are trapped in Dubai by bank loans and the fear - misplaced or not - that they simply won't cut it back home.
I believe anyone thinking of working in Dubai should arrive with a clear strategy - get what you need and get the hell out. There are dozens of places with better weather, better people, more opportunities, more freedoms, that will engage and stimulate in equal measure.
And don't forget the golden rule - ITP are shit.
Rich people like Abdullatif Al Sayegh’s, who own Arab Media Group's ...TV Stations, newspapers and cable networks, radio stations and magazines.
Please give us Multi-Talented dj’s who can connect the dots between the eras. Give us some elements of surprise instead of the same 10 songs playing for 3 months straight...."VIRGIN RADIO DUBAI 104.4 is playing ten hits in a row! "
Abdullatif Al Sayegh does not own AMG. He is CEO. And if you talk on air the way you write, go look for another job.
Interestingly, Virgin Radio's morning show host has, according to front page of Emarat Al Ayoum Oct 22, been fired. However, all leaks from said station say he's been suspended. Interesting eh? Emarat Al Ayoum + Virgin = AMG, yet nothing from any of AMG's other brands on the matter.
And it begs the question...is this front page news?
Update for anon 10:56
Virgin Morning show presenter Revin John has been released of his duties with immediate effect. This apperantly stems from him airing a pre-recorded "joke" in which he communicates to God, asking Him what was on his agenda. The deep voice over replied "world peace, Madonna and Britney." That's just part of the gag, but you get the gist of it. It appears Haks aren't the only ones here who can easily get the sack for their "public" mistakes, eh?
Administrator, This topic may be worthy of its own thread.
Virgin radio104.4fm &Channel 4FM are best family fm in uae.
The listeners of these FM are from different nationality.Good music
&Good presentation
GOLD 101.3 FM a new FM radio station in Malayalam will be officially launched in the UAE on October 2.The listeners of these FM are different nationality good music.And others Music listeners are enjoyed.
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