WAM Dubai, Sep. 7, 2009 (WAM) -- The ownership of Al-Bayan Press, Publishing and Printing Establishment is to shift to Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI). H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a decree ordering the transfer of the ownership of the Dubai-based establishment with effect from the date of issuance of the decree.
The decree calls for the transfer of all assets, properties, commitments and rights of Al-Bayan to the DMI and so shall Al-Bayan's staff and workers to boost media work and unify the efforts of media practice for better services to the general public. The decree which takes effect from the date of its issuance is to be published in the official gazette.
With the transfer of Al-Bayan ownership, the DMI, which already has under its umbrella five TV channels, has further expanded to include Al-Bayan, which has become by virtue of the new decree an integral part of the DMI family, which includes Dubai TV, Sama Dubai, Dubai One, Dubai Sports Channel and Dubai Racing.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
Wam Bam Al-Bayan
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Its a tricky one but, reading between the lines, I suspect this means that ITP are a bunch of c@nts.
am i bovvered or interested.
shakey mo can decree what he likes.
re-positioning a failing newspaper pales into insignificaznce compared to the psychotic overdevelopment that has ruined the shoreline and disfigured dubai for ever.
A move about politics, not profit - Maktoob Business,
http://bit.ly/162XW2
Well, hopefully the success of Dubai Metro will make up for any lasting damage that ITP has done in Dubai.
What?
The crisis might have hit the bottom although marketers are still sceptical. A CEO of an outdoor advertising company yesterday told me the bottom is still far from sight.
Either way, this does not mean that bankruptcies, shut downs and lay offs are over. For some they might just have begun. The media sector has definitely taken a massive hit, but the major problem here is that no one wants to talk.
Yesterday, Al Bayan was shifted from Arab Media Group to Dubai Media Incorporated, by a decree. The newspaper generated revenue, and still succeeded to secure advertising income since the beginning of the downturn.
The outlook is not as sunny for the others in the group. There is not one analyst in the market that doubts that print is the second victim following close behind outdoor media.
Journalists at Emarat Al Youm and Emirates Business are wondering what is to become of their jobs. Rumours are flying around, and they are expecting the worst. This worst is said would be as close as the end of Ramdan.
Different scenarios are being guessed:
1- ARN to move to TECOM while Emirates Business and Emarat Al Youm to shut down
2- The rest of AMG including EB24-7 and Emrata Al Youm and ARN to be incorporated into DMI
The major question here whether the downturn is
the real factor to blame the decline on, or whether there are some other factors, which although are present for any discussion and speculation continue to be denied on the more senior levels.
Noted that Emarat Al Youm has been shut down for 20 days by a Fedral Court ruling, and is currently facing several other defamation cases that might cost the newspaper quite dearly.
Don't really understand this. Dmi does what? Failing tv stations.... So takes over a failing paper? Or am I missing something? And is this akin to Gordon brown deciding the sun should be owned by the treasury? Excuse my ignorance please (blame itp?)
So Al Bayan has been taken away from AMG? What does this mean for them?
Who owns Khaleej Times - not DMI?
This is interesting because it shows that Arab Media Group is being stripped off the assets that it manages. Wonder why this is happening? Poor performance? But, on the surface it looks like Abdul Latif's Emipre is being dismantled.
Agree! ITP has done big damage to Dubai's reputation and should be confiscated!
I remember it being handed to AMG back in 2005. He giveth and he taketh away...
Does anyone know James McLean, bylined in the Times recently? His most recent article sounds like a Dubai newbie's email home to Mummy and Daddy.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/world_agenda/article6833950.ece
An article on the Arabian Business website yesterday alleging one of the Saudi patriarchs involved in this whole Saad/AHAB financial meltdown forged a dying man's signature appears to have been pulled. Orders from above?
It's only a matter of time before ITP gets shut down and the bosses sent packing back to the UK.
Hey mods,
can we have a new thread please.
http://blogs.thenational.ae/beep_beep/2009/10/the-state-of-the-uae-newspaper.html
surley worth a new thread...
http://blogs.thenational.ae/beep_beep/2009/10/the-state-of-the-uae-newspaper.html
surely worth a new thread...
http://blogs.thenational.ae/beep_beep/2009/10/the-state-of-the-uae-newspaper.html
www.bbc.co.uk/middleeast/news/dubaimediaobserveriswank.html
Surely worth a new thread?
Going back to the fifth comment. The second scenario has now come true. EM24/7 and Emarat al Youm has been moved to the DMI.
Lessons to be learnt:
BE PROFESSIONAL Please!
Do not sack people and fill the newspapers with friends (The Business Editor was recently sacked for speaking the truth)
This is the only newspaper where there are several editors for different sections (most of them useless)
Anyone interested by the new direction of Emirates Business?
At the moment it uses a lot of business PR copy about mergers/deals etc which is slightly tiresome for the mainstream reader. I don't mean this in any disrespect to the journalists who work there.
However, if they used the existing design with more mainstream local news, they could really shake up the market.
Personally I'm really looking forward to seeing how things work out for the title.
is the media scene in dubai really as dead as it seems from the dearth of comment on this.
media hub ??
Just in - an USA based documentary team have created a fly-on-the-wall style show about the managers at ITP - here's the first part
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NisCkxU544c.
New Thread Please.
MEDIA FACTORY TO CLOSE DOORS!!!!
news just in from the shop floor is that the Media Factory has lost its only profit making magazine, the Inflight Magazine for Qatar Airways, Oryx. Apparently the contract has been moved to a publishing house in London.
It is common knowledge industry wide that Oryx is the only magazine that generates a profit for them, and its loss now leaves them utterly reliant on the generosity of its CEO Rany. Just how much money is one man prepared to spend to indulge his wife's hobby? I'd be surprised if it extended to the millions it will cost to keep TMF afloat.
Now the Golden Goose has gone how can they possibly survive, unless of course their Publishing Guru Russell Frame (the Robert Maxwell of the Dubai Media World - in that he is fat, abnoxious and operates with scant regard for the law) can save the day with Arabian Interactive. A website that offers as much to the on-line generation as a ZX Spectrum.
The prospects seem slim for Dubai's ...ahem...3 biggest publishing house.
Ha-Ha R.I.P. TMF couldn't of happened to a more useless bunch of c*nts.
I cant imagine there will be much of a void left in the world of media by their departure.
Then again perhaps our new Mall magazine might prove to be their saviour, another genius money making magazine from the team that makes loss making magazine publishing an art form.
Anyone hiring at the moment??
Who the fuck are TMF, and who cares if they go bust, unless of course the are secretly a division of ITP.
sounds to me like they could be...
Crap management, crap magazines, losing money. Yep they certainly tick the boxes.
Weird to think that they still dont have a website....
Actually, nor do Motivate. Has Fairservice been stuck in the 1990's and not realised that a couple of websites could add a million dollars a year to his bottom line?
I heard they cannned their plans for launching the Whats On portal......big mistake.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091020/NATIONAL/710199816/1010
An exclusive story by the National about a leaked ministry of interior document claiming that illegal immigration is on the rise.
The story has now been removed after the EIC of Emarat Al Youm wrote an angry piece about the article, saying it harms national security and serves the interests of those who want to break the law.
He blamed foreign EICs in the UAE's newspapers for this. His argument was that only an Emirati EIC would have known not to publish this.
what's up in khaleej times.. who the hell is in charge there. is rahul still around
TMF's Dunkirk spirit!!
As it happens I recently bumped into TMF's Russell Frame, not physically thankfully given his ample girth (I would like to wish both he and Andrea all the best with their pregnancies), and he seemed in fine form. Although judging by the ketchup on his face and the wrappers on the table in front of him that may have been because he had just finished 4 Big Macs Meals.
He told me 'his' company was doing great, however went on to suggest that TMF was 'restructuring' and this trend looked likely to continue through till Christmas. I guess that means staff can look forward to a nice long winter break!!
Therefore I believe announcing their demise is premature.
TMF will survive by doing what all media companies in Dubai do and that's initiate a slash and burn policy on costs. They will dump their staff and cut their print runs.
An inside source has already let slip they no longer BPA audit their magazines and this allows them to print less less than a 1000of each titles. Nice, unless you're one of the fools duped into paying for advertising.
Given they only have 3 or 4 titles left, further restructing will mean they can run on the same cost as ITP spend on toilet roll each month.
So don't write TMF off just yet!!! Even tho they will be reduced to being staffed by just its illustrious management team with a photocopier and handing out leaflets, they will never stop being Dubai's 3rd biggest publishing house.
At least thats what TMF are telling us.
apart from http://www.themediafactory.ae/
The UAE - and the entire Gulf - continues to sink in the press freedom rankings of RSF. Here's what RSF says:
"There was unfortunately little evolution in the Gulf states, where there is an almost complete absence of independent media. The ruling families have a monopoly of radio and TV and the printing and distribution of newspapers, and self-censorship is systematic."
From RSF's report:
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates is one of the best connected countries in the region, alongside Bahrain and Qatar. The government generally blocks content that “harms Islam”. Pornography, gambling and homosexuality are taboo subjects on the Internet, but it is not unusual to find websites made inaccessible for political reasons. Criticism of the government is also a very sensitive issue.
The appeal court in Ras al Khaimah on 20 January 2008 quashed all charges against the owner of the website www.majan.net, Muhammad Rashed Shehhi, who was sued for “defamation” over an “offensive” comment posted on his site by an Internet user. Muhammad Rashed Shehhi had been sentenced on 8 August 2007 to one year in prison and a fine equivalent to 15,000 euros. During his appeal hearing in October, the prosecutor had called for a five-month prison sentence against him.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has called on the national telecommunications company, Etisalat, to block access to all websites with an Israeli domain name (.il). But not all pro-Israel sites are censored. The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) is, for example, accessible. Social networking sites are also targeted for censorship, such as Hi5, Facebook, Friendster, and all those websites that host dating services such as Yahoo! Personals and Match.com.
Some websites are inaccessible because of Saudi Arabian censorship since the two countries share an information channel. Since the start of 2008, the Saudi communications authority has ordered the closure of some websites because of their content dealing with religious affairs or morals. The website on blog hosting and design Onix.com has been inaccessible since December. The blog of Eve, a Saudi woman who cover the rights of women and religious affairs in the country, has suffered the same fate.
It's so sad to see the demise of Dubai's publishing companies and media in general in this so sad way... Hahahahahaaaa hahahahahahaa hahahhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!.... sorry, I do apologise but I normally express my sorrow in this way...
A mate at The National just sent me this memo: apparently they are "knocking the socks off the competition" -- at least when it comes to promoting Abu Dhabi.
To all staff:
I would like to take a moment to commend several colleagues who in recent days exemplified what makes this paper so great.
Sharjah Plane Crash:
Within minutes of the Sudanese plane crash last week, Roland Hughes was on the case, and Yasin Kakande, Hugh Naylor, and Wafa Issa stepped up to report without anyone asking them to. They worked through the night--Wafa even managing to get reporting on a deadly car crash in Jebel Ali in between, and Praveen, in Sudan, managing to get reaction locally on the plane and its pilots. We knocked the socks off the competition for several days straight and lived up to our reputation as the region's quality English-language newspaper.
It was The National at its best: timely, thoughtful, accurate and inspiring. And just as important, it exemplified the level of team work, cooperation and self-starting nature that makes normally good journalism excellent.
F1 Supplement:
Distributed in your newspapers today, you will have noticed perhaps the most comprehensive piece of coverage on F1, put together by Matt Slater and Jonathan Gornall, with Ulrike Oehm, Roland Hughes, Daniel the Machine Bardsley, Graham Caygill and others. People are raving about the F1 supplement for good reason: it's the best yet. And it was all done while all the guys worked their day jobs too, and on relatively short notice.
Both these teams are an example for all of us of the hard work, teamwork and organization it takes to make The National excellent.
Thanks to all of you.
Hassan
Amusing. I think they'll find Arabian Business was the first to get comment from the civil aviation authority, and the first to get the death toll up. Reuters was faster too. What were the National's several hundred reporters doing then?
I also note they nicked the initial reports off Twitter, but didn't bother to credit it.
If its true that TMF have slashed all their print runs does anyone know if their business title .Commerce is still BPA audited?
Any failure to print a minimum number of copies 'may' leave them open to breaching any endoresement agreement with the ADCCI, which would effectively be defrauding them!!!!
Now that's potentially one way to beat the recession - defraud the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry but I don't think I'd have the stomach for it, then again, Russell Frame of TMF certainly isn't lacking in the stomach department...
Its true, TMF do have a website, where you can subscribe to such illustrious magazines as 442, Kempinski, Location, Oryx and Dubai Racing 2003. Oh no wait a minute, you can't because they closed them all!
Its always nice to see a media company embrace the new digital medium, fully appreciating the need to stay up to date.
With so few magazines to publish maybe now you'll have the time to update your site and focus a little more on the web, you useless shower of c*cks.
why doesnt anyone ask the obvious questions about the national? how many copies are printed? how is it distributed? who buys it? or even looks at it? i bet only a few hundred copies of this non newspaper exist. but if you said that publicly youd end up in the creek in abu dhabi with a concrete tyre around your neck. hassan is an amiable, fat and thick cretin who was a discredited nobody on the nyt, who is paid a fortune to 'edit' this silly rag because he was the only half competent arab hack headhunters could find. by the way, where is the fraud martin newland now? counting his money i bet.
If TMF are ripping of the Abu Dhabi government, does that mean we will soon be watching footage on youtube of angry rich sheikhs driving over media luvvies in the dessert?
Now thats entertainment!
anon @ 5.20 - why do you care so much about the national? it's a newspaper, it's good, it's bad, it's ok. i pick it up and read it when it's around or look at it online and don't see what the big deal is. What are you expecting every day? a sheikh slaying expose of dirty dealings, scandal and corruption? the news here is about traffic and construction and lifestyle and events and business. who cares if people get well paid to put a newspaper out? it's just one way to get information, not like we depend on it to for our world view.
If Arabian Business puts another Exclusive tag on a complete non-story I may throw up.
What is going on there?
TMF carried out a round of firings today to avoid having to pay redundancies, with a series of trumped up charges directed at once loyal staff.
The allegations surround alleged conduct that led to the loss of Oryx magazine.
What management fail to appreciate is that TMF lost Oryx because they are an arrogant, shit publishing house that have no idea how to run a succesful media company.
At least ITP have the decency to make staff redundant. TMF are managed primarily by people that are merely playing at being businessmen and unfortunately those games have serious consequences on the lives of the staff they treat like shit.
It is only a matter of time before this mickey mouse publishing house disappears into the cesspit of Dubai's Media toilet, and I for one, will be pissing myself laughing.
Good luck finding another job when your sad little publishing empire comes crashing down Russell, I'm sure the other media houses of Dubai are queuing up to hire your unique skill set. Then again there are other options, the Doleh family could probably do with a new foot stool at home.
The Media Factory just let a bunch of their staff go, looks like the ship is sinking.
Anyone want to take a sweep stake on what and when their next closure will be?
It can't be far away now but could quite literally be any one of there remaining titles.....
Wait a minute, do they still have any titles?
Whether TMF is run by a "shower of c*cks" or not, there are a few remaining decent members of staff still in employment. The abuse the company is now receiving, from the demise of their leading title, should not be aimed at these staffers, or for that matter affect their credibility.
I work at the TMF business, and i tell you whot. They ar a very very good companies wiv great leaders and lots and lots of good ideas about things and magazines.
I think it is meen and unfair to talk bad about them and I know they will do very great things in the future time, you all just see and watch.
Andrea Slater
Russell Frame is not a foot stool he is just a stool!!!
Funny you should mention TMF. Not entirely sure what hey do other than two inflight titles. But I have heard stories from people who work there - mostly people talking to me when looking for a way out. Is it true they clock in/out, are chained to their desks (ITP-style) and have to practically put their hands up for a loo break? on the flip side, I understand they pay well. Were recently looking for senior staff, and were budgeting around 40-50k for an editorial director?
To the TMF staffer that feels their credibility is now being tarnished by the abuse the company is receiving.
I'm sure you wish to defend your professional reputation but unfortunately i doubt it will be through the quality of the work you currently produce.
TMF publish nothing of any great note and are currently in this position because of the quality of their work.
TMF don't publish 2 inflight magazines they publish only 1, Sawasdee, the Thai Air mag, and it loses money hand over fist. They are tied into that contract for at least another 18 months and at this rate, that will cost them at least a couple of million dirham in losses.
As for paying staff well, that simply isn't true they are incredibly cheap, and the idea of hiring a new editorial director is even less likely given their only money making mag is now gone.
They recently fired staff rather than made them redundant because they can't afford to keep them on and have no money to pay redundancies.
They do make the staff clock in and out and stifle any creativity out of their staff, but what do you expect when you look at their management. Of their entire board not one of them has any media experience outside TMF.
The company only exists as a product of one womans ego and her husbands wallet.
TMF dont pay well, treat their staff like garbage and publish fewer magazines each month.
In short they are one of Dubai's smallest publishing houses soon to be forgotten.
Goodbye TMF we'll miss you!
given TMF have just fired a bunch of their staff i'd be very surprised if they are hiring.
Also TMF salaries are about 20% lower than the big 2 publishing houses, so they certainly don't pay well.
Anyone i know that has worked at TMF talk of the management being clueless and one in particular treating the staff with total contempt, so it sounds like ur average Dubai publishing house only cheaper.
Nobody from The National is going to get on here and stand up for Hassan? Or does everybody agree he's an "amiable, fat and thick cretin"?
^ People have better things to do than get involved in endless, silly arguments
New thread:
Dear friends and colleagues,
As many of you know I was in Dubai for the past year working for the Arabic satellite channel Al Arabiya, where I was in charge of the English website. Unfortunately journalists in Dubai and and the Arab media more generally do not enjoy the same freedom of the press as journalists in the U.S. Earlier this month when I refused to compromise my journalistic principles and compromise my credibility, which I have spent the past decade building, I was laid off.
Yesterday I arrived back in Washington after being forced out over an article about Emirates Airlines. The airline is on of the channel's biggest advertisers, and the head of Emirates is a Maktoum (a member of the royal family) and also happens to be the head of the regulatory aviation administration. The day after publishing the article I lost my job, prompting the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders to write about my case (read the press release www.rsf.org/Fired-for-implicating-Emirates.html. I posted the original story on my blogs www.arabisto.com and arab-media.blogspot.com and will be writing more about my experiences in Dubai now that I am out of the country and do not have to worry about being arrested or fined.
I thought this was an important issue of press freedom that I wanted to share with you. In the meantime I'm back in in Washington looking for the next step to take in my career. I hope you are all well and appreciate you taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Courtney C. Radsch
Journalist & Media Consultant
http://www.radsch.com
re AMG/DMI essentially its emirati infighting. abdulatif sort of left and came back when mohammed almullah was put into do his job and had brought his tecom cronnies (equally as lazy, dillusional and protected)so there was political splits. hamed sheikh doesnt like abdulatif and then riyad mickdaddy uturned and attaked abdulattif as riyad is protected by ahmed sheikh. amg keeps the profitable stuff but want it emirati only (plus useless and cheap injans)but have to give away mtv and nickelodeon as it was given to a 24 yr old emirati with no experience of tv and choueri banned anyone in the mkt of being able to advertise on the chanels or they couldnt ad on mbc, the major network here. the tv is screwed and they dont even want to sell it, tey want to give it away but leb choueri controls the mkt so other than him who could run it...!!! radio makes money. shoof makes nout and 85% of sites are empty. done events makes a small amount (both radio and events are run by westerners). all the loss making stuff has gone to dmi. emarat alyoum and eb247 lose money massively. eb247 only publish 23,000 copies a day but claim 75,000. it is the most dysfunctional screwed up lazy ridiculous company i have ever worked in and that includes working for a jewish porn baron in the uk. protected overpaid and cluless emiratis managing thousands of lazy injans who really do do very very little. its a real insight into the third world and proves that you dont need to be good to progress you just need to protect yourself and your friends...oh and keep doing 39 Q7 barter deals and rta 30 million inhouse deals to share with the other lazy cockroaches which inhabit cloud cukoo land....the third world is the third world for a reason.....
All this TMF bashing is long overdue. Its about time everyone acknowledged what a jumped up, little, no-mark publishing house this is.
I'm just happy to see it happened before the place closed down because by the sound of things it can't be long now.
As soon as we finish laughing at TMF we can all go back to hating ITP.
I heard a rumour TMF are closing Autocar and one of their business titles.
Does anyone know which one?
Hassan has really, really nice hair.
Sounds like the guys at the National are busy at work and don't have time for the dribble of unemployed hacks. Or is it just that you wankers are irrelevant?
ex amger,
where does Eudore's moustache lie now? Amg or dmi?
Courtney C. Radsch - what the fuck are you moaning about? You were employed by a MIDDLE EAST COMPANY, to write a NEGATIVE article on Emirates.
"As it turns out the head of Emirates Airlines is also the head of the aviation authority and an al-Maktoum, a member of the ruling family"
Errrr, who doesn't know Emirates is government-owned? Next time you're employed by a foreign country, how about doing some research first before you waste everyone's time.
Apparently its their insurance title that is to close from TMF next.
Sources close to the inside say that wont be the last either!
To Anonymous said... (who desperately keeps on bashing TMF).
Try a little bit harder because by the looks of it you are not rocking the boat that much. :P We all know for a fact that there is global recession and everyone is losing money.
Hard decisions must be made if only to survive this crisis rather than let everyone come crashing down. I pity you if you have that crab mentality but that does not help anyone. I think it is best that you should look hard on the mirror so you could see the innermost of yourself.
-Anonymous too
The National staff are busy at work with gems like this:
Etihad Airways: how the best is getting better
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091111/NATIONAL/711109844/1010/ART
jesus.
The word on the TMF grapevine is that the company are still desperately struggling to land the new Dubai Mall Magazine contract. Given TMF's C.E.O. is Rany Doleh and its a family member Mr Rashid Zakaria Doleh that is Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Malls Group LLC what does that say about TMF.
When you can't secure a contract in the Middle East, the world capital of nepotism, what does that say for the company???
Perhaps TMF should set their sights a little bit lower and lace them with a little more realism.....i know a local school that is looking to publish a monthly newsletter!
To the defender of TMF.
Its true that at times like these hard decisions must be made.
However I beg to differ when you suggest the TMF boat is not rocking. It is clearly listing badly.
It should also be noted that although other publishing houses are suffering in this recession, they didn't just lose their only money making magazine the way TMF did.
The only consolation you can take from your current predicament is that the need to make hard decisions will soon be gone. Surely you must realise when you look in the mirror, recession or no recession, TMF no longer publish any magazines that make money. Without Oryx you are nothing more than a rediculous, pompous woman's hobby, and that can't make your innermost self feel too special.
Poor old TMF still losing money and having to make difficult decisions.
Good for you defending the dubious business practices of TMF under the guise of 'difficult decisions'.
That makes you my hero and not in any way a total c*ck!
To anon 11 November, 2009 11:44: 'We all know for a fact that there is global recession'
No-one has ever questioned that you tw*t, what appears to be happening is just a jolly good laugh at how TMF are struggling more than most.
Perhaps your innermost self failed to pick up on that!!!!
FUTURE OF TMF
LOST MAGAZINE ACCOUNT 2009
Qatar Airways Oryx
SUSPENDED MAGAZINES 2009
FourFourTwo Middle East
Location
Kempinski
REMAINING MAGAZINES 2009
F1
Autocar
Thai Airways Sawasdee
Brief
Policy
.Commerce
PLANNED LAUNCHES 2009
Dubai Mall magazine
Online project (overseen by Russell Frame)
WHAT TMF MANAGING DIRECTOR ANDREA SLATER
TOLD CAMPAIGN MIDDLE EAST ABOUT CLOSURE OF LOCATION
“General market conditions and decreased advertiser spend across the sector necessitated the decision to stop publishing this magazine. Our remaining titles are market leaders in their relevant fields or fill a specific niche, allowing our overall outlook to remain positive. We do not therefore envisage any further magazine closures. On the contrary, we will be announcing some exciting new projects over the next few months”
WHAT TMF SALES DIRECTOR CHRIS SHAW TOLD COMMUNICATE ABOUT CLOSURE OF FOURFOURTWO
“TMF responded swiftly to a dramatically shifting marketplace. This action involved suspending our football title, FourFourTwo, and cutting back on some central costs, which regrettably included letting a small number of staff go. The exercise was designed to reduce costs and in turn minimize future risk to our company and our existing portfolio. That said, the remaining portfolio is continuing to perform and, like all businesses at the moment, we are monitoring each area of our business very closely… TMF has a couple of high profile launches in 2009, which of course means that we will soon be recruiting again”
WHAT SHAW TOLD A RADIO STATION ABOUT COSTS OF LICENSING F1 AND AUTOCAR FROM HAYMARKET
http://www.zawya.com/radio/default.cfm/sidDE081005075636970822
WHAT BANGKOK POST SAID ABOUT TMF’S CONTRACT FOR SAWASDEE
“Under a three-year contract, TMF is obliged to make 160,000 copies of Sawasdee, available each month on all THAI aircraft. Under the deal, THAI pays no money to TMF but is entitled to a stipulated annual payment from TMF in return for the publishing rights. TMF's revenue comes from advertising sales that are restricted to 30% of the total pages per issue”
WHAT A PR SAID ABOUT PLAN TO LAUNCH A DUBAI MALL MAGAZINE
“We welcome a new magazine in Dubai if it will help boost sales in those stores suffering from a drop in consumer spending. If the magazine proves influential and earns respect with its first few issues, brands will trust it as a place to invest some of their advertising budgets”
WHAT A TMF EMPLOYEE SAID ABOUT RUSSELL FRAME’S ONLINE PROJECT
“No comment.”
FUTURE OF TMF
LOST MAGAZINE ACCOUNT 2009
Qatar Airways Oryx - TMF's only money making publication.
SUSPENDED MAGAZINES 2009
FourFourTwo Middle East - Embarrasing c*ck up costing 500k based on not understanding the market. Will never be relaunched.
Location - worst interiors mag in history and had no ads. Will never be relaunched.
Kempinski - lost contract which is just as well as mag lost a fortune anyway - will never be relaunched.
So for suspended - read closed.
REMAINING MAGAZINES 2009
F1 - Loses a little money.
Autocar - Loses a lot of money
Thai Airways Sawasdee - Loses vast amounts of money
Brief - loses lots of money read by no-one.
Policy - loses lost of money read by a few.
.Commerce - question marks appear to be getting raised over potential defrauding of ADCCI.
PLANNED LAUNCHES 2009
Dubai Mall magazine
Online project (overseen by Russell Frame) - has anyone seen their on-line efforts so far. Never updated, nothing new, very pedestrian with no advertising.
WHAT TMF MANAGING DIRECTOR ANDREA SLATER
TOLD CAMPAIGN MIDDLE EAST ABOUT CLOSURE OF LOCATION
- anyone can spin a line about exciting new launches but when you can't hang on to the magazines you currently have then what hope is there for your new launches??
WHAT TMF SALES DIRECTOR CHRIS SHAW TOLD COMMUNICATE ABOUT CLOSURE OF FOURFOURTWO
what he should have said was that FourFourTwo was a magazine that no-one wanted. Neither the readers or advertisers and if they actually understood their market they would never have touched. No doubt it was launched out of vanity and cost them a fortune.
WHAT SHAW TOLD A RADIO STATION ABOUT COSTS OF LICENSING F1 AND AUTOCAR FROM HAYMARKET
If anyone has ever picked up these magazines they know they make no money except F1 for the 2 issues around the Bahrain and AD Grand Prix. The rest of the year they are without ads and suffer from very dubious local content.
WHAT BANGKOK POST SAID ABOUT TMF’S CONTRACT FOR SAWASDEE
This is the best contract for anyone wanting to laugh at TMF. Their no ex Managing Editor let slip that this mag loses a fortune due to high print runs and low advertising. They are trapped in a contract that is losing them millions each year. It was hoped to be a replacement for Oryx but is something of a noose.
WHAT A PR SAID ABOUT PLAN TO LAUNCH A DUBAI MALL MAGAZINE
A mall that is desperately struggling is unlikely to have a magazine stuffed full of ads. Will no doubt cost a lot to publish and be void of advertising.
WHAT A TMF EMPLOYEE SAID ABOUT RUSSELL FRAME’S ONLINE PROJECT
Ha-ha ha-ha
WHAT A TMF EMPLOYEE SAID ABOUT RUSSELL FRAME’S ONLINE PROJECT
'Russell Frame has got to be one of the dumbest f*cks I have ever come across. Unintentionally funny with his stupidity, he is conclusive proof that mankind did indeed stem from apes. The likelihood of his on-line project being a success is right up there with the likelihood of this rotund oaf winning Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF.'
Here's a gem from Russell Frame of TMF and his online project that's set to save the ailing Dubai publisher from closure.
The website of Frame's online project, called Arabian Interactive TV, says this:
aiTV has a multitude of players to choose from. With different colour choices, varrying functions and sizes we know you’ll find one to seem seamlessly work within your site.
Varrying? Seem seamlessly?
Don't believe me, see for yourself!
http://www.aitv.ae/players
What an idiot!
I don't feel it has been highlighted enough throughout this thread but TMF are clearly sh*t and going bust.
The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry - ADCCI - could check if The Media Factory - TMF - is printing the agreed amount of .Commerce magazine, whether or not it's BPA audited.
Magazines of this kind make a profit or loss depending on a combination of advertising revenue, printing costs and how much the client pays the publisher.
ADCCI or TMF are likely to send .Commerce to readers on a database as it's unlikely to sell many copies. If ADCCI is concerned about the magazine not reaching readers, it should organize a survey.
If advertisers are concerned their ads are not being seen they don't book or seek auditing. Circulation figures can be verified.
What takes more research is for clients and advertisers to find out if a magazine is opened and read when received.
Some clients don't seem to care as their contracts are such that (vanity) publishers takes all the financial burden anyway. But when the client is paying a fee, it should expect value for money to justify the communication exercise.
Some publishers don't seem to care about whether editorial engages readers as long as advertisers can be persuaded to part with money.
Where would publishing in Dubai be if accurate information was available?
A few magazines remain useful to readers and advertisers. Who doesn't occasionally pick up What's On or Time Out to see what's happening instead of going online? Flick through The National or Gulf News every once in a while when a computer isn't at hand? Sometimes choose the local Grazia over the more expensive import glossies to relieve boredom when sunbathing by the pool? Find a Media Week lying around and see if they've picked up on anything said in this blog?!
Does anyone know if Arabian Interactive have ever actually built a website for anyone other than TMF??
Having looked at their website it is, confused, unclear and suggests a very definate lack of understanding in terms of web development.
For a company offering to build other peoples websites, their's is one of the least user friendly sites i have ever come across.
Totally uninteractive, showcasing very little with no testimonies of any kind (suggesting no customers to date) poor site mapping and even badly chosen images. The overall design of the site is incredibly amateurish and has the feeling of something done as part of a school project, and even that would likely only receive a C+.
If this is what TMF are pinning their hopes to for survival I suspect there will be a lot of people out of work very soon!!
Thank you for the lesson in Publishing, I am sure that, no doubt, someone has already contacted Mohammed Bin Ahmad Al Nuaimi at the ADCCI to verify TMF is printing the requisite number of magazines to fulfil any agreement. I would be very surprised if TMF had been stupid enough to attempt to defraud the ADCCI but then again this is TMF we are talking about.
Help required!!!
I am current writing a feature on the Dubai Publishing scene, from its humble beginings only 25 years ago with Motivate's Whats On, to the rise and some might say fall of ITP.
Researching some of the character's that have both blessed and blighted the publishing scene has been relatively easy, Ian Fairservice and Robert Serafin have well documented past's.
However, I am struggling to find any information on the background of Russell Frame. If anyone has any information on his background prior to TMF I would appreciate it.
You can e-mail this to dubaimediaworld@hotmail.co.uk
Thanking you in advance..
A few years ago TMF made a big song and dance about the importance of BPI auditing their magazines.
http://www.ameinfo.com/158905.html
"Circulation auditing is now more important than ever in the Middle East, given the number of new titles entering the market. Advertisers and media buyers want audited data to monitor their investment and to make current campaign decisions. Third party verification is the only way to ensure media buyers are getting what they pay for,"
said Andrea Slater, Managing Director, The Media Factory.
So Andrea, would you care to review your opinion in light of your decision to withdraw all your titles bar Sawasdee from BPI auditing?
TMF can dress this up anyway they want but its clear to anyone with a brain that TMF no longer audit as they no longer want anyone to know their true print runs.
Their media packs now misinform (lie) to agencies and advertisers alike and if rumours are true, they now send out fewer than 1,000 of each title. These are sent strictly to advertisers, agencies and a very select few freebies (they have no subscribers) to create the illusion of still printing enough to justify they advertising rates.
If anyone is still placing their advertising with TMF they should note that in light of their BPI withdrawl or verification of print runs their rate card is worthless. As it stands the likelyhood is that TMF are now so desperate for advertising anyway that as a starting point for negotiations you can divide their rate card by 5 and then work your way down!!!
Having just looked at the Arabian Interactive website one thing is very clear.
You would have to be a f*cking idiot to hire these people to build your website.
Is this really from the same people behind TMF??
No wonder their company is going down the sh*tter when this is the crap the produce.
Which WAG bimbo in the vanity publishing arm of the Dubai media said: "I don't love or fancy my husband, we're just friends" AND "All Arabs are lazy, I should know, I married one"?
Which notorious lapdog-come-henchman of a Dubai publisher had his passport withheld for three years following a legal dispute with his former employer?
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